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Access to electronic media for the hearing and vision impaired

Discussion Paper

April 2008

Introduction

According to the Access Economics report ‘Listen Hear! The economic impact and cost of hearing loss in Australia’ published in February 2006, one in six Australians is affected by hearing loss. With an ageing population, hearing loss is projected to increase to one in every four Australians by 2050.

Similarly, the 2004 Access Economics report ‘Clear Insight: The Economic Impact and Cost of Vision Loss in Australia’ indicates that more than 480 000 Australians have a vision impairment in both eyes and more than 50 000 of these people are blind, with blindness projected to increase by 73 per cent over the next two decades to more than 87 000 people over 40.

Electronic media such as television, film and the internet are invaluable sources of information and entertainment for all Australians. Changes in technology and media consumption, particularly the growth of subscription television, present an opportunity to consider current arrangements for access to electronic media for people who have hearing or vision impairments.

The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is undertaking an investigation into access to electronic media for the hearing and vision impaired that was begun by the former Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts in late 2007. The investigation is to consider access across the range of platforms that provide electronic media, including television, films in cinemas and on DVDs, and the internet.

Structure of this Paper

This discussion identifies existing arrangements for access by people with a hearing and or vision impairment to electronic media, such as the availability of captioning and audio description, in relation to free-to-air television, subscription television and film, and considers issues for the extension of these arrangements beyond current requirements. Developments overseas are also explored as part of this investigation.

This paper adopts terms and expressions consistent with the Commonwealth Disability Strategy when referring to people with varying levels of hearing or vision loss. People with a hearing impairment include people with total or partial hearing loss, those members of the Deaf community who use the Australian sign language (Auslan), and those who do not use Auslan. People with vision impairment include people who are blind and people who have limited vision.

This discussion paper is in five parts.

The first part of the paper explains what is meant by captioning and audio description and the key users of these services.

The second part of the paper sets out the regulatory framework for the provision of captioning and audio description of electronic media in Australia. This includes provisions in the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 as well as arrangements that have been agreed between the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and providers of free-to-air television, subscription television and films in cinemas.

The third part of the paper describes the current levels of captioning and audio description on Australian free-to-television, including television commercials and subscription television, in Australian cinemas, on DVDs available in Australia and on internet audio-visual content originating in Australia.

The fourth part of the paper presents an overview of captioning and audio description developments in comparable markets overseas. The markets considered are New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

  • Document ID: 83304 |
  • Last modified: 30 April 2008, 10:55am