Audio Description in Australia Audio Description in Australia Katie Ellis, Gwyneth Peaty, Leanne McRae, Mike Kent and Kathryn Locke March 2019 Audio Description in Australia Authored by Katie Ellis, Gwyneth Peaty, Leanne McRae, Mike Kent and Kathryn Locke Published in 2019 The operation of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network is made possible by funding provided by the Commonwealth of Australia under section 593 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. This funding is recovered from charges on telecommunications carriers. Curtin University Website: www.curtin.edu.au Email: [email protected] Telephone: (08) 9266 2509 Australian Communications Consumer Action Network Website: www.accan.org.au Email: [email protected] Telephone: 02 9288 4000 If you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service: www.relayservice.gov.au ISBN: 978-1-921974-56-4 Cover image: created by Richard Van Der Male with images from Shutterstock This work is copyright, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. You are free to cite, copy, communicate and adapt this work, so long as you attribute the authors and “Curtain University, supported by a grant from the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network”. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work can be cited as: Ellis, K., Peaty, G., McRae, L., Kent, M. & Locke, K. 2019, Audio Description in Australia, Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, Sydney. Table of Contents Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................................... i Figures and Tables ................................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 1 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Background ............................................................................................................................................. 6 A History of Audio Description ............................................................................................................ 6 Audio Description Uses ..................................................................................................................... 10 Accessibility ................................................................................................................................... 10 Translation .................................................................................................................................... 11 Current and Potential Audiences ...................................................................................................... 12 Blind and Vision Impaired Audience ............................................................................................. 14 Other Disability Groups and Mainstream Audience ..................................................................... 14 Audio Description as a Human Right – The UNCRPD ........................................................................ 16 Methodology ......................................................................................................................................... 19 Findings ................................................................................................................................................. 21 Phase I: Scoping Study – Audio Description in Australia .................................................................. 21 Availability of Audio Description in Different Formats ................................................................. 21 Availability of Audio Description at Cultural Events and Locations .............................................. 32 Historical Free To Air Offerings of Audio Description – The ABC Trials ........................................ 38 Legislation of Audio Description ................................................................................................... 40 Phase II: Scoping Study – Audio Description Around the World ...................................................... 45 Case Studies – An International Perspective ................................................................................ 45 Barriers to Implementing Audio Description ................................................................................ 56 Phase III: Focus Groups ..................................................................................................................... 60 Demographics ............................................................................................................................... 61 Lack of Awareness of Audio Description ....................................................................................... 62 Mainstream Benefits of Audio Description ................................................................................... 63 Importance of Quality in Audio Description Production .............................................................. 65 Perceived Barriers to Accessing Audio Description ...................................................................... 67 Demand for Audio Description ..................................................................................................... 68 ACCAN GRANTS PROGRAM i Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 70 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................ 72 Authors .................................................................................................................................................. 74 Appendix A: Focus Group Forum Questions ......................................................................................... 75 Glossary ................................................................................................................................................. 77 References ............................................................................................................................................ 78 ACCAN GRANTS PROGRAM ii Figures and Tables Figure 1. Detailed timeline of milestones in audio description in the US since 1960 ............................ 7 Figure 2. The long road to audio description in Australia ....................................................................... 9 Figure 3. Timeline of more recent developments in audio description in Australia .............................. 9 Figure 4. EzyDVD audio description search webpage ........................................................................... 22 Figure 5. Hoyts audio description search webpage .............................................................................. 23 Figure 6. Village Cinemas audio description search webpage .............................................................. 24 Figure 7. Amazon Prime audio description search webpage ................................................................ 25 Figure 8. STAN email response re: audio description ........................................................................... 26 Figure 9. BAM app preview ................................................................................................................... 28 Figure 10. MovieReading app preview ................................................................................................. 29 Figure 11. Actiview app preview ........................................................................................................... 30 Figure 12. Movies Anywhere app screenshot ....................................................................................... 31 Figure 13. Some audio described events at the 2018 Melbourne Fringe Festival................................ 38 Figure 14. Facebook entry for the ACB’s Audio Description Project .................................................... 46 Figure 15. Focus group forum introduction screenshot ....................................................................... 60 Figure 16. Focus group demographics .................................................................................................. 62 Table 1. Benefits of audio description according to television genre .................................................. 13 Table 2. Artback NT’s Disability Action Plan – Goal 1 ........................................................................... 35 Table 3. Ofcom’s UK targets for audio description ............................................................................... 47 Table 4. Audio description targets in Irish television 2014-18 ............................................................. 49 Table 5. Audio description targets in Irish television 2019-23 ............................................................. 50 Table 6. Differing claims of implementation of the UNCRPD in Thailand ...........................................