Audio Description on Tv

Vision Australia has launched a campaign - Tell the whole story – in a bid to get the Commonwealth Government to put audio description on Australian television so it can be enjoyed by the 350,000 people who are blind or have low vision. Audio description is a visual description, through narration, which describes what is happening in a television program during the natural pauses in the audio, and sometimes during dialogue if deemed necessary.

I want to talk to you about why we need audio description on television in Australia There are approximately three hundred and fifty thousand people in Australia who are blind or have low vision and they want to enjoy watching television like the rest of you. Television is an important way of sharing news, current affairs, sport and stories and it should be enjoyed by all Without audio description it is almost impossible for people who are blind to properly experience television. Audio description is a voice explaining the nonverbal elements of what is happening on the screen Audio description is on TV in the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and a number of other countries. It can be turned on and off depending on whether the viewer needs it. Access to information is a basic human right and TV is something that we all take for granted. It is time that Australia made it possible for people who are blind to get the whole story (Music) Hello I'm Steven Jolley, having been blind all my life I certainly appreciate the power of words for conveying whats happening without Audio Description I would have had no way of knowing that the woman in the clip we just watched was preparing to perform on stage Audio description should be available on Television for the 350000 Australians who are blind or have low vision Just like you, people who can't see like to know what's happening on the TV screen join me in petitioning the Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield to change the law so we too can get the whole story