The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has expressed disappointment at the current level of provision of audio description (AD) for On Demand services. RNIB believes that AD should be mandatory to ensure that people with sight loss are able to enjoy television in the same way as the rest of the population.
Low levels of AD
A recent survey by the Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD) revealed extremely low levels of AD from service providers. Of the 81 service providers invited to respond, only 17 did so. Those 17 service providers provide 36 services between them and of these services 16 had no access services at all and only two, namely 4oD and Sky Anytime, provided AD.
Only six of the 34 services that do not currently provide AD stated that they had any plans to do so in future and only two, namely ITV and Channel 5, had firm plans with a timeline attached.
"Not good enough"
Leen Petré, Principal Manager of the Media and Culture Department in RNIB, said: "This is the second year in a row that only two services are providing AD and its not good enough. These results show that simply 'encouraging' providers to make their On Demand programming more accessible to people with sight or hearing loss is not working.
"Popular providers such as Lovefilm, FilmFlex and BT Vision have made no public commitment to make their service accessible to blind and partially sighted people through AD.
"RNIB will continue to push for ATVOD to be given real powers to enforce accessibility through a change to the communications act. Without this, on demand service providers will continue to ignore ATVOD's encouragement and blind and partially sighted people will find themselves unable to access the new and growing on-demand services that are provided to the rest of the population."
- Ends -
Notes to editors
The ATVOD report is available on http://www.atvod.co.uk/regulated-services
BBC iplayer provides audio description, but as it is not regulated by ATVOD it is not covered in the research or included in the numbers quoted.
For more information about audio description go to www.rnib.org.uk/ad
For media enquiries please contact Rachel Cafferty in RNIB's Public Relations Team on 0207 391 2043 or 0207 391 2223, email rachel.cafferty@rnib.org.uk
About RNIB
Everyday around 100 people in the UK start to lose their sight. There are around 2 million people in the UK with sight problems. RNIB is the leading charity working in the UK offering practical support, advice and information for anyone with sight difficulties. If you, or someone you know, has a sight problem RNIB can help. Call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit www.rnib.org.uk