Published: 13 February 2012
'Witse' is first fiction series in Belgium to be broadcast with audio description on television. The first ever episode with AD went on-air on January 8 2012. The series is about Witse, a driven inspector in the Belgian federal police based in Halle, a beautiful city located on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal.
The crime drama produced by Belgian broadcaster VRT was first broadcast in 2004. After eight long and highly popular seasons, the ninth one was chosen for the launch of AD simply because of its popularity with viewers.
It claims to have some 1.6 million viewers across the country.
Provision of audio description is part of a larger accessibility initiative that has been launched by VRT. The broadcaster has committed to air at least one series per year with audio description in the coming years.
On the launch of audio description, Eric DeSnerck from Flemish Public Broadcaster said that "potential AD users were very happy about this launch. They did say that it was a bit late but they were very happy that they have AD now."
Leen Petre, Principal Manager RNIB spoke with Eric DeSnerck at length about this launch. You can listen to the full interview or read the transcript of the interview on our website.