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Hawaii makes cinema access compulsory

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The US state of Hawaii has brought in state legislation to mandate the provision of captions and audio description (described as “descriptive narration” in the Bill) in all cinemas where the cinema operator has more than two locations (that is three or more separate cinemas or cinema complexes).

People seated in a movie theatre, facing the screen. Couple in foreground with box of popcorn resting in-between them


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Lessons from Skandia Bank’s accessibility journey

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Norwegian bank Skandiabanken’s Snorre Kim discusses why a major national bank decided to put digital accessibility at the front and centre of its recent website redesign and move to a new banking platform.

Skandiabanken logo

Snorre spoke to Media Access Australia following his presentation at Funka’s Accessibility Days conference, which was held April 14-15 in Stockholm, Sweden.


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Consumers encouraged to nominate accessible apps

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Users of mobile device apps have been encouraged to nominate their favourite accessible apps for the 2015 Apps For All Challenge.

App icons hovering above the screen of a tablet device. Image credit: ACCAN

The challenge, now in its second year, seeks to find Australia’s most accessible apps and encourage software developers to include digital accessibility when they create apps.


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Report on the state of captioning in Europe released

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The European Federation of Hard of Hearing People (EFHOH) has released a report which looks at the levels of captioning on television, video-on-demand (VOD) services and cinema in EU countries.

European Federation of Hard of Hearing People (EFHOH) logo


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Q&A with Robert Kingett: motivational speaker, author and video-on-demand accessibility advocate

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Media Access Australia spoke to Robert Kingett, accessibility advocate, motivational speaker, author of “Off the Grid: Living Blind Without the Internet” and creator of the Accessible Netflix Project – most recently successfully advocating for audio description on Netflix’s Daredevil series.

Robert Kingett in the WEBZ studio, wearing headphones and sitting behind a microphone


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Q&A with Robert Osztolykan, creator of the petition to make Steam accessible

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Media Access Australia spoke with Robert Osztolykan, blind gamer and creator of the petition to make Valve’s gaming platform Steam accessible to people who are blind or vision impaired. Robert shares his motivation to start the petition, his experiences playing mainstream titles, his thoughts on the current generation of gaming and why developers need to consider accessibility.

Steam controller. Image credit: Pierre Lecourt via Flickr

Steam is highly popular, featuring more than five million users. Part of this popularity is that it features more than 3,500 free and paid-for games that users of Windows, Mac and Linux computers can browse and download to play.


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Why does Netflix’s accessible offering hit Presto and Stan for six?

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Barely a moment after we were celebrating the launch of ABC’s long-awaited audio description service on the popular iview player video on demand (VOD) giant Netflix stormed into Australia and unleashed captioning, and only a day later, audio description.

Batsman preparing to swing at a cricket ball

Was this event unfortunate timing for those of us who wanted publicity for the new iview service or the shape of things to come?


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Digital Transformation Office updates guidance on Digital Service Standard

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The Digital Transformation Office—a new body created to manage the improved design of online government services—has provided updated guidance for agencies.

Right hand holding an iPhone and left hand resting on laptop keyboard, cup of coffee on the right


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Apple Watch accessibility features

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With Apple’s new watch becoming officially available, Media Access Australia has put together a round-up of all the accessibility features of the new wearable device and a comparison with some of the company’s other devices.

Apple Watch with sport band. App icons displayed on screen

Digital media and technology: 

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What are the most accessible video-on-demand services?

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With consumers increasingly turning to their computers and mobile devices to watch TV programs and movies, the accessibility of video-on-demand services is becoming a critical issue for those who rely on captioning or audio description.

Woman seated on a couch using a laptop, with TV on in the background

Media Access Australia’s report Access on Demand, which was released last week, highlights the vast differences in the accessibility of VOD services available in Australia.

Digital media and technology: 

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