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Latest News

November 2012
Date Published	News headline and description
28 November 2012	Accessible DVD releases for November 2012 There have been 21 movies released on DVD in the last two months with closed captions and audio description. Of the 69 titles we researched, 53 were captioned (or 77 per cent) and 21 described (or 30 per cent).
27 November 2012	Highlights of the Languages and the Media conference The Languages and the Media conference was held in Berlin last week. This is the premier access conference in the world and Media Access Australia’s CEO, Alex Varley, provides his personal top 5 trends and highlights set to make a difference to the world of access.
26 November 2012	The Media Access News podcast Our weekly Vision Australia Radio segment is now available as a podcast which can be downloaded and subscribed to through iTunes.
22 November 2012	Presentation: Does measuring caption quality really make any difference? Our CEO, Alex Varley, is presenting at the Languages and the Media Conference in Berlin this week. Below are the slides and summary of his presentation questioning whether measuring caption quality leads to a better television experience for viewers.
22 November 2012	Greens Senators support audio description Senator Scott Ludlam, Greens spokesperson for communications, and Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens spokesperson for disability, have urged the Government to follow through on its commitment to working towards a permanent audio description service on Australian television.
20 November 2012	Trailer captioning: Netflix shows initiative with its first original drama series American video on demand provider, Netflix, has announced its first original series and has captioned the trailer for an inclusive build-up in anticipation of its February release.
19 November 2012	Indoor mapping to increase mobility for blind users Increasing the independence of people who are blind or vision impaired could be possible through indoor mapping technology, according to experts who attended last week's Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation (IPIN) conference. Held at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the conference brought together electronics, surveying and informatics experts to discuss the potential of indoor mapping, including how it could enhance the independence and mobility of people who are blind or vision impaired.
16 November 2012	Join the campaign for caption quality The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) is seeking Caption Campaigners who can monitor TV programs and report on poor quality captioning.
15 November 2012	We cover the world’s largest access conference Hosted in Berlin every two years, the Languages and the Media conference brings together media access experts from around the world. Our CEO, Alex Varley will be presenting at the conference and keeping Media Access Australia’s audience up-to-date as the action unfolds on November 22-23 via the website and Twitter.
14 November 2012	New US service matches captioning jobs with suppliers CaptionMatch is a new online initiative by the American captioning advocacy group Collaborative for Communication Access via Captioning (CCAC). People who would like an event, meeting or video captioned can lodge a request on the CaptionMatch website, and caption providers can then bid for the work.
12 November 2012	NVDA screen reader now recognises long description Free screen reader for Windows, NVDA, has been updated to recognise 'longdesc', an attribute used by web developers to describe the data that is visually presented in images such as graphs and diagrams.
09 November 2012	Australian cinema chains up for human rights award The Australian Human Rights Commission has announced the nominees for the 25th Human Rights Awards, including Hoyts, Village, Event/Greater Union/Birch Carroll & Coyle and Reading cinemas in the Business Award category for their contribution to access.
09 November 2012	ABC launches new education site with captioned videos The ABC has partnered with Education Services Australia in launching Splash, a new educational website offering a range of multimedia resources including captioned content.
06 November 2012	Audio description trial hailed a great success The trial of audio description on Australian television ended Sunday night on ABC1, with the Australian drama Dangerous Remedy being the last program to be described for blind and vision impaired viewers.
01 November 2012	NVDA adapted for Windows 8 The popular free screen reader Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) has been adapted for use on computers with Microsoft Windows 8, including touch screen devices such as tablets and hybrid ultrabooks.

October 2012
Date Published	News headline and description
30 October 2012	Feature: Aussie TV finds its voice As the trial of audio description on ABC1 draws to a close, we met with the talented captioners turned describers tasked with finding a voice fitting of the ABC's uniquely Australian drama.
26 October 2012	Windows 8 released with enhanced accessibility Microsoft has today launched Windows 8 and its tablet version, Windows RT, the latest operating system for computers and tablets. Rather than simply building on its predecessor, Windows 7, today’s releases overhaul the operating system’s design.
26 October 2012	Captioning Award winners announced Last night the Deafness Forum of Australia celebrated the achievements of the media and entertainment industry in providing access to the one in six Australians who are Deaf or hearing impaired. Hosted by Rodney Adams, an Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf, the evening was a celebration of the impact of captions on literacy, human rights and social inclusion.
25 October 2012	Audio description comes to New Zealand subscription TV The audio description service which has been provided on the free-to-air channels TV One and TV2 since 2011 will now be available to people who watch them through SKY TV, after a NZ$50,000 upgrade.
24 October 2012	Call in your feedback on the audio description trial With the trial of audio description on the ABC coming to a close, Blind Citizens Australia (BCA) is hosting a series of teleconferences to gather feedback on it from blind and vision impaired viewers. This feedback will inform the submission to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy which will advocate for a continued audio description (AD) service on ABC 1.