Alex Varley's accessible, affordable and audio described Christmas gift ideas

Transcript

29 November 2015

Roberta: The holiday season is approaching quickly which means presents for friends, family and work colleagues are in order. Media Access Australia CEO, Alex Varley, chats about his gift ideas featuring audio description to  make sure Christmas stockings are filled up this year. Welcome, Alex.

Alex: Hi there, Roberta.

Roberta: Now, let's just have a little chat about what is available because I know we've talked about many things throughout the year, so where would you like to start?

Alex: Okay, well, I think maybe a good place to go is let's talk about different age groups. So probably the first thing I'd think about is the family and what you can get them for Christmas and what they can do in the holidays that's connected with audio description and the first thing that comes to mind, of course, is to get the gift that will last all year, which is a Netflix subscription, so they start at about 10 bucks a month and they have a range of audio description options there, including that original series Dare Devil, that got everyone excited with the blind superhero. Then looking for things to do with the kids and the holidays, I'd say go and check out your local gallery and museum. Vision Australia and others provide audio description tours to those, as they do with various theatre performances that are on this time of year. So there's a few things there.

Roberta: DVDs, these are always, in fact, that's one of the first things I heard about with audio description, apart from the live theatre. What's available there and I guess there would be an absolute influx of menus and things.

Alex: Yes, you're absolutely right in saying that DVDs are a good kind of "not sure what to get" because you can then choose the things that they love. A lot of DVDs  now, probably more than half of those entertainment ones, have audio description on them and if you're able to get the assistant in the shop to have a look on the back, as long as it's got the AD symbol on there it will tell you. The BBC ones are always popular and a number of those do have audio menus, which makes it easier to navigate your way through it. There's usually some good Jane Austen and those sorts of things around if you like that kind of thing from the BBC or there's good old-fashioned Dr Who which is a big favourite.

Roberta: It never goes away, does it?

Alex: And then, you know, if you're looking for something maybe for the grandparents, I noticed that The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has just been released on DVD with audio description, so that was quite popular with Maggie Smith there in the lead role. Of course, if the grandparents are looking for something to do they can always take the grandkids to the cinema, as well, and check out any of the new releases.

Roberta: Yes, there's usually quite a lot around for the kids in holiday time.

Alex: Yes, absolutely. DVDs are always a great option for any of the family. Actually, we were talking about cinema and one that I saw this week and I know it's available with audio description in Australia is the new Bond film Spectre. That's a good one maybe for Dad but also for the rest of the family.

Roberta: I think the ladies wouldn't mind watching old Craigie-Boy.

Alex: And I'm sure it's well described as well.

Roberta: I would think so, yes. Oh, dear. Audio menu TV, Apple TV setup for the ABC iView, is there something that people can give someone a gift, like a box or something, to be able to get that?

Alex: Yes, so if you buy an Apple TV, which is just under $100, they allow you to access a load of those online services much more easily, so the ABC iView service with audio description, for example, and also things like Netflix because they have accessible menus on them. Vision Australia has some really good resources around how you connect those things up and if you are using Vision Australia to help your various needs, if you ring up the technology advisors there they will be able to talk you through what you actually need but that's a great gift idea.

Roberta: It is and, I mean, $100, that's about the gift price these days, isn't it?

Alex: Yes, it is. I've actually got the ultimate gift if you're really thinking about splashing out on somebody that has everything. Thinking about that I was thinking of the audio description holidays. So you jump on an Emirates flight and Emirates has audio described movies on their entertainment system. If you go to New Zealand during the day you can enjoy the lovely scenery and all their food and other delights that New Zealand has and then at night time, if you want to settle down, five hours a day of audio described TV.

Roberta: That is fantastic. It's a shame you've got to fly to New Zealand to get it but, still, it might be us next year.

Alex: That's absolutely right. I hope so. That's my New Year's wish.

Roberta: Okay, Alex, well, thank you very much for all of that. I've been speaking with Media Access Australia's CEO, Alex Varley. As I said, there's lots of things there. Now, for more information on audio description and consumer technology you can call Media Access Australia on 02 9212 6242. You can also visit the website www.mediaaccess.org.au or email info@mediaacess.org.au. Media Access Australia is a supporter of this program.

Go back to Alex Varley's accessible, affordable and audio described Christmas gift ideas page