<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Audio description continues to be unavailable on broadcast television in Australia, despite the technological capabilities to provide it and the existence of a federally funded back catalogue or ‘secret library’ of audio described television content. This paper reveals findings into both the amount of audio described content that has been created but not made available to television audiences, while also reviewing existing innovative platforms for audio description, such as the app BAM-Describe. It contextualises these findings in an overview of the history of audio description in and outside of Australia, highlighting key technological and policy changes. Evoking theories of the preferred user and how this understanding of television audiences addresses disability, we argue that different interpretations of how audio description can be delivered, determined through a process of interpretive flexibility (and continued industry creativity and innovation) may finally shift the stagnating discussions around audio description provision, and thus ultimately change the accessibility of television for the blind and vision impaired.</p></abstract>

Audio description continues to be unavailable on broadcast television in Australia, despite the technological capabilities to provide it and the existence of a federally funded back catalogue or ‘secret library’ of audio described television content. This paper reveals findings into both the amount of audio described content that has been created but not made available to television audiences, while also reviewing existing innovative platforms for audio description, such as the app BAM-Describe. It contextualises these findings in an overview of the history of audio description in and outside of Australia, highlighting key technological and policy changes. Evoking theories of the preferred user and how this understanding of television audiences addresses disability, we argue that different interpretations of how audio description can be delivered, determined through a process of interpretive flexibility (and continued industry creativity and innovation) may finally shift the stagnating discussions around audio description provision, and thus ultimately change the accessibility of television for the blind and vision impaired.

The Preferred User: How Audio Description could Change Understandings of Australian Television Audiences and Media Technology

Cultural Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Audio description continues to be unavailable on broadcast television in Australia, despite the technological capabilities to provide it and the existence of a...

Channel/Program	Viewing times	AD track available?	AD broadcast
ABC1
Australia’s great war horse	Tuesday 11:17–12:17 pm	Yes	No
Rosehaven (series 2)	Wednesday 9:08–9:34 pm	No	No
Rage 30 – The story of rage	Wednesday 11:35–12:30 pm	No	No
The Ex-PM	Thursday 8:33–8:58 pm	Yes	No
Bucket	Thursday 8:59–9:26 pm Repeated Friday 3 Nov 12:40 am	No	No
Upper middle bogan (series 3)	Thursday 9:52–10:22 pm	Yes	No
Classic countdown (series 1)	Sunday 6:02–7:00 pm	No	No
Dr Blake (series 5)	Sunday 8:30–9:30 pm	Yes	No
The divorce	Sunday 11:02–12:37 am	No	No

ABC2
Prisoners and pups	Wednesday 9:26 pm–10:26 pm	No	No

ABC3
Little lunch	Tuesday 6.37–7 pm	No	No
Barney’s Barrier Reef	Daily 7:31–7:59 pm	No	No

ABC24	–

Category/Title	Genre	AD track available?	AD broadcast
Best dramas
Glitch	Drama	Yes	No
Dr Blake	Drama	Yes	No
Pulse	Drama	No	No
The warriors	Drama	No	No

Trending on iview
Dr Blake	Drama	Yes	No
Rosehaven	Comedy	No	No

Discover new shows
The Ex-PM	Comedy	Yes	No
The letdown	Comedy	Yes	No
Upper middle bogan	Comedy	Yes	No
Wham bam thank you Ma’am	Comedy	No	No
The edge of the bush	Comedy	No	No
The Kettering show	Comedy	No	No

Watch the complete series
The house with Annabelle Crabb	Documentary	No	No
The warriors	Drama	No	No
Get krack!n	Comedy	No	No
Pulse	Drama	No	No
Glitch	Drama	Yes	No
Rosehaven	Comedy	No	No
Ronny Chieng: International student	Comedy	Yes	No

The Preferred User: How Audio Description could Change Understandings of Australian Television Audiences and Media Technology

Article Category: Research

Publié en ligne: 10 juil. 2018

Pages: 7 - 16

Reçu: 15 mars 2018

Accepté: 18 juin 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/csci.105

Mots clés
audio description, television, disability, accessibility

© 2018 Katie Ellis, Mike Kent, Kathryn Locke, published by De Gruyter

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Audio described content on Screen Australia funded dramas on the ABC.

Audio described content on Screen Australia funded dramas on ABC iview.

The Preferred User: How Audio Description could Change Understandings of Australian Television Audiences and Media Technology

Article Category: Research

Publié en ligne: 10 juil. 2018

Pages: 7 - 16

Reçu: 15 mars 2018

Accepté: 18 juin 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/csci.105

Mots clésaudio description, television, disability, accessibility

© 2018 Katie Ellis, Mike Kent, Kathryn Locke, published by De Gruyter

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Audio described content on Screen Australia funded dramas on the ABC.

Audio described content on Screen Australia funded dramas on ABC iview.

Mots clés
audio description, television, disability, accessibility