IMPROVED TELEVISION ACCESS

FOR BLIND VIEWERS

IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Prepared on behalf of:

BLIND CITIZENS AUSTRALIA

November 1999 John A Simpson

ISBN: 0958706522 Information Alternatives

18 Prosper Parade

Glen Iris Vic. 3146

Tel: 03 9889 0392

Fax: 03 9889 6286

Email: simpsonj@bigpond.net.au

Experimentation with Audio Description of television (the addition of a verbal

description of the on-screen action, scene and other visual elements) began in

Australia in the early 1980's.

From 1983 3RPH in Melbourne has broadcast ball by ball description of international tennis as an extension of the television coverage. More recently 3RPH has provided description of major Australian drama series. These services have not generally been available beyond Melbourne and their incorporation into RPH programming has been at the expense of other content.

In June 1998 Blind Citizens Australia, in association with the Vision Australia

Foundation, received funding under the National Disability Research Grants

Program, administered by the Commonwealth Office of Disability, to undertake

research into the need for and practicality of introducing ongoing audio description services in association with the introduction of Digital Television Broadcasting.

The Australian Broadcasting Authority's Specialist Group on digital

Television had already identified that the additional audio capacity

available with Digital transmission could be used for services such as

Audio Description.

The Government had indicated that it would seek the advice of the

Community of Interest in regard to the introduction of Audio Description.

Encouraged by this identification of a potential delivery platform for Audio

Enhancement and given the expectations placed on the Industry by the Disability Discrimination Act and other Government policy, we sought, through this project to:

1. Identify and report on the extent and level of deprivation that is

common across the various elements of television content in Australia:

2. Identify and document enhancement techniques that address the

information deprivation experienced by blind and vision impaired

viewers:

3. Assess the Regulatory and Industry Environment that is underpinning

Audio Description development in Europe and North America:

4. Assess the opportunities that will arise as a result of Digital

Television implementation for the introduction of comprehensive Audio

Enhancement Services in association with broadcast television

services.

The term Audio Enhancement was adopted for our work in preference to Audio

Description as the techniques that we have identified to improve access to

Broadcast Television for people who are blind or have a vision impairment go

beyond Description.

They include:

• the introduction of standards relating to the content elements that

must be provided in a verbal or audible form;

• the use of verbal captioning to provide audible access to on-screen

text information.

Fifty five blind or vision impaired people completed a brief questionnaire. Their

combined response can be summarised as follows:

52 of 55 respondents indicated that they own or are part of a household

that owns a television set;

51 of 52 respondents indicated that they watch TV for at least four

hours per week;

10 of 52 respondents indicated that they watch TV for 20 or more

hours each week;

39 of 52 respondents indicated that they do at least some of their

viewing without someone on hand to interpret the visual aspects to

them;

35 of 52 respondents indicated that issues of access to the content

determine their choice of program types;

27 of the 42 Internet respondents indicated that they had viewed

audio described material at least once;

25 of this 27 considered that the audio description had added to

their understanding of the program(s). One indicated that the

experience had been two short to make such a judgement and the other

indicated that he considered his sight level did not limit his

understanding of the content.

Clearly, for this group at least, TV viewing is an important aspect of life. For many however, their experience is lessened by the need to consider access issues when making program choices. For those who had some experience of Audio Description its potential to add to their viewing understanding and enjoyment was clear.

We identified that this deprivation is a result of:

• the broadcast of vision only information, such as sports and lottery results, advertisers contact details and price information, talent identification and text based captioning of foreign language material;

• reliance on on-screen action which is not supported with dialogue or other audible cues;

• coverage of sport, news and other events that is supported by comment rather than direct description of the action.

As a result, people who are blind or experience a severe vision impairment are

handicapped in their participation in community life.

This study was conducted across a two day workshop involving the twelve

members of our Consumer Panel. Participants viewed sample television content segments across a range of types and recorded their response to specific questions about the action, information or message shown. These responses were tabulated against a benchmark score for each sample item viewed and the participants scores were expressed as a percentage, representative of the comprehension level achieved. These scores were then averaged across each of the blind and vision impaired sub-groups.

The comprehension levels achieved across nine content types, (and thus a measure of the level of deprivation experienced) can be summarised as follows:

Drama 44% 25%

Entertainment 35% 18.5%

Documentary 27% 24.5%

Current Affairs 37.5% 32.5%

Sport/Events 19% 21%

News 33% 39%

Information 38% 35%

Infotainment 28% 20%

Commercials 66% 14%

In association with the Consumer Panel that was an integral part of this project we concluded that Audio Enhancement should be offered at four levels depending on the nature of the television content concerned. These are:

• Scripted and Timed Integration: The technique used in both the US and UK, where the description is tightly scripted and its integration is timed to fit into the available breaks in program dialogue:

• Improvised Description: Where the describer previews the material and makes notes about key description elements but then adds the description in real-time as the program is broadcast:

• Audio Captioning: Where enhancement is limited to verbalisation of on- screen text and perhaps graphics:

• Real-time Events Description: Where sport and other dynamic events are described in real-time without the opportunity to preview the action.

Our conclusion is that a mix of these techniques is both appropriate to the needs of the blind viewer and would enable the cost efficient provision of Audio

Enhancement across the various content types.

Material was selected from the Australian content broadcast by the various free-to- air networks and across the different content types from drama and comedy to news, infotainment, documentaries and commercials.

Following an initial production round all sample segments were shown to the

consumer group for their feed back and much valuable input was provided relating to:

• the appropriateness of the different Audio Enhancement methods to various content types;

• the level of detail needed in various situations;

• the terminology and other language attributes used by the Describers;

• the placement of description in relation to the existing sound track;

• the sound balance between the two audio sources.

With benefit of this input we were then able to produce a further set of Exemplars to a quality suitable for demonstration beyond the Consumer Group.

A further eight segments (115 minutes of content) and five advertisements were

then produced. These were previewed by the Consumer Group at its third

workshop and formed the basis for an extensive presentation to the Strategic

Planning Seminar held in March 1999.

A video tape containing these Exemplars forms an important part of our project

report and will be available as an education tool for Industry and Community

groups.

Blind Citizens Australia has established a close relationship with Descriptive Video Service in the US and those staff at the Royal National Institute for the Blind in England who are responsible for advocating on audio description matters. Through these relationships we have been able to study closely development of Audio Description in both the US and UK and to monitor progress toward its availability as part of Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB).

We have noted that while DTTB services commenced in major US markets early in 1999 Video Description Services are not being delivered via this medium at the time of writing.

The National Centre on Accessible Media has however commenced distribution of test materials for both Video Description, and Closed Captioning for the Deaf to inform the Consumer Products Industry on developments in this area.

A similar situation exists in the UK where DTTB services commenced in November 1998. Audio Description was not available from the commencement of these services as while there is legislative provision mandating these services, facilities for reception through integrated digital television receivers and set-top conversion boxes were not provided for. A plug-in decoder card has now been developed for connection via the Common Interface slot provided in most new digital reception equipment and it is expected that Audio Description services will begin from November 1999.

The Australian Government has legislated for the commencement of DTTB services in major metropolitan centres from 1 January 2001 and in other locations by no later than 2004.

We have concluded that beyond the more general advantages of digital television that are promoted by the Government and Broadcasting industry alike, Australia's move to DTTB offers a unique opportunity to improve access to television for the blind and vision impaired audience.

• DTTB has the technical capacity to carry Audio Enhancement as part of the transmission package:

• As all free-to-air television broadcasters in Australia need to make extensive changes to their program production and transmission facilities to enable their provision of digital TV, the costs of providing for Audio Enhancement become marginal to the overall upgrade cost

• Similarly television viewers will purchase new reception equipment to facilitate their access to digital television. Again the additional cost of accessing Audio Enhancement would be marginal to this expense.

• Overall, there is a willingness to consider the information needs of the blind audience at a time when the Industry and Regulatory environment is undergoing substantial change.

In the final chapter of our project report we detail a number of Regulatory,

Industry and community initiatives that we believe must be put in place in

advance of the establishment of comprehensive Audio Enhancement Services.

• Our study of the information deprivation reveals a number of significant matters of current practice that need to be addressed in order to maximise access by blind and vision impaired viewers. We note that the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has recently determined that information provision constitutes a Service for the purposes of the Disability Discrimination Act and we remind television providers of their vulnerability to action under the DDA if they fail to address the information access requirements of their blind and vision impaired viewers. We recommend the development of an industry-wide Code addressing issues of Information Access for the blind and vision impaired audience.

• Reflecting on the strong consumer interest and support we have experienced throughout the project and mindful of the important role that blind and vision impaired people can play in advocating the need for Audio Enhancement and setting the benchmarks for its effective provision we recommend the establishment of a Special Interest Group within Blind Citizens Australia.

• While the Exemplars produced for the project were adequate to introduce the concepts of Audio Enhancement and the production techniques we have identified, we are conscious that there is much work to be done in explaining and promoting the intricacies of Audio Enhancement to the broadcasting industry, consumer products manufacturers, regulators and the broader community. We believe that urgent attention should be given to the production of a comprehensive demonstration tape which can be used both to promote the general concepts of Audio Enhancement and to introduce industry and regulatory interests to the cost effective production techniques we have developed. Our preferred option would be for this production to be undertaken as a co-operative arrangement with one or more of the television networks whereby a sampling of their Australian made programming and some commercial content could be assembled.

• Within the report we outline the process currently underway whereby a Standard under provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act is being developed relating to Access to Commonwealth Government Information. We point out that the Commonwealth is a major contributor to the Australian Television Industry as Licensee and funder of the two national services and as a major provider of advertising content on the commercial networks. We recommend inclusion of television based information in the DDA Standard currently being developed.

• We also canvass the notion of television content producers and broadcasters committing themselves to the development of DDA Action Plans. These Plans represent a commitment to address matters of potential discrimination over a realistic time frame and we particularly urge television broadcasters to commit themselves to Action Plans that include a specific commitment to the provision of comprehensive Audio Enhancement.

• We note that Australia's move to the introduction of Digital Television is closely following implementation in both the UK and USA and that Audio Enhancement is not yet functioning in the digital domain in either country. We believe that Australia is well placed to monitor and learn from overseas experience in relation to Audio Enhancement, just as it is with the broader issues around DTTB. In order to maximise this window of opportunity we propose that the Digital Television Consultative Group, established by the Minister for Communications Information Technology and the Arts, investigate all matters pertaining to the transmission and reception of comprehensive Audio Enhancement Services as part of the DTTB platform.

• A review of Standards for the provision of Closed Captioning for the Deaf is a requirement of the Legislation that mandates digital television provision and similar legislation in the UK establishes levels of programming that must carry closed captioning and audio description. There is however a substantial disparity between the required level of captioning and the requirement for described programming. We believe that a Standard should be mandated which would ensure the increased provision of Audio Enhancement over a realistic time frame and we affirm the contention which underpinned our application for funding of this project, "that Audio Enhancement should be as widely available as is closed captioning for deaf and hearing impaired television viewers.

While we have written of the "window of opportunity" that presents for the

introduction of comprehensive Audio Enhancement Services in parallel with the

introduction of Digital Television Broadcasting, we expect that a concerted effort will be required over the next two to three years if this time frame is to be

achieved.

All of this work needs to occur in a real life situation where the needs and

expectations of the user group can be factored in. We conclude that the

establishment and operation over a realistic time frame of a model service is

essential.

We believe that it would be practical to establish this service in a major city location where it could offer Audio Enhancement of a range of Australian-made television content across the various Networks.

Such a service would best function as a community based organisation with a small staff to lead the service and the active involvement of a larger number of suitably skilled and trained volunteers. Delivery would need to be as a simulcast using a dedicated radio channel and it would be important to have the active involvement of a specialist in Audience Research.

We believe that funding for this initiative should be provided on a joint basis from Government, the Broadcasting Industry and wider community.

Within the mix of programs, advertisements and other material that makes up

television transmission, is a huge amount of material which we rely on for news, sporting and other general information, education, informing our purchase of goods and services, enhancing our knowledge in specialised subject areas and general entertainment. However, viewers who are blind or vision impaired are denied access to much of this content.

This deprivation is a result of:

• the broadcast of vision only information, such as sports and lottery results, advertisers contact details and price information, talent identification and text based captioning of foreign language material;

• reliance on on-screen action which is not supported with dialogue or other audible cues;
• coverage of sport, news and other events that is supported by comment rather than direct description of the action.

As a result, people who are blind or experience a severe vision impairment are

handicapped in their participation in community life.

Television content can be classified into distinct elements:

- pre-recorded drama, comedy etc;

- live entertainment;

- scenic documentary;

- head to head interview, chat shows etc;

- coverage of sport and other events;

- "show and tell" - infotainment type programs;

- information segments - sports results, weather etc;

- cartoon style presentation;

- news coverage - which uses many of these elements in short segments;

- advertising - which draws on all of these elements from time to time.

Our contention was that the level of deprivation to the blind viewer varies across these content elements. Little, if any, work has been done to identify its extent and thus the degree to which the program maker or advertiser's message falls short of a significant part of the target audience.

There are however methods available to redress this situation. A process variously known as Audio Description or Described Video is in development and limited use in North America and the United Kingdom. In the main, this technique has been used in association with pre-recorded programming, including drama and documentary type productions, where a secondary sound track is introduced which includes a pre-scripted description of the scene and on-screen action. This service is delivered via a supplementary audio channel which is transmitted in association with the broadcast and available through decoding equipment supplied to the viewer.

In Australia, valuable work has been done to enhance the value of television to the blind viewer by adding ball by ball description to televised sports coverage;

description of the scene and on-screen action in TV drama; and detailed description of special events such as street parades. Access to a secondary audio channel has not been available in Australia so delivery of this descriptive information has been via Australia's Radio for the Print Handicapped Services, particularly 3RPH Melbourne, which has made available broadcast time to simulcast with commercial television networks. With the benefit of international time differences, this technique is used on a regular basis in Melbourne to provide description of major international tennis events that are shown live by the television networks overnight.

In North America the availability of Audio Description has been limited, as virtually all description is pre-scripted and timed so that it fits well into the natural dialogue or commentary breaks in the production. For this reason, it is a costly adjunct to television production and is only offered with a few hours programming each week.

It is our view that forms of "Audio Enhancement" can be introduced on a more cost effective, less formal basis, inserted in real-time in association with much of the television content broadcast in Australia. Our overriding goal remains that Audio Enhancement should be as widely available as Closed Captioning is for deaf people.

With the release in 1997 of the Final Report of the Australian Broadcasting

"Other Features of DTTB (Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting)

DTTB's multi-channel sound delivery capability might also be used in

innovative ways to provide further support to persons with disabilities.

One suggestion has been made that audio description services could be

provided in conjunction with some types of television programs. The

application for further consideration by service providers because they are

not likely to be constrained by the system decisions."

Encouraged by this identification of a potential delivery platform for Audio

Enhancement and given the expectations placed on the Industry by the Disability Discrimination Act and other Government policy, Blind Citizens Australia and the Vision Australia Foundation looked to the conduct of a project which would:

1. Identify and report on the extent and level of deprivation that is

common across the various elements of television content in Australia:

2. Identify and document enhancement techniques that address the

information deprivation experienced by blind and vision impaired

viewers:

3. Assess the Regulatory and Industry Environment that is underpinning

Audio Description development in Europe and North America:

4. Assess the opportunities that will arise as a result of Digital Television

implementation for the introduction of comprehensive Audio

Enhancement Services in association with broadcast television services.

This work has been undertaken as a co-operative venture with funding support from the Commonwealth's National Disability Grants Research Fund.

Blind Citizens Australia is the united voice of blind and vision impaired Australians. It is governed by a Council of its members and provides a national advocacy service on behalf of all Australians who experience print handicap as a result of vision loss or other disability.

The Vision Australia Foundation provides a range of low vision, rehabilitation, peer support and information services across Victoria. It is governed by a Board of fifteen, including seven Directors elected from among its service customers. It currently provides Radio for the Print Handicapped Services through 3RPH Melbourne and 3MPH Mildura and is a substantial program provider to RPH Network Stations throughout Australia. Vision Australia also hosts an Audio Description Service for theatre patrons in Melbourne and has pioneered radio based audio description in Australia. It has a major commitment to information services and is currently working to establish RPH Stations across Victoria and a National Information Centre in Melbourne.

Within its national policy development work, Blind Citizens Australia has, for many years, advocated for the needs of blind people, as users of television services, to be addressed. It has a formal policy position on the use of "vision only information" on Broadcast Television and has made direct representations to the ABC, SBS and commercial networks on this issue and the need for comprehensive Audio Enhancement Services.

Both Blind Citizens Australia and the Vision Australia Foundation are strong

advocates for the principles of equity and equality that underpin the Disability

Discrimination Act, Commonwealth Disability Strategy and broader disability policy. They are also fully committed to the application of emerging communications and information technologies to address the needs of people with disabilities.

The Principal Consultant undertaking this work has been John Simpson. John has undertaken several disability related research projects with a consumer focus. As former Executive Officer with Blind Citizens Australia and current Executive Officer with RPH Australia, he has a well developed understanding of and empathy for consumer needs and expectations. This is matched by his expertise in matters relating to the application of current and future technologies to address the needs of people with a disability.

The Project's Technical Support Consultant was Dale Simpson, an Audio Engineer with ten years experience in producing spoken word material for print disabled people. Dale manages Information Alternatives, a specialist audio production organisation, and has enjoyed a long involvement with RPH broadcasting where he has undertaken technical production for much of the network's Audio Description coverage of major events. He has worked as the principal technical producer for the network's coverage of major tennis events and was responsible for development of the various operational protocols and standards that underpin these broadcasts.

This Project was conducted with the active support and involvement of a panel of thirteen blind and vision impaired television viewers. This group comprised the Consumer Panel for the Deprivation Study and contributed feedback to the

Consultants during development of the Audio Enhancement techniques and Exemplars described in this report. It is indicative of their assessment of the value of Audio Description that all Group members have indicated there willingness to provide ongoing voluntary support toward the introduction to Australia of comprehensive Audio Enhancement Services. We thank all Consumer Panel members for their contribution and commitment to the project. The constructive feedback that we have received, particularly in relation to the development of Audio Enhancement Exemplars, has been highly valued by the Project Team.

Valuable technical and policy advice was provided by the Project Advisory Group which included:

• William Jolley, BCA Executive Officer and Project Manager;

• Geoff Payne, General Manager Information Services, Vision Australia

Foundation;

• Stephen Jolley, Manager RPH Services, Vision Australia Foundation;

• Peter Simpson, Engineering Manager with HSV Channel Seven Melbourne.

We thank all Advisory Group members for their input to the project and take this opportunity to acknowledge the technical support received from HSV Channel Seven Melbourne.

Finally, our work in producing sample material for review by the Consumer Panel and the Audio Enhancement Exemplars that form an integral part of this work was made possible because of the skill and dedication offered by our team of Audio Describers.

We thank Marje Westh, Brian Collier and Ray Lord for their work in describing

sample material for review by the Consumer Panel and we thank and congratulate Victoria Howell for her expertise and dedication in scripting and narrating much of the Exemplar material.

Any assessment of the value of Audio Enhancement Services to blind and vision

impaired viewers is dependent on an understanding of the usage that such people make of television.

While no comprehensive research in this area has been undertaken in Australia, survey work undertaken by the American Foundation for the Blind and the Bavarian Blind Union in Germany provide useful information that we believe can be applied generally to the Australian situation.

As reported below we have tested this contention through the conduct of an

informal usage survey among fifty five blind or vision impaired Australians.

In 1994 the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) received from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services a two year grant to study Described Video's audience and methods of distribution.

This study investigated the actual and potential audiences for video description and determined the range of methods of delivery that are potentially available. Two surveys were conducted:

• a telephone survey of a sample of vision impaired individuals throughout the country;

• and a written survey (in large print and braille) of a sample of people currently on the mailing list of the largest producer and distributor of Video Description.

In addition, secondary analyses were conducted of major Federal Databases which contain relevant social-demographic information about people who are blind or vision impaired.

In determining the need for and anticipated usage of Audio Enhancement Service in Australia we have drawn heavily on this work.

The following extract from the Report's introduction provides a most helpful

snapshot of the US situation and likely Australian scenario.

This audience, hardly a homogeneous group, encompasses people who,

like the general audience for television and videotapes, have varied

interests, priorities, and amounts of available leisure time. They represent

all levels of education and income, and all races and ethnic groups.

Because so many people watch television and videos on a regular basis,

those with visual impairments already make up a substantial part of the

viewing audience. In fact, as viewers, they are similar in most ways to the

general audience; as a group, they watch television and videotapes in

programming.

frustrating experience of, say, listening to a chase scene for which they

hear lots of tire squeals, crashes, and gun shots, but no dialogue that

explains the action. Others have watched a one hour television mystery,

following and enjoying it for 58 minutes until, at the climax, the show

turns dramatically silent and reveals the ending in a visual way - that's

who killed Mr. X!

Many visually impaired people prefer to watch with a sighted friend or

relative who explains enough parts of the presentations to make them

aware of important elements that are presented only visually. However,

the visually impaired person may not have someone available who can

describe programming to him or her, or may wish to watch some shows

alone. In addition, impromptu description, while better than nothing,

Adding video description to a soundtrack is likely to increase the size of

the audience of blind and visually impaired people for a videotape or

television show, and is almost certain to enhance the viewing experience

for the existing as well as the future audience of blind and visually

In addition to the benefits for people with visual impairments, there is

some evidence that video description helps people with cognitive

impairments or learning disabilities understand and enjoy programming.

It also has been shown that people without disabilities have interest in

description, in situations where it is inconvenient to pay attention

continuously or at all to the visual aspects of a show. For instance, they

might enjoy listening to television while doing housework or receiving

description over the radio or on audio cassette while driving. This

parallels the situation with closed captioning in which people who do not

Our review of the available literature has only revealed one study of the potential audio description audience in Europe. This was a survey of blind and vision impaired people undertaken by the Bavarian Blind Union and reported in the January 1997 edition of The European AUDETEL Project Newsletter.

The Bavarian Blind Union has conducted a survey on audio description of

television. Results show a strong interest in audio description.

Questionnaires were sent to 2600 visually impaired people aged 20 - 60

and nearly half responded. The key findings are:

- 97% own a television set;

- 81% watch television regularly;

- 90% would like audio description of television;

- 92% would like the Bavarian Blind Union to promote regular audio

description of television programs.

Respondents would like audio description for specific programme

categories:

- 19% for talk shows;

- 31% for magazine programmes;

- 36% for westerns;

- 38% for news programmes;

- 39% for sports programmes;

- 52% for documentaries;

- 60% for police drama series;

- 82% for television films.

As indicated above, there has been no comprehensive assessment of television

usage by blind and vision impaired people in Australia

While we believe that the AFB study is widely applicable in Australia we were keen to undertake at least an informal survey to test the validity of this assumption. To this end a sampling of blind and vision impaired people were asked to complete a brief questionnaire. Respondents came from two sources:

• The thirteen blind and vision impaired people who comprised our Consumer consultative group each answered the questionnaire which appears as attachment One as part of their introduction to the project.

• 42 members of Internet discussion lists comprised of blind and vision impaired people responded to the questionnaire which appears as Attachment Two.

The combined response of 55 blind or vision impaired people can be summarised as follows:

52 of 55 respondents indicated that they own or are part of a household

that owns a television set;

51 of 52 respondents indicated that they watch TV for at least four

hours per week:

10 of 52 respondents indicated that they watch TV for 20 or more

hours each week;

39 of 52 respondents indicated that they do at least some of their

viewing without someone on hand to interpret the visual aspects to

them;

35 of 52 respondents indicated that issues of access to the content

determine their choice of program types;

asked this question).

Clearly, for this group at least, TV viewing is an important aspect of life. For many however, their experience is lessened by the need to consider access issues when making program choices. For those who had some experience of Audio Description its potential to add to their viewing understanding and enjoyment was clear.

The term "Audio Description" is applied to the process of providing for blind and

vision impaired people a verbal description to support their understanding of a

location, event or exhibit. Audio description services are best developed in the

United States where Audio Describers, most often on a voluntary basis, provide

descriptions of live theatre; works of art and museum exhibits; sport and other

public events; large format movie presentations; broadcast and cable television and home videos.

While there is anecdotal evidence of audio description provision from the 1970s it is generally recognised that the service was established on an ongoing and organised basis when Margaret and Coby Pfanstiehl established "The Metropolitan Washington Ear" as an ongoing Audio Description Service in the Washington DC area, in 1981.

Audio description services now operate across the United States offering

description on a scheduled basis in theatres movie venues, museums and art

galleries, and for major public events. Often these services operate in close co-

operation with captioning services for the deaf and frequently audio described

theatre performances are linked to opportunities for blind and vision impaired

patrons to inspect the sets, costumes and props used in the production and to meet and interact with cast members.

Audio description in theatres and similar venues is usually delivered through the transmission of a magnetic field, radio frequency or infrared signal which is received by the patron through a small unit equipped with an ear piece, or similar, for private listening.

Description of a live theatrical performance or movie presentation will include

background information such as the layout and features of the set, costumes and appearance of the characters. This is often provided in advance of the presentation and the detailed description of the action and changing scene is inserted in the natural breaks in dialogue throughout the performance.

Experiments in describing broadcast television and videos occurred in the US from the early 1980s. There are now two major providers of this service.

WGBH is a member station and major program contributor to the Public

Broadcasting Service. "Descriptive Video Services" was established in 1986 and

now functions as a separate division within WGBH. The following extract from the WGBH website provides an insight into the DVS Service.

Descriptive Video Service (DVS) is a national service that makes Public

Broadcasting Service (PBS) television programs, Hollywood movies and

The narration describes visual elements such as actions, settings, body

language and graphics. DVS was launched nationally in 1990 by the

WGBH Educational Foundation, producer of many prime time public

television programs and leader in the development of accessible media.

A viewer must live within range of a PBS Station that carries DVS and

must have a stereo TV or a stereo VCR that includes the Second Audio

Program (SAP) feature, standard on most newer stereo televisions and

video cassette recorders. Inexpensive receivers that convert TV sets to

stereo with SAP also can be purchased. Viewers who subscribe to cable

Public Broadcasting Service programming is networked to affiliated stations across the US. DVS currently promote the availability of described programming on 159 of these stations in 36 States (September 1999). Between five and eight hours of described programming is broadcast each week, including a daily childrens' program. Other material includes high budget drama and documentary series, such as "Nature", "Mobil Masterpiece Theatre" and "Mystery".

A comparison between the DVS program guide and the schedules for Australian broadcasters reveals that often documentary features aired on ABC and SBS have been enhanced with Video Description for their original American audience. A notable recent example was "The American Experience" feature "McArthur" aired on ABC TV earlier this year (1999).

DVS via Public Broadcasting Service affiliates is delivered as a closed component of the broadcast television signal. As an adjunct to the stereo sound component of Television in the US and elsewhere there is a Secondary Audio Program (SAP) feature. This was originally designed to meet the need for bilingual audio delivery and can be accessed via a switch which is provided as a near standard feature on stereo TV and VCRs sold in the US. When the SAP channel is accessed and video description is being delivered the viewer receives a mix of the normal program sound overlayed with the description.

Stand alone SAP receivers are also available. These are relatively portable although some have fixed tuning to the local PBS Service so only provide access to described programming within the service area of the designated station.

As many of the Radio Reading Services available across the US have developed

close relationships with their local PBS provider, described programming is often broadcast as a simulcast with its TV transmission. This further extends its

availability although as US Radio Reading Services are often provided as a closed service receivable on a pre-tuned receiver portability of access is again often limited to the local coverage area. The DVS website currently lists 30 Radio Reading Services across eighteen States that regularly broadcast DVS programming (September 1999).

DVS also provides described feature length movies to a number of cable providers and most notably to the Turner Classic Movie Service. TCM currently broadcasts around 30 described movies each month. While these are mostly aired outside prime viewing hours they are well spread throughout the day and a described feature film goes to air at 6.00 pm each Sunday evening. TCM currently list 75 described movies in their broadcast list (September 1999). These include many popular classics.

Described movies delivered through cable providers such as Turner Classic Movies are broadcast in an open format so the "Description" is heard by all viewers of the program.

DVS also offers a range of described Hollywood movies and PBS programming to the home video market. The current catalogue lists more than 200 titles

(September 1999). These are available for purchase by direct mail; through many public libraries; and through commercial rental outlets such as Blockbuster Stores.

Again these products are provided in an open format so the viewer needs only a regular VHS video cassette recorder and a television to watch these videos and hear the description.

Narrative Television Network (NTN) was established in 1988:

"to make movies and television programming accessible to blind and

visually impaired people through Narration, an "extra" voice added to

NTN programming is distributed via 1200 broadcast and cable outlets across the US. Their Website claims an audience reach of some 25 million homes. They note that while the service is designed to meet the needs of people who are blind or vision impaired 60% of there audience is made up of fully sighted people who simply enjoy the programming.

NTN's programming format is to preview the described program with a talk or

interview style program often featuring interviews with Actors, Producers or

Directors responsible for the production.

Around twenty hours of programming is provided each week. The narration is

added to the program soundtrack and broadcast in an open format so is accessible to all viewers. No special equipment is needed for use of the service.

NTN has affiliations with major Cable providers in the US such as Nostalgia

Television and Kaleidoscope Television; it is available via an open satellite service; is distributed throughout Canada on "The Family Channel; and is available in ten other countries including New Zealand.

Like DVS, NTN receives major funding support from the US Government, directed in the main through the Department of Education. Some of NTN's library of more than 200 movie titles are available to view via

their website at narrativetv.com.

Much of the early history of audio described television in Europe is linked to the

AUDETEL Project, a joint European Community initiative which brings together the TV Broadcasting Industry, equipment manufacturers and disability service

organisations. Although established some ten years ago this consortium has not yet achieved ongoing broadcast of described programming.

A detailed AUDETEL trial was conducted in England some years ago. Something of the early history of AUDETEL and this trial is detailed in the following, which is extracted from a presentation made by representatives of the Independent Television Commission, Independent Television Association and BBC to the International Broadcasting Convention in September 1994.

"In late 1991 an international group of broadcasters, manufacturers and

organisations with an interest in elderly and visually impaired people,

came together to form the AUDETEL Consortium. Its objective was to

perform a thorough investigation into the technical, logistic and economic

however, has since been recognised to have hugely wider potential.

General studies of television viewing habits, increasingly show that

viewers do not always want to fix their visual attention on the screen, but

instead wish to direct it towards a range of domestic activities or

past times such as cooking. One major survey for example, carried out by

face-to-face interview with 1185 respondents in their homes, revealed

that 39% of viewers often or occasionally "watched" television just for

background while doing other things. Not only would an AUDETEL

commentary be invaluable to these people, but more especially to those

.......

"At the time of writing, (June 94) these developments are about to

culminate in the launch of national test transmissions to a population of

about 140 prototype receivers throughout the UK. These tests will last at

A major technical challenge for AUDETEL was to develop an economic

method of conveying the voice of the describer within existing European

The first prototype system was designed to be carried in the spare NICAM

capacity with speech transmission at 9.5kbit/s (and with 1.5 kbit/s of

control data).

The first over-the-air trial using the NICAM variant was carried out in the

London area in December 1992. Although the experiments successfully

The work of AUDETEL is about to reach its peak with a major trial of

The test transmissions will broadcast for about 3 hours per week and will

An item on the Website of the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) (Audio Description on Television - Coming to a television set near you!; 1998;

www.rnib.org.uk/wedo/research/european/audetel) records details of the AUDETEL trial.

"The research and development culminated in the production of a small

number of prototype receivers, and the broadcasting by the BBC and ITV

Fifty receivers were placed in the homes of visually impaired television

viewers. These were moved once during the test period to provide 100

participants in the important viewer reaction research that was conducted

during that period. These viewers were selected at random from an RNIB

database of 60,000 visually impaired people; in order to gather objective

and systematic feedback, and reflect the overall visually impaired

population. This is a standard approach for audience research.

A wide range of programmes were described during the AUDETEL test.

They included episodes of Coronation Street, The Bill, Cracker and

Taggart; comedies such as One Foot in the Grave; wildlife series such as

Realms of the Russian Bear; documentaries and many films, including

Beetlejuice, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Truly Madly Deeply, and

Black Widow.

The data collected from the viewers shows that the majority of them

welcomed the addition of audio description as it considerably enhanced

their enjoyment of television programmes. Description of facial

expressions were very popular, especially when people's emotions were

crucial to the plot. Two comments were "I enjoyed Taggart for the first

time in my life I could really understand it" and "AUDETEL really made

Roughnecks come alive".

The next major development toward the ongoing delivery of audio description

services in the UK occurred in July 1996 when a new Broadcasting Act was

introduced to provide for the implementation of Digital Terrestrial Television

Broadcasting. This Legislation includes provisions that mandate a requirement for at least 10% of broadcast programmes to include audio description by the 10^th year of their digital licence.

"An Explanatory guide to the provisions introduced by the Broadcasting Act 1996" includes the following:

The Act provides that the ITC should publish a Code giving Guidance on

provision for viewers with sensory impairments. This Code will form part

of Broadcasters' licence conditions and will require that by the tenth

anniversary of the introduction of any digital programme service not less

The Act provides for the ITC's Code to exclude some types of "exempt"

programmes for which it considers this level of assistance to be

impairments. It should be emphasised that these exclusions will be the

exception rather than the rule; the majority of programmes should be

subject to the targets set out on the face of the Act.

All these targets are amendable by order and the Secretary of State will

have the power to increase them to reflect future technological advances.

In parallel with its work toward the introduction of comprehensive Audio

Described Television Services the RNIB has established an Audio Described

Videos service. A range of more than fifty feature length movies is available

for purchase or loan (June 1999) and the loan service is available either

directly from RNIB or through Blockbuster Video Stores across the country.

Most titles have been narrated in England by audio describers commissioned

specifically for this work however the range also includes some features

supplied by DVS in Boston.

As an adjunct to this service RNIB also has available a smaller range of

documentary features, largely related to modern British history, where the

original narration of the work is deemed to be adequate for a blind viewer and

description has not been added.

While the AUDETEL Project includes the involvement of Broadcasters,

manufacturers and Community Organisations across the European Community we were not able to identify manifestations of the project in other European

Countries during this research.

In Australia the history of audio description of television is closely linked to that of our Radio for the Print Handicapped Services. To this time all Audio Enhancement of broadcast television, provided for the direct benefit of blind or vision impaired viewers has been delivered as a simulcast transmission from the RPH services.

By 1983 RPH Stations were established and operating on an extended hours basis in several State Capital Cities. In Melbourne the 3RPH licence was held by a Co-Operative which involved several blind people as well as representatives of the major blindness service provision organisations. It was from among this group that the idea of using the RPH service as an outlet for providing ball by ball description of international tennis came. Tennis events such as Wimbledon, the US and French Open Tournaments and the annual Davis Cup Competition were of interest to a substantial number of blind people and were broadcast via Australian commercial television networks, often during overnight hours. As such, tennis description could be carried on 3RPH without detriment to normal programming.

Regular coverage of major international tennis events began with coverage of the 1983 Wimbledon Tournament. It has operated each year since, with the co-operation of the TV networks who give permission for their court-side sound and commentary to be intermixed with ball by ball description added in the 3RPH studios. The Description is provided by leading sports callers who give their time on a voluntary basis for the project.

The strategy of providing enhancement to television coverage of major events was then extended to coverage of Melbourne's annual Moomba Parade and then to description of Australian made television drama series such as "Man from Snowy River", "Law of the Lands" and more recently the police drama series "Water Rats".

Originally 3RPH sourced the television sound from an off-air receiver however the various television providers now make available clean-feeds of the source program with the advantage that inappropriate content such as commercials, program promotions and the like can be readily eliminated from the modified, radio delivered sound track.

Although coverage of international tennis has now become a much anticipated part of the 3RPH programming schedule and description of some Australian drama series is keenly sought by many, two factors have mitigated against the extension of Audio Enhancement of television in Australia.

• Firstly, while 3RPH and its parent organisation the Vision Australia Foundation remain committed to the provision of comprehensive Audio Enhancement Services, their only available delivery mechanism is via the RPH Service. As such every decision to provide description has to be balanced against other programming needs. In general, while the audience values the opportunity to enjoy Described Television there is resistance to this service provision being at the expense of core RPH content.

• Secondly, until quite recently it has not been feasible to extend the service to other parts of the country. While 3RPH is relatively well resourced with facilities and volunteer support, as part of a larger Disability Service Organisation, this is not the case with other RPH providers who are all smaller stand alone organisations. As such they have not been able to direct there resources to duplicating the 3RPH commitment to Audio Enhancement and until recently there has not been an affordable means of relaying the 3RPH material to its sister stations.

It is however now possible to relay Audio Enhancement to other parts of the

country as the RPH Services have access to a satellite audio channel that is used for program distribution from Melbourne to a regional service in the Mildura area and for program transfer to other stations. As a result of this development coverage of the 1999 Wimbledon tournament was carried from Melbourne to Mildura and Hobart.

This system is however not totally satisfactory as the digital compression and

transmission time involved with the satellite link from Melbourne introduces a small but noticeable delay to the signal in comparison to the television distribution, so the enhanced sound is out of synch with the television sound and action for the viewer/listener in a remote location.

An interesting bi-product of the 3RPH Tennis coverage occurred recently as a result of the involvement of commercial and ABC radio personnel in the project. In early 1999 the Australian team unexpectedly made the final of the Hopman Cup Tennis Tournament in Perth. While ABC television had the broadcast rights for the event no arrangements were in place for radio coverage of the finals as part of the ABC Radio Grandstand program. Using the skill acquired through his involvement in RPH tennis coverage over several years ABC Radio News presenter Rohan Forster provided a comprehensive ball by ball commentary of both the Mens and Womens' Finals working from the television picture and court-side sound received in Melbourne.

As reported above, the provision of audio described television in both the US and UK is closely linked to the provision for sale or rental of described videos.

While a little experimental work has been done in Australia to this end, there is no ongoing production and availability of local product. However, some of the Talking Book Library Services are importing titles from both Descriptive Video Services in the US and the Royal National Institute for the Blind in the UK.

In particular, the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind has developed a Video

Library Service within its Library and Information Services Unit. As at May of 1999 the library had a selection of some 51 titles available and had recorded

approximately 450 loans to its registered borrowers. At the time of our inquiry the library was holding a further 206 loan requests.

If blind and vision impaired viewers in Australia are to have the benefit of Audio Enhancement to support their use and enjoyment of broadcast television it is necessary to demonstrate the extent to which they are currently deprived of access to the information and entertainment content of the medium.

Television content is produced and broadcast so as to be attractive to the broadest possible audience. The program maker wants his work to be enjoyed and his message to be understood by all who view his work: the advertiser wants to communicate with all those with a potential interest in his product or service. By demonstrating that much of this creative effort falls short of a significant section of the viewing public we seek to enlist the support of programmers and advertisers in our quest for the provision of comprehensive Audio Enhancement Services.

This study was undertaken through the conduct of a two day workshop involving a group of twelve blind and vision impaired television viewers. This Group was recruited from the start of the project to provide input to the Deprivation Study and feedback on the sample material produced later in the project.

Our methodology for this study was to ask blind and vision impaired workshop

participants to respond to a particular question, or questions, in relation to their

viewing of a program segment or advertisement. These questions were designed to draw out the participants on their understanding of the material they had viewed.

Responses were then rated against benchmark figures that had been established for each clip and the score across the blind and the vision impaired sub-groups were expressed as a percentage to indicate the approximate proportion of the segment content that had been identified by the viewing group.

Television content was divided into the following types:

- pre-recorded drama and situation comedy;

and finance information;

Within the workshop framework specific sessions were conducted on each topic

area. Participants had the opportunity to view or listen to a number of pre-selected segments in each category and then to record their response to the question asked.

Each session also included a replay of the material presented, with explanation.

This was followed by a focus group discussion in order that participants could

provide feedback on their broader viewing experiences.

Participants worked independently and recorded their response in braille, on

computer or by hand writing.

In advance of the workshop, considerable time went into the selection and

assembly of program material. As indicated in the project proposal, all material used was sourced from free-to-air Australian content, broadcast in Melbourne.

Following a review of the broadcasting schedules of all networks, blocks of material were recorded on a selected basis so as to attain material in all the content categories, across all networks and covering the widest possible spread of Australian content.

Most material was recorded during June and July 1998 although some material

used was already available, particularly in the Special Events area.

Once program blocks were recorded the material was reviewed in order to identify segments where there was significant non-verbal content. Consideration had to be given to segment length and to ensuring that there was not an over representation of vision only material.

Once selection was completed the project's Technical Consultant compiled all

material, in order, onto video tape, recording both a main and back up copy.

Fifty four program segments were selected and compiled, of these 48 were put

to the Workshop.

From across a broad sampling of current and near current advertising 50

advertisements were selected and compiled. 20 of these were put to the

Workshop.

Schedules detailing all program segments and advertisements used are attached for information. Duplicate video tapes of both program and advertising material assembled are also included.

In order to ensure that workshop attendees responded on the basis of their own perception of the material screened it was necessary to establish a facility where participants were separated from each other and where they could view or listen to the material in the manner most suited to their vision level and other needs.

Seven of the twelve participants had no useable sight so were provided with an

individual audio feed of the material. They could adjust the volume and other

aspects of this to suit their particular listening requirements.

Five participants had sufficient residual sight to benefit from viewing the material at close quarters. These people were provided with a small television monitor positioned to their best advantage, They could also adjust sound and picture to suit their requirements.

All video material was fed from a central control facility equipped with switching capacity to ensure a clean start and end to each segment. This facility also allowed for freeze frame and slow motion replay which was used during segment replay and explanation.

The Workshop was held in the meeting room of Blind Citizens Australia where the room was configured so that participants had a separate work station for viewing and responding to program segments. They were then able to come together for the focus group aspects of the workshop.

Blind Citizens Australia advertised among its membership for potential workshop participants.

The group was chosen so as to include:

- a range of sight levels and conditions;

- people of various ages;

- people who view on their own, with sighted family or friends, and with

other blind people;

Although participants were all television viewers on at least an occasional basis, deliberate effort was made to ensure that the group was not comprised of people who were prolific viewers.

A brief questionnaire was completed by all participants. As can be seen from the copy attached, this sought some background information about the person's sight level and viewing habits.

All participants were recruited on the basis of their continuing involvement with the project. It was felt that continuity of involvement would be important to later aspects of the research where participants would be able to make direct

comparisons based on their understanding of the development work being

undertaken. In the end one participant in the deprivation workshop was unable to continue with later parts of the project, thus the reference in other parts of this report to a group of thirteen.

The direct output from each workshop participant was a series of statements

written immediately after their viewing of the sample segments and advertisements.

In most cases, for the program segments, participants were asked to describe the scene as they understood it. For the advertisements and some information type segments a more specific question was used to test understanding of key

information elements.

Following the workshop we reviewed all of the material used and established a

benchmark score against which comprehension of each item could be assessed. For those segments where an extended response had been sought this was done by awarding a one point score for each content element identified in the clip.

Points were allocated for identification of:

Naturally the benchmark scores for each segment varied depending on the

complexity of the selected clip.

For some of the information segments and advertisements the rating used was a simple one point for a YES or confirmation of some key aspect of the content.

Attachment four includes a listing of the content clips used; together with the

questions put to the workshop group; and a brief description of the segment.

These benchmark scores were compiled into a table, separated by content type.

Each participant's responses were rated against these benchmark figures.

The tables that appear as Attachment five identify the segment by type give the

benchmark score and then the scores achieved by participants. it is then possible to express the response received as a percentage of the benchmark score. In order to minimise the impact of previous knowledge of the material and variations in the skill of participants in expressing their understanding we have developed averages across the two sub-groups of participants, those with some useable vision and those who had no sight to aid their interpretation of the material. The percentage figures expressed represent the average response across these sub-groups for each clip viewed these are then summarised as the average across the content type.

While this methodology has allowed us to demonstrate the existence of substantial deprivation among the blind and vision impaired television audience we recognise the need for its further refinement and for the conduct of any further study to involve a control group in order that a more sophisticated analysis of the incidence and level of deprivation might be completed.

The following summary table provides an indication of the comprehension level for each content category studied. The information is provided for the two distinct sub-groups, those with no useable vision and those with sufficient sight to assist their understanding of the material.

The table includes:

• identification of the category;

• the aggregate points score possible for the items in that category;

• the average score achieved by sub-group members;

• and that score expressed as a percentage of the possible score.

If we accept the percentage score as an indicator of the level of comprehension

that the sub-group had across the segments in each category we can conclude that the lower the percentage score the greater the level of deprivation experienced in relation to that content.

Aggregate Low Vision Blind sub-group

points sub-group

Drama 64 28.2 44% 16 25%

Entertainment 55 19.4 35% 10.2 18.5%

Documentary 25 6.8 27% 6.2 24.5%

Current Affairs 39 14.6 37.5% 12.7 32.5%

Sport/Events 52 10 19% 10.9 21%

News 48 16 33% 18.7 39%

Information 33 12.6 38% 11.5 35%

Infotainment 18 5.0 28% 3.6 20%

334 118.6 35.5% 89.8 26.9%

Advertisements 30 20 66% 4.3 14%

364 138.6 36.4% 94.1 25.8%

The following notes set these responses in context.

43 of the 48 segments shown required a descriptive response.

• For the low vision group there was only one segment "A Current Affair" (Nine) where the group achieved a comprehension rating of 60%.

• There were nine segments where the low vision sub-group achieved 20% or less, including one "Thundercats Surf Boat Series" (Nine's Wide World of Sports) where only a 5% comprehension rating was achieved.

• For the blind sub-group there was only one segment that achieved 50% or better, "Burke and Wills story" (Our World, Seven) 54%.

• There were three segments where the blind sub-group registered no comprehension at all and a further two that rated below 10%.

This was the category in which the low vision sub-group did best. This was

perhaps due to the fact that most of the sample material was drawn from popular drama and soapie series where participants could be expected to recognise characters and have a sense of the circumstances in which the segments were set.

It is worth noting that the clip from "Home and Away" (Seven), which was

relatively static and conversational rated highest at 53% comprehension while the police chase action sequence from "Water Rats" (Nine) only rated 36%.

Ratings across the content segments were much lower for the blind sub-group.

Again the "Home and Away" (Seven) segment rated highest at 47.5% while a sequence from "Correlli" (ABC) which included no dialogue and only muffled contextual sound with underlying music rated only 8.8% comprehension.

The Entertainment section included four comedy sequences from variety

programming and two game show segments.

Again familiarity with the program was evident. "Wheel of Fortune (Seven) was

relatively well comprehended by both the low vision and blind sub-groups (Low

Vision 51.5% and Blind 43%).

A segment from "Midday"(Nine) in which an American woman with extensive

tattoos was being interviewed was also relatively well understood by both groups. (Low Vision 48% and Blind 25.5%).

On the other hand, a complex introductory piece from "Hey Hey its Saturday"

(Nine) in which cartoon drawings and interventions from the audience and other performers were used to support the host's routine, proved difficult to follow for most. (Low Vision 24.5% and Blind 18.5%).

Similarly a comedy segment from "In Melbourne Tonight" (Nine) which was a take-off of the Channel Seven Show "Who Dares Wins" was most difficult for both low vision and blind participants. (Low Vision 21.5% and Blind 10.5%).

While both low vision and blind participants indicated relatively high comprehension of the "Our World" Segment about Burke and Wills (Seven) (Low Vision 45% and Blind 54%), it is interesting to note that the blind sub-group had better comprehension of the content. This would appear to relate to their better recall of the commentary included in the segment.

On the other hand, the ABC documentary "The Pitch" which explored the

operations of an Advertising Agency, was not well comprehended (Low Vision

22.5% and Blind 14%). This was a very busy segment with poor audio and indirect references to a series of Artists Drawings shown on-screen.

This category included one clip which required a simple "identification" response.

The opening sequence of "The Elizabeth Durak Story", Australian Biography (SBS) was shown. This interview program started with a direct to-camera comment from the interviewee and then continued with her voice over a series of still photographs. Participants were asked to identify the interviewee, The only reference within the early part of the program was through on-screen text. The response here was directly linked to the level of useable sight of the participant. Three of the five low vision sub-group were able to read the caption while none of the blind sub-group could identify the subject.

A graphically described sequence from "A Current Affair", (Nine) about the

mistreatment of birds at a Western Australian poultry farm rated relatively highly among both sub-groups (Low Vision 60% and Blind 44.5%) although a sequence within this where the poultry farm operator attacked the film crew was reported as confusing and hard to follow for all participants.

On the other hand, a crime re-enactment scene from "Australia's Most Wanted"

(Seven) scored quite poorly (Low Vision 20% and Blind 19.5%) as did a sequence from the ABC series Uncensored (Low Vision 20% and Blind 11.5%) where the interviewee Normal Mailer's challenge to the feminist beliefs of the interviewer, Jana Went, were illustrated through the facial expressions of both parties.

This category was dealt with in two sub-sections.

Four sporting segments were used and participants were asked to describe the

action or play for each. AFL football (Seven) was included to test the theory that familiarity assists comprehension. The other three sports, Womens' National Hockey Championships (ABC), Power Boat Racing (Nine's Wide World of Sports) and Ten Pin Bowling (Nine's Wide World of Sports), were less known to the audience and less often seen on television.

For the low vision sub-group AFL Football was clearly the most comprehendible scoring 25% in comparison to 17.5%, 7.5% and 12,5% respectively.

On the other hand, the blind sub-group was far more accurate in their recounting of the Ten Pin Bowling sequence, (27% as against football 19.5%, Hockey 18% and Power Boat Racing 18%). Arguably this was because of the audio clues provided through the clear conversation that could be heard between the contestants and with the audience.

Segments from two Special Events telecasts were shown.

A sequence from the Seven presentation "Melbourne City Christmas Concert" was chosen because of its complexity and the fact that it was set in an outdoor location at night. In this sequence one of the hosts encourages crowd support to get Santa to come down onto the stage from the roof of a nearby building. The segment included a lot of dialogue between the host, other guests and Santa, as well as the audible reaction of the crowd. It is interesting to note that the blind sub-group indicated a far higher level of comprehension of this material than did the low vision sub-group (Low Vision 14% and Blind 31.5%)

The second segment was taken from the Opening of the 1998 AFL Grand Final

(Seven). Here the visual portrayal of the scene was supported by choral

presentations and solo artists. Although both sub-groups recorded relatively low scores for this segment the low vision sub-group did somewhat better (Low Vision 28%,and Blind 11.5%).

Five News segments were used, one from the ABC and each of the commercial

networks plus an additional sports story from the Ten Network.

Across all of these the enhanced listening ability of the blind sub-group was

demonstrated as they out-rated the low vision sub-group in their comprehension of four of the five stories. None-the-less, comprehension levels of between 25% and 43% can hardly be seen as sufficient for access to the information content of major news bulletins.

Ten information segments were used.

Three of these were announcements of lottery results. Respondents were asked to indicate if they could access the key information (the numbers drawn). Where this information was provided verbally all of the blind sub-group and most of the low vision sub-group indicated that the information was accessible to them. However, where the information was available only in a visual form only those with sufficient sight to comfortably view the screen indicated that they could access the information.

While we did not ask participants to record the numbers it was clear from our

subsequent discussion that even those with relatively good useable sight felt they would have struggled to write down the keno draw information (Nine) which included far more numbers than the others.

The fourth segment used was an ABC promotion "On ABC Tonight" This was

chosen deliberately as the verbal presentation was given in an informal manner and did not follow the sequence shown on-screen. Four of the low vision sub- group indicated that they could follow it sufficiently to have an understanding of the night's program choices, however, some of the blind sub-group found the announcer's oblique references to what followed what hard to comprehend. (Low Vision 80% and Blind 57%).

Finance segments from both Ten and Seven News were used. In both cases this information was provided as a bridge into or out of a commercial break and as a visual component only. Comprehension of this material was very poor. Low vision participants were able to gleam some details but none were able to gain a comprehensive understanding of the material. Among the blind sub-group the material was totally inaccessible and several participants

indicated that they did not know that financial information was delivered in this way as a regular part of the Evening News. (Low Vision 20% and 20%, Blind 0% and 0%).

Four television weather segments were used. For three (Seven, Nine and Ten)

participants were asked to record key elements of the reports. Comprehension

levels varied across both sub-groups and group members indicated that this was attributable to the particular style of the Presenter as well as the clarity of the graphics used. There was little difference between the comprehension level of the low vision sub-group and the blind sub-group and in fact the blind sub-group scored higher for two of the segments. (Low vision 40%, 40% & 36.5% and Blind 38%, 50% & 53%).

The final weather segment used was taken from the ABC 7.00 News. Given that this service is intended for viewers across Victoria, participants were asked to nominate a country location ahead of their viewing and then to try to establish tomorrow's forecast for that location. Among the low vision sub-group some members were able to find details for their chosen location (or a nearby regional centre) on the map and to draw conclusions from these. For the blind sub-group the only success came for those lucky enough to pick a location where there was verbal reference to a bad storm that day. (Low Vision 40% and Blind 11%)

Segments were used from four infotainment programs. The clip from the Nine

program "Money" provided the most information to both sub-groups (Low Vision 50% and Blind 36%) as much of the general content was verbalised. Participants however reported that they were not able to access certain key information such as contact details which had been included in a vision-only form.

Segments from Better Homes and Gardens (Seven) and Gardening Australia (ABC) were shown to be of less value as the commentary was oblique to the main visual content. The situation for the low vision sub-group was however marginally better as they were able to gain some benefit from the visual content. (Better Homes: Low Vision 30% and Blind 21.5%; Gardening Australia: Low Vision 25% and Blind 18%).

A Real Estate segment from Our House (Nine) was chosen as all of the information here is included on slides that are shown at high speed. The viewer is then encouraged to record the segment and view it via the slow motion feature on a standard video recorder.

Our intention here was to test participants understanding of the segment and its methodology. Only one of the twelve participants indicated that they could follow the process that was being suggested.

Twenty advertisements were shown to the group and participants were asked to

identify one or two key elements of the advertiser's message, such as the name of the product being promoted, price or contact details. No attempt was made to test for a deeper understanding of the storyline or content detail.

Among the low vision sub-group a 66% level of recognition/information was

achieved while for the blind sub-group the level dropped to 14%.

For the low vision sub-group recognition/comprehension was highest where

participants were asked to identify products or services that have a high community profile and lowest where they were asked to record specific information such as contact details.

Among the blind sub-group there was very high recognition of an advertisement promoting work place safety,(Workcover Victoria) where the dialogue made the message quite clear, although the punch line was in visual form only. There were however eleven advertisements where none of the seven sub-group members could provide the information requested.