“This is fantastic news for all blind and vision impaired New Zealanders,” said Clive Lansink, National President of the Association of Blind Citizens of New Zealand. “We are grateful SKY has made this service available and, for some, it really will be life-changing.”
The audio description service, funded by NZ On Air, began after a trial in early 2011 and has now risen to 20 hours of audio described programs per week. This includes some of the country’s most loved shows, such as the home-grown soap opera Shortland Street.
In Australia, a trial of audio description is currently under way on ABC1, but this is due to end on 4 November. Blind Citizens Australia, Vision Australia and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network have launched a campaign, ‘It’s As Easy as ABC’, to keep the service going.
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