Audio description

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Audio description trial on iview ending soon

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The trial of audio description on the ABC’s online iview service, which commenced in April 2015, will soon be drawing to a close.

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5 ways to experience digital accessibility on Global Accessibility Awareness Day

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As today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), we thought that we would encourage some involvement amongst the community so that you can gain a first-hand awareness of accessibility.  We hope this is an eye-opener and maybe a little bit of a mid-week challenge.

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VoiceView improves vision-impaired access on budget-priced Kindles

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Earlier this week Amazon introduced text-to-voice accessory ‘VoiceView‘ to its more affordable Kindle models, starting with the Kindle Paperwhite (7th gen). Up until now, this feature was only available on the company’s more expensive Kindle Fire tablets.

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ACCAN calls on networks to use windfall to improve accessibility

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The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) has called on the free-to-air networks to use some of the windfall from a 25% cut in licence fees announced in this year’s budget to increase captioning levels and introduce audio description.

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Movies with AD on iTunes, May 2016

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Last month we provided an up-to-date list of audio described (AD) movies in the Australian iTunes store. Some of the listed titles had specific versions that were marked: (For blind viewers). However, there have been some very recent changes to the way that some movies with AD are presented on Australian iTunes.

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Netflix improves accessibility for the blind

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In a court settlement with the American Council of the Blind (ACB), Netflix has agreed to include more audio description on its streamed content and DVD rental services, as well as making its website and mobile applications accessible for blind people who use screen readers.

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U.K. Government fails to act on video-on-demand accessibility

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The organisation Action on Hearing Loss has expressed disappointment at the U.K. Government’s failure to set targets or introduce legislation for the provision of access services (captions, signing and audio description) on video-on-demand (VOD) services.

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TV in UK exceeds captioning and audio description quotas

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Television channels in the UK continue to deliver access at much higher levels than the regulated quotas. All channels are covered by the access requirements and any exemptions are generally due to very low levels of audience share.

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Egypt gets a taste of Hotel Transylvania 2 with live AD

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In a first for Egypt and the Middle East, the popular new children’s fantasy-comedy movie Hotel Transylvania 2 was screened in Cairo with live Audio Description (AD), which is the first time this has been done in the region.

Image of Hotel Transylvania 2 from the official Sony Pictures movie site gallery


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New tech developments give a glimpse of the future

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Research into access technology has become quite advanced, with more sophisticated products that are attempting to help people with disabilities in real-life situations. Two projects from Microsoft show how image recognition is developing.

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