TV access

Daredevil, a TV series about a blind superhero, has become the first program on Netflix to have audio description for people who are blind or vision impaired.

The US-based video-on-demand (VOD) service Netflix launched in Australia today. The good news for Deaf and hearing impaired viewers is that virtually all the content is captioned.

Vision Australia has launched Tell the Whole Story, a campaign calling for the introduction of audio description on television. The campaign asks that people write to the Minister of Communications, Malcolm Turnbull, to express their need for the service.

A bill to amend sections of the Broadcasting Services Act, including some sections relating to captioning, was passed in the House of Representatives last night. However, amendments to the original bill mean that broadcasters will have to continue reporting on captioning compliance, while a scheduled review of the captioning rules will go ahead.