Transcript: 2011 in review with Alex Varley

25 December 2011

Roberta:  As we come to the end of 2011 I’m talking to Media Access Australia’s CEO Alex Varley about the highs and lows of the year for access to TV, DVD, the Internet and other media for people who are blind or vision impaired. 

Welcome Alex.

Alex:  Hi there Roberta. 

Roberta:  So have we seen any major changes to access for the blind and vision impaired this year?

Alex:  Well I think Roberta it’s been really a thing of great building up and continuation of things that have happened in the past. So we have seen some things like the great apps on Smart Phones but more have started coming through on the Android rather than the Apple version, so that’s good for catching up on that. 

And the cinema program is finally rolling out in sort of fairly significant numbers now, so there’s more and more blind and vision impaired people can actually go along to their local cinema and seeing things. So yes, I think it’s a real building up.

Roberta:  Well what do you think has been the most significant change that will have the greatest impact?

Alex:  Right. Well that’s a great question because I... there’s actually two that I’m kind of tossing up between. And one is that magnificent talking set top box that was released as part of the Household Assistance Scheme and then was commercialised that’s from Bush, and I believe Vision Australia sells that. And the reason that that’s significant is because that is the first piece of TV equipment that actually has got talking menus in it, and it works from the moment you plug it in. And it’s completely accessible and I know that blind people have been buying them in droves because they’re just so good.

And the other one which I’m... I think is an equal contender is when the iPhone 4S was released and it’s got this little talking assistant called Siri, whilst talking menus and having VoiceOver and everything else is kind of old hat for a lot of blind people, I think what was significant about that it actually dawned on people in the mainstream that having talking menus and something talking at you and translating everything in to audio was a really great idea that worked really well.

Roberta:  So what about the disappointments. Were there any significant ones?

Alex:  Yes. Well of course we’re still waiting for that ABC audio description trial. And for much promises and lots of comments about coming soon, coming soon, we’re getting to the end of the year and there’s nothing there yet. So if there’s something in my Christmas list it’s that one.

Roberta:  Well we hope we don’t have to wait until next Christmas for it. Was there any sort of movement on it at all, or are you just kind of left in limbo, we’ll get back to you kind of thing?

Alex:  Yeah, that’s exactly how it is. And they’re all claiming it’s about the money. So yeah, who knows.

Roberta:  I could see a lot of places where they could save money, but that’s another story for another day. Now, what do you think will be the big issue for the next year?

Alex:  Okay. The big, big one on the horizon which again it’s power is both from what it’s actually doing but how it will change the way people think about things, is next year is when the government, the federal government adopts its web accessibility standards to what’s called 2.0 Level A. So that’s an official international standard of web accessibility and it’s the first stage, so they’re going to AA a couple of years later.

And what that will see is federal government websites that are not accessible suddenly becoming significantly accessible. And that will have a flow in to other big sites that lots of people use. And again I think that’s a good sign for the future. So blind and vision impaired people can actually start to use more and more of these sites properly, as they should be.

Roberta:  Alex a question without notice. Where do you think we are on the world stage with our accessibility for people with a vision or hearing impairment?

Alex:  I think we’re kind of in the middle on most things. We lead on a couple of things. So things like DVDs we’re pretty much at the forefront. Cinema, we’re rapidly getting there as being the place that has the most accessible cinemas, and that will be a sort of short term thing as the other countries catch up. But I think on the other things we’re kind of sitting there in the middle of the pack ‘cause we’re picking up things that others are doing, but then sometimes with things like legislation and government on TV and that kind of stuff, because they’re not doing anything that holds us back.

Roberta:  Well it’s Christmas Day today, so what would you like to say to our listeners Alex?

Alex:  Well hopefully you’ll be able to watch your audio described TV very soon on your ABC and that will be the best Christmas present. But otherwise make sure you get blind people in your life lots of accessible presents ‘cause there’s lots out there.

Roberta:  Thank you very much.  Now, to keep up-to-date on developments and news like this, visit the website: mediaaccess.org.au or feel free to give Media Access Australia a call on 02 9212 6242. Thank you, Alex.

Alex:  Thanks Roberta.

Roberta:  I’ve been speaking with CEO of Media Access Australia, Alex Varley. And Media Access Australia are supporters of this program.