>From the web page
http://www.bca.org.au/digtv.htm

When a Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures

WHEN A WORD

IS WORTH A THOUSAND PICTURES

IMPROVED TELEVISION ACCESS

FOR BLIND VIEWERS

IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Prepared on behalf of:

BLIND CITIZENS AUSTRALIA
VISION AUSTRALIA FOUNDATION

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:
jsimpson@infoalt.com.au

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SYNOPSIS
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. BACKGROUND
2.1 PROJECT OBJECTIVES
2.2 PROJECT MANAGEMENT
2.2.1 Acknowledgments
3. BLIND AND VISION IMPAIRED TV VIEWERS
3.1 AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND RESEARCH
oQ!
3.2 EUROPEAN RESEARCH

3.3 THE AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE
4. THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUDIO DESCRIPTION?

4.1. WHAT IS AUDIO DESCRIPTION
4.2 VIDEO DESCRIPTION
4.2.1 Descriptive Video Services
4.2.2 DVS on Cable.
4.2.3 Audio Described Home Videos
4.2.4 Narrative TV
4.3 EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT
4.3.1 Developments in the UK
4.3.2 RNIB Home Videos
4.3.3 Other European Developments

5. AUDIO ENHANCEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

5.1 AUDIO ENHANCEMENT AND RPH
oQ!
5.2 DESCRIBED HOME VIDEOS IN AUSTRALIA

6. THE DEPRIVATION STUDY

6.1 WORKSHOP METHODOLOGY
6.1.1 Sample Material
6.1.2 Workshop Facilities
6.1.3 Participants
6.2 ASSESSMENT OF INFORMATION DEPRIVATION.
6.3 WORKSHOP OUTCOMES
6.3.1 Drama:
6.3.2 Entertainment:
6.3.3 Documentary:
6.3.4 Current Affairs:
6.3.5 Sport & Events:
6.3.6 News:
6.3.7 Information Segments:
6.3.8 Infotainment:
6.3.9 Advertisements:
6.4 FOCUS GROUP INPUT
7. AUDIO ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUES

7.1 OUR CONTENTION
7.2 ENHANCEMENT ALTERNATIVES
7.2.1 Timed and Scripted Integration
7.2.2 Improvised Description
7.2.3 Audio Captioning
7.2.4 Real-time Events Coverage
7.2.5 Commercial and Promotional Content.
7.3 AUDIO ENHANCEMENT EXEMPLARS
8. DIGITAL TELEVISION - DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

8.1 THE FUNDAMENTALS
oQ!
8.2 DEVELOPMENTS IN THE US

8.3 IMPLEMENTATION IN THE UK
9. OPPORTUNITIES AND IMPERATIVES IN AUSTRALIA

9.1 THE FUNDAMENTAL ADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL TV
9.2 THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
9.2.1 Technical Capacity
9.2.2 Systemic change in the Broadcast Industry
9.2.3 New Receivers and Set Top Boxes
9.2.4 International Co-Ordination
9.2.5 Industry & Regulatory Co-Operation
9.3 COMMUNITY EXPECTATIONS
9.3.1 Objectives of the Broadcasting Services Act
9.3.2 The Disability Discrimination Act
9.3.3 The Commonwealth Disability Strategy
9.3.4 Other Access initiatives
10. MAKING TODAY'S TELEVISION MORE ACCESSIBLE

11. WHERE TO FROM HERE?

11.1 INFORMATION ACCESS INDUSTRY CODE
11.2 BCA AUDIO ENHANCEMENT INTEREST GROUP
11.3 DEMONSTRATION VIDEO
11.4 DDA STANDARD ON ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION

11.5 DISABILITY ACTION PLANS
11.6 DIGITAL TELEVISION CONSULTATIVE GROUP
11.7 AUDIO ENHANCEMENT STANDARD
11.8 A PILOT AUDIO ENHANCEMENT SERVICE.
REFERENCES

ATTACHMENT 1 - QUESTIONNAIRE - WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS' PROFILES

ATTACHMENT 2 - TELEVISION USAGE SURVEY

ATTACHMENT 3 - WORKSHOP ONE PROGRAM

ATTACHMENT 4 - DEPRIVATION OF BLIND TV VIEWERS - SUMMARY OF VIDEO
MATERIAL USED
ATTACHMENT 5 - DEPRIVATION OF BLIND TV VIEWERS - ASSESSMENT OF
COMPREHENSION LEVELS
ATTACHMENT 6 - WORKSHOP 2 - AGENDA
ATTACHMENT 7 - WORKSHOP 3 - RUNNING SHEET

SYNOPSIS

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.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

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.

In Summary the project
"Improved TV Access for Blind and Vision Impaired Viewers in the
Digital Era" has achieved the following:

1. Conduct of an informal survey to establish the extent to which
blind and vision impaired people in Australia view television.

We had access to a comprehensive research report
"Who's Watching? A Profile of the Blind and Visually Impaired
Audience for Television and Video" published by the American
Foundation for the Blind in 1997
but needed to establish whether these results were applicable in
Australia.

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.

2. Conduct of a study to assess the level of information
deprivation experienced by people who are blind or vision
impaired.

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:

Content type Low Vision Blind

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%

OVERALL AVERAGE 36.4% 25.8%

3. We identified a range of Audio Enhancement techniques that
offer substantial benefit to the target audience

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.

4. We produced and tested with the consumer panel a range of
Audio Enhancement Exemplars.

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.

5. We have reviewed the Audio Description currently available
overseas and the moves toward its delivery through Digital
Television in the US and UK.

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.

6. We have monitored progress toward Digital TV implementation in
Australia.

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.

THE WAY AHEAD

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.

- There is much to be done on the technical front to ensure that
Audio Enhancement can be transmitted as a standard component of
the digital television
package and can be readily received and accessed by the users of
popular brand digital television sets and set top boxes.

- There is extensive work to be done in improving Audio
Enhancement production techniques to a point where they fully
meet the needs of their primary users.

- There is also a lot to be done to demonstrate the viability and
commercial advantage that will attach to the use of effective
Audio Enhancement.

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.

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

1. That the Australian Broadcasting Authority, with support from
the Human

Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission establish a working
party,

including representation from National and Commercial
Broadcasters,

Production Organisations and Disability Advocacy Bodies to
develop an

Industry Code of Practice which would detail practices and
policies that

would maximise access to the information and entertainment
content of

Broadcast Television for people who are blind or vision impaired.

2. That Blind Citizens Australia establish from among its members
an Audio

Enhancement Interest Group which would provide a focus for BCA's

continuing advocacy on television access issues and would work to

establish co-operative relationships with Audio Description/Video

Description Providers in Europe and North America from where
audio

enhanced videos and program materials might be sourced for
dissemination among blind and vision impaired people in
Australia.

3. That Blind Citizens Australia, in association with the Vision
Australia

Foundation, seek funding and Broadcast Industry support for the
production of a demonstration video which would include
information on the need for and
benefits of comprehensive Audio Enhancement Services as well as
detail of the various enhancement techniques developed as part of
this project. And that
BCA and Vision Australia Foundation use this video to engender
support from the Broadcasting Industry, consumer products
manufacturers, regulators and
the community for the establishment of permanent Audio
Enhancement Services across Australia.
That the Working Party responsible for the development of a DDA
Standard on Access to Commonwealth Government Information give
consideration to the inclusion
within this Standard of specific provisions relating to access to
Commonwealth information distributed via broadcast Television
That a Broadcast Industry Seminar be convened to inform
television production and broadcast organisations on the
Disability Discrimination Act Action Plan
process and its potential to encompass strategies toward the
implementation of Audio Enhancement Services.
That the Digital Television Consultative Group, established by
the Minister

for Communications Information Technology and the Arts, establish
a sub-committee to investigate matters pertaining to the
transmission and reception of
comprehensive Audio Enhancement Services as part of the DTTB
platform.

7. That a Standard be developed, under authority of the
Broadcasting Services Act, that will ensure the availability of
Audio Enhancement on Australian
television, at the same level as that mandated for closed
captioning, within five years of the introduction of Digital
Television Services.

8. That an Audio Enhancement Pilot Service be established; to
operate over a minimum twelve period; to provide a focus for the
development of Audio Enhancement
techniques and production standards; and to work in close
co-operation with television broadcasters toward the integration
of comprehensive Audio Enhancement
Services into the Australian Broadcast Television System.

WHEN A WORD IS WORTH A THOUSAND PICTURES

IMPROVED TELEVISION ACCESS FOR BLIND VIEWERS IN THE DIGITAL ERA

1. INTRODUCTION

Television is established as the primary information and
entertainment medium for the Australian community. The Australian
Broadcasting Authority has concluded
that 84% of the population watch television on a daily basis
(ABA Update October 1995).

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.

2. BACKGROUND

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

Authority's Terrestrial Television Broadcasting Specialist Group,
(Digital Television Broadcasting in Australia; Australian
Broadcasting Authority; 1997) and the Government's commitment to
work toward Digital Television
implementation, it was timely that these issues be addressed.
Digital Television not only provides a delivery platform that
will readily accommodate supplementary
audio channels for this and other uses, but the regulatory review
that is occurring as part of the policy development process
provides an opportunity for
Audio Enhancement to become a formal part of the delivery system.
This is already happening in the UK for example, where the
Broadcasting Act now includes
targets for the inclusion of Audio Description, linked to Digital
Terrestrial Television Broadcasting.

2.1 PROJECT OBJECTIVES

In its report
"Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting in Australia" the
Australian Broadcasting Authority's Specialist Group on Digital
Terrestrial Broadcasting
notes (page 82)

"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

precise need, demand and costs associated with such services have
not been defined. At this stage the Specialist Group has noted
the potential

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.

2.2 PROJECT MANAGEMENT

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.

2.2.1 Acknowledgments

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.

3. BLIND AND VISION IMPAIRED TV VIEWERS

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.

3.1 AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND RESEARCH

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.

One of the outcomes of this work was the Publication
"Who's Watching? A Profile of the Blind and Visually Impaired
Audience for Television and Video" (Jaclyn Packer & Corinne
Kichner, American Foundation for
the Blind, 1997)

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.

"Who is the Blind and Visually Impaired Audience for Television
and Video?

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.

Additionally, the blind and visually impaired audience is made up
of people with varied levels of vision, ranging from those whose
only difficulty is reading
printed words on the television screen, to those who can see most
of the action but find the images blurry, to those who can pick
up very little of what
is on their screen, to those who have no vision at all. It is
estimated that in the United States there are 10 million people
who, even while wearing their
glasses, are visually impaired (McNeil, 1993). This report
focuses on the 6.5 million adults among them who are more
severely visually impaired, according
to a special analysis of federal health data (UCSF/RRTC, 1996).

While there are blind and visually impaired people in every age
group, the oldest age groups have the largest concentration of
them. Since older

people are the fastest growing age group in the United States,
the number of blind and visually impaired persons is expected to
increase.

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

similar numbers and with similar frequency to the general
population, and - our research suggests - they have similar
tastes and preferences in

programming.

Isn't Viewing TV and Video Frustrating for People Who Are Blind
or

Visually Impaired?

Yes, because television and video are primarily visual.
Programming often is difficult to understand if one is only
hearing it, or hearing it along with
seeing it, but poorly. Many visually impaired people have had the

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,

leaves much to be desired. First, enjoyment of the show is
reduced for the person describing by the responsibility of doing
so. Second, it happens that,
just at the moment one thing is being described, another more
important incident is missed, detracting from the viewing
experience of the visually impaired
person, the person describing, and anyone else in the room
watching. Third, the person describing simply may not be good at
it.

Besides frustration while watching television and videos, many
people who are blind or visually impaired feel "left out" because
they miss information that
sighted people easily get in this culture where television and
films play such a large part. Not only do they lack information
or have to work harder to
obtain information readily available to others, but they also are
at a social disadvantage when they are not able to discuss
popular topics like current
movies or last night's TV sit-com. Co-called "water cooler"
discussions play a large part in adult social interaction, and
similar types of discussions
may play an even larger role in the lives of children and
teenagers; being unable to participate fully limits interactions
and can negatively effect one's
self-concept.

Is There a Solution to the TV and Video Viewing Problems of
People who are blind or Visually Impaired?

Yes--Video Description is a solution. Whenever possible all forms
of media should be made accessible to everyone, regardless of
disability. A special technique
called "video description", in existence since th3e mid 1980s,
opens the possibility of full access to television and video for
people who are blind or
visually impaired.......

Why is Video Description Important?

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

impaired persons, plus family and friends who view the programs
with them. Those who are visually impaired are within the
demographic groups that watch
the most television (Papazian, 1996) as they are
disproportionately older and are less likely to be employed.

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

have hearing impairments have found captioning to be convenient
when the audio aspects of a show are difficult or impossible to
hear, such as in a crowded
bar or health club or at a train station or airport."

3.2 EUROPEAN RESEARCH

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.

3.3 THE AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE

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;

27 of the 42 Internet respondents indicated that they had viewed
audio described material at least once; (Consumer Panel Members
were not

asked this question).

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.

4. THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUDIO DESCRIPTION?

4.1. WHAT IS AUDIO DESCRIPTION

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.

4.2 VIDEO DESCRIPTION

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

4.2.1 Descriptive Video Services

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.

"What is Descriptive Video Service?

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

Broadcasting Service (PBS) television programs, Hollywood movies
and

other visual media accessible to people who are blind or visually
impaired. DVS provides narrated descriptions of the key visual
elements without interfering
with the audio or dialogue of a program or movie.

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.

How does a viewer watch DVS on Television?

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

should ask the cable company to "pass through" stereo with SAP."
(DVS and How it Works; WGBH/DVS Brochure;
www.wgbh.org;
June 1999)

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).

4.2.2 DVS on Cable.

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.

4.2.3 Audio Described Home Videos

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.

4.2.4 Narrative TV

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

the show to describe the visual elements of the story."
(Narrative

Television Network, Opening the world of entertainment to blind
and

visually impaired people;
www.narrativetv.com;
July 1999)

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.

4.3 EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT

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.

4.3.1 Developments in the UK

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

possibilities of providing a descriptive commentary of television
which would enhance programme enjoyment and comprehension for
visually impaired people.
Such a commentary provides a carefully crafted description of
actions, locations, body language and facial expressions in the
gaps between normal programme
dialogue. What began as a service concept for helping people who
had difficulty seeing the television screen,

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

who spend time travelling and listening to personal or in-car
audio cassette players. Recorded AUDETEL description could allow
a listener to catch up with
a previous night's "soap" or even enjoy a movie."

.......

"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

least 4 months, during which about 3 hours of described programs
per week will be carried on the ITV and BBC Networks. Just over
half of the

receivers are being installed in the homes of a carefully
selected population of users who will have the opportunity to
experience the broadcast and to
report there experiences to a researcher during individual
interviews.

The Delivery Challenge

A major technical challenge for AUDETEL was to develop an
economic

method of conveying the voice of the describer within existing
European

television systems. These not only, do not have a spare audio
channel but do not have the available spectrum capacity to create
one. It was here that digital
speech compression technology was able to offer a potential
solution, operating via one of two possible transport mechanisms;
NICAM or teletext....

Development of the first Prototypes

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).

After specifications were drawn-up with the EBU for the use of
this capacity, the system was built by both NTL working under
contract to the ITC and R E
Technology of Copenhagen. Another key system feature incorporated
here for the first time was "fade signalling" which instructs the
receiver to reduce
its background programme sound level while the description is
being inserted. This is important, particularly for elderly
listeners, who commonly experience
the difficulty (presbycusis) whereby they become increasingly
less able to interpret speech in the presence of background
sounds such as traffic noise
or restaurant "hubbub".

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

London area in December 1992. Although the experiments
successfully

confirmed the operation of the system, tests had to be rapidly
discontinued when complaints began to arrive from television
retailers that normal NICAM
reception was being effected......

AUDETEL TEST TRANSMISSION

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

described broadcasts which will be receivable by 140 receivers
throughout the UK. A vital aspect of these test transmissions is
not only to gain feedback
from selected individuals who will be loaned receivers but also
to perform a full economic analysis of the production costs in
describing on a regular
basis and against real scheduling deadlines. Current estimates
reveal that it takes between 15 and 30 hours to describe one hour
of program, depending
on whether it is a simple "soap" or all action movie. Records of
time expended using the workstation will show whether increased
efficiency has occurred.

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

be shared between BBC and ITV programmes. Two experienced
describers have been appointed to support the trials in addition
to the current AUDETEL describer,
and each has his/her own workstation
." (AUDETEL, Audio Described Television - the Launch of National
Test Transmissions; N K Lodge, N W Green and J P Nunn;
International Broadcasting Convention;

September 1994)

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

Network of three to four hours of audio described programmes a
week for four months in 1994.

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
10th year of their digital licence.

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

"
Provisions for viewers with Sensory Disabilities.

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 than 50% of non-exempt programme hours 
broadcast in the service should be subtitled and not less than 
10% of non-exempt programme hours broadcast should
be presented with audio description. The Secretary of State also
announced in the House of Commons during Report Stage that she
intends to introduce by
order at the earliest possible opportunity a parallel 5% target
for sign language.

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

unachievable, from the targets on the face of the Act and set
lower targets for those programmes. The ITC will do this only
after consulting both broadcasters
and organisations representing people with sensory

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.

There are currently no requirements on Channels 3, 4, or 5
regarding sign language or audio description. The new Code and
targets will however apply to
the digital simulcasts of their existing analogue services.

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

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

(Explanatory Memorandum, Television Broadcasting Services"
(Digital

Conversion) Bill 1996;
www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1996/96055-h).

4.3.2 RNIB Home Videos

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.

4.3.3 Other European Developments

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.

5. AUDIO ENHANCEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

5.1 AUDIO ENHANCEMENT AND RPH

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.

5.2 DESCRIBED HOME VIDEOS IN AUSTRALIA

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.

6. THE DEPRIVATION STUDY

PROJECT OBJECTIVE ONE: To identify and report on the extent and
level of deprivation that is common across the various elements
of television content in
Australia.

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.

6.1 WORKSHOP METHODOLOGY

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;

- entertainment, including variety, game shows and skit comedy;

- documentary;

- current affairs and interview;

- sport and events coverage;

- news;

- information segments, including lottery and sports results,
whether

and finance information;

- infotainment;

- advertisements.

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.

6.1.1 Sample Material

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.

6.1.2 Workshop Facilities

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.

6.1.3 Participants

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.

6.2 ASSESSMENT OF INFORMATION DEPRIVATION.

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:

- the location or setting;

- the situation in which the scene took place;

- the characters (one point each);

- the action sequences (one point each);

- any data content;

- any underlying message or call to action.

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.

6.3 WORKSHOP OUTCOMES

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%.

6.3.1 Drama: (Low Vision 44% Blind 25%)

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.

6.3.2 Entertainment: (Low Vision 35%, Blind 18.5%)

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%).

6.3.3 Documentary: (Low Vision 27% Blind 24.5%)

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.

6.3.4 Current Affairs: (Low Vision 37.5% Blind 32.5%)

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.

6.3.5 Sport & Events: (Low Vision 19% Blind 21%)

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%).

6.3.6 News: (Low Vision 33% Blind 39%)

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.

6.3.7 Information Segments: (Low Vision 38% Blind 35%)

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%)

6.3.8 Infotainment: (Low Vision 28% Blind 20%)

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.

6.3.9 Advertisements: (Low Vision 66% Blind 14%)

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.

6.4 FOCUS GROUP INPUT

Focus Group discussions in relation to each workshop segment were
recorded on tape and by a notetaker for later review. This
material includes useful information
about participants broader television viewing experiences as well
as the group's reaction to explanation of the sample material
viewed during the workshop.

Set out below in summary form are the main themes that emerged
from these

discussions.

Drama
Often the level of concentration needed to follow television
drama is such that the experience becomes less than enjoyable.
Low vision participants indicated that they often draw wrong
conclusions from their limited visual access to television
programming.
For those with low vision, production techniques such as the use
of visual effects and subdued lighting further limit their access
to the visual content.
Character identification is a particular frustration for low
vision viewers. Frequently the plot has little or no meaning for
this reason.
Blind viewers also identified character identification as a major
problem as they are totally dependent on voice identification and
reference from other
characters.
Often the music bed behind a scene detracts from its
comprehension as it masks the contextual sound.

Entertainment
Members of both the low vision and blind sub-groups indicated
that they avoid pacey comedy scenes (such as the Hey Hey Its
Saturday segment used) as the
emphasis on visual elements such as body language, graphics and
interaction with the audience and other talent make such segments
confusing and sometimes
senseless.
As those involved with comedy and light entertainment often
present in a less formal manner their speech is sometimes lazy
and difficult to follow without
reference to the visual context.
When contextual clues are only given visually the content becomes
less meaningful. An interview segment from "Midday" was reviewed.
It was clear from the
visuals that the interviewee was in a remote location but this
information was not conveyed by the host or guest so was not
known to the blind and some
low vision members of the group.
Both low vision and blind participants indicated significant
frustration when there is sustained laughter or other audience
noise during an interview or
comedy segment as this often masks the audible clues that would
otherwise be available to them.
The perception that many group members had of the format and
objective of TV Game Shows was significantly different from the
reality. Even with a long running
show like Wheel of Fortune, which was known to most, there was
significant misunderstanding of the fundamentals of the game and
its physical dimension.
This level of misunderstanding was even greater with a program
such a Hot Street which was largely not known to the group.

Documentary
Several group members commented that the music bed used with
scenic documentary material can often provide a real clue to the
scene being portrayed.
In contrast, members felt that the voice-over material used with
some scenic documentaries confuses the message as the commentary
might be centred on something
other than the visual content. The segment from Our World viewed
was reported as confusing to members in both sub-groups as much
of the message appeared
to be given in the visual component while the commentary centred
elsewhere.
Again the issue of confusion over context was raised,
particularly in relation to the clip from Healthy, Wealthy and
Wise. While the segment was about touring
experiences in the Buchan Caves area of East Gippsland there was
a focus later in the segment on a North American Indian Village.
While the link to this
"model village" would have been obvious to viewers with full
access to the visual content it was not recognised by most of
this group.
Often the audio production techniques used in documentary
material detract from its comprehension. Techniques such as use
of conversation recorded on location
and the tendency toward fast cutting between apparently unrelated
components were cited.

Current Affairs
Reliance on on-screen captioning for talent identification was
cited as a real problem for all members. Even those who could
read on-screen graphics in
an ideal viewing situation indicated that they could not rely on
access to this information in an every day setting, as often by
the time they focused
on the slide or super it was taken down before they could read
it. There was also a great deal of discussion about the fonts and
colour contrast used.
The use of time shifted material (flashbacks, file footage etc)
was identified by many as a cause of confusion as often the only
indication of time shifting
is provided visually.
All members of the group indicated that they could not normally
rely on facial expression or other body language as a clue to
reaction. They commented that
while voice characteristics often provide clues in a real life
situation, those involved with Television Current Affairs are
often able to mask audible
indications of there feelings. The medium places a higher
reliance on facial expression and body language to portray
surprise, anger, and other emotions.
There was extended discussion about problems associated with use
of on-screen captioning of foreign language material. All group
members indicated that
they could not follow on-screen captioning at least in an
everyday viewing situation. The group was most critical of
Current Affairs and News Producers
who use this technique in preference to voice-over
interpretation.

Sport
All participants indicated that they find television coverage of
sport less meaningful and less enjoyable than radio coverage. The
major reasons for this
were identified as:

- the commentary is usually around the action rather than a

description of it;

- while scores and other key information are available in a
visual form continuously, or at least frequently, verbal
references to this key information
are infrequent and often paraphrase the visual

information;

- for the low vision sub-group poor colour contrast was a major

problem, sometimes in identifying the opposing teams and often in

reading scores and other graphics based information;

- often the verbal information provided is of a subordinate
nature, for example all participants new that the Power Boat
Racing segment

viewed was the sixth race in the series but few new what the
series was.

Events
Participants reported that when viewing a major event such as the
AFL Grand Final Opening their experience is substantially an
audio based one:

- the blind respondents commented that an event like this is
purely a series of musical items with no contextual information;

- the low vision participants indicated that they gain little
from the visual presentation as they cannot see the detail in the
wide shots and the closer
shots offer them nothing in context. A sequence in the segment
viewed showing heraldic trumpeters standing on top of the MCG
Scoreboard was cited as a
demonstration of this point. Many of the low vision sub-group
could identify the trumpeters in the close-up shot but had no
idea of their location as they
were lost in the wide shot.

- Blind participants indicated that they had been able to follow
much of the Christmas Concert segment, as the language used had
been pitched for children
in the large on-site crowd and therefore was far more descriptive
than usual.

- Low vision participants indicated that they had found this
segment hard to follow because of its night time setting; the
frequent changes in camera shot
between the set, the crowd and Santa on the roof. Again the issue
of context was raised as some low vision participants had been
able to identify Santa
on the roof and then identified him when he arrived down the
chimney on set. They had not however understood the relationship
between the building (which
was across the road) and the set, so had not recognised that
there must have been two Santa characters.

News
The group was about evenly divided on their use of television as
their primary news source.
Participants indicated that they rely, in the main, on the
reporter's content to provide the core component of the story.
They gain far less from the video
grabs and contextual audio.
Both blind and low vision participants spoke of the frustration
in not being able to identify speakers in news stories and
sometimes not identifying a cut
from one contributor to another.
All of the low vision sub-group indicated difficulty and
frustration with on-screen captioning. They commented on font
size and style, colour contrast and
on-screen duration as barriers to their use of this
identification.
Blind participants spoke of issues around the relative levels of
background sound, interviews and reportage as a major problem.

Information Segments
Group members praised those situations where lottery result
information is verbalised during the draw but were critical of
the practice of providing summary
result information as a slide with a generic voice-over message.
They pointed out that it takes no more air-time to say "tonight's
Tatts Two numbers are
14 and 18" than it does to say "here are tonight's tatts two
numbers".
Low vision participants again identified issues of colour
contrast and on-screen duration as barriers to their accessing
much on-screen information.
Participants were critical of the segment "On ABC Tonight" as the
verbal information para-phrased the on-screen detail and omitted
key information such
as broadcast times and the program rating. Participants argued
that the matter of program rating was of particular importance
because of the broadcaster's
legal and community responsibilities in this regard.
All participants were critical of the practice of including
finance reports in news bulletins as part of the bridge into or
out of a commercial break. Comments
centred on the lack of verbal content, the complex graphics used
and the on-screen time allocated for these segments. Several of
the blind sub-group indicated
that they were not aware of the placement of financial reports in
some network new bulletins as there was no audible clue to their
existence.
Issues around vision-only information content were discussed more
broadly and participants expressed extreme frustration and
resentment with the practice
adopted by some networks of providing scores of in-progress
sports matches in visual form only in order to protect there
later replay of the material.
This practice was seen as blatant discrimination by some among
the group.
Group members generally indicated that they do not rely on
television weather forecasts as a primary information source.
They indicated frustration with
the form of these presentations where only selected information
is verbalised and often what is verbalised is marginal to the
core content of the report.

Infotainment
Blind participants indicated that they got very little value from
"how to" type programs (gardening, house renovation, etc) largely
because the instructional
information is usually portrayed visually while the commentary is
supplementary to this.
Low vision respondents indicated that they gained some overall
ideas and concepts from "how to" programming but that much of the
detail and the context
was often hard to follow. The Better Homes and Gardens segment
was cited, here. It had been possible for some to gain an
understanding of the suggestions
made but without a broader perception of the size, shape and
other characteristics of the room.
The segment from "Money" was discussed in some detail.
Participants indicated that they had gained an overall
understanding of the Presenter's message but
that they were frustrated by not having access to the contact and
other detail provided on-screen.

Advertisements
Low vision participants indicated that they pay little attention
to advertisements that rely on unsupported vision content. While
they might be able to
identify the product, service or company being promoted, the
storyline is often difficult to follow and even where they could
do this with some concentration
they tend to use the ad breaks as an opportunity to "tune out"
given the high level of concentration needed during program time.
Blind participants indicated that there are many commercials that
hold no meaning to them because all of the information and
attraction is conveyed visually.
All participants spoke of their frustration with advertisements
where key contact detail, prices, sales dates, etc are only
provided in a visual form. In
particular the group was critical of an advertisement from the MS
Society where the contact information was only in visual form.
Participants were also most critical of apparently misleading
advertising. The sample advertisement screened "Sound and Vision
Stores" was seen as particularly
poor as its verbal lead in "here is a very special announcement"
followed by silence, was both discriminatory and likely to course
alarm. Similar comments
were made about the advertisement "Millennium Bug" where the only
audio content was sound akin to loss of transmission by the
television station.
Across the group there were a number of people who indicated
their hostility to advertisers who perpetuate discriminatory
advertising techniques.

The themes that run through these comments and some suggested
ways in which television viewing can be made more accessible to
the blind and vision impaired
audience are picked up in Chapter Ten below.

7. AUDIO ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUES

PROJECT OBJECTIVE TWO: To identify and document enhancement
techniques that address the information deprivation experienced
by blind and vision impaired
viewers.

7.1 OUR CONTENTION

In planning and conducting this project the Project Team were
fortunate to have significant experience with Audio Enhancement,
both as delivered overseas
and as trialed in Australia.
Principal Consultant John Simpson had visited the facilities at
WGBH in Boston and held discussions with personnel at the RNIB in
London who had been central
to the European AUDETEL Project.
Technical Consultant Dale Simpson and Project Advisory Committee
Member Stephen Jolley had been central to the development of
simulcast Audio Description
through 3RPH in Melbourne.

With the benefit of this expertise the Project Team was convinced
that:
Success in establishing Audio Enhancement as a permanent adjunct
to Australian Television was dependent on finding and developing
enhancement techniques
that were far more cost effective than those used for broadcast
Video Description in the US and home video description in both
the US and UK:
To meet the information deprivation experienced by blind and
vision impaired viewers Audio Enhancement must be available
across the full spectrum of television
content:
The best opportunity to gain industry support for the
introduction of Audio Enhancement would come with the
introduction of Digital Television:
As television advertising is one of the main drivers of the
industry in Australia it would be essential to include
enhancement of commercial content when
quantifying information deprivation and in developing Audio
Enhancement techniques for the Australian situation.

Our fundamental objective was to have Audio Enhancement
established as an easily accessible adjunct to Australian
Television Broadcasting that would add
value for the blind viewer, the program maker and the commercial
sponsor.

Our target is that Audio Enhancement should be at least as
available as Closed

Captioning is for deaf and hearing impaired viewers.

With the benefit of the consumer input provided as part of the
first Project

Workshop our next step was to produce some Audio Enhancement
Exemplars and to test their effectiveness with our Consumer
Group.

As part of the first workshop we reached agreement with the
consumer group that we should look to the development of Audio
Enhancement in Australia using
four defined techniques:

A) 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:

B) 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:

C) Audio Captioning: where enhancement is limited to
verbalisation of on-

screen text and perhaps graphics:

D) Real-time Events Description: where sport and other dynamic
events

are described in real-time without the opportunity to preview the

action.

Our view remains 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.

7.2 ENHANCEMENT ALTERNATIVES

7.2.1 Timed and Scripted Integration

We have coined this term to describe the production technique
used both in the US for broadcast description and description
added for the home video market
in the US and UK.

Clearly this remains the optimal style of description for use in
those situations

where time and budget allow for the writing of a detailed
description script and for its refinement so that it fits into
the natural breaks in program dialogue.

The description is generated by an appropriately trained script
writer who works

from the finished program material. This is available to them
through a specially developed computer work station where the
program is provided on video
with on-screen time code so that the descriptive passages can be
timed to fit into the dialogue breaks. Once the description
script is completed a narrator
records the description sound track so that it is synchronised
with the program video and audio.

If the end product is to be a home video the original program
sound and description are combined onto the tape in an open
format so that all viewers hear
the description, integrated with the original sound.

If the purpose is television broadcast then the description sound
track is held in a digitised form and is inserted into the
transmission in parallel with
the program video and audio at time of broadcast or network
distribution. The description is carried as a discreet element
within the transmission and
is only available to those who have the appropriate decoding
facility at the reception end. While the method of carrying the
audio description and its
reception varies between the US Public Broadcasting System
service and the AUDETEL trial conducted in the UK, the principle
is fundamentally the same.

As indicated earlier, Descriptive Video Services in the US
provide between five and eight hours per week of described
programming which is broadcast via
Public Broadcasting System affiliates. While the quality of this
contribution is very high it represents a very small proportion
of the free-to-air programming
broadcast in the US.

When we visited DVS in April 1995 their budget for provision of
an average

six hours content per week was around $3 million per year. Above
all, it is this

level of production cost that causes us to seek alternative Audio
Enhancement

techniques. Clearly the Australian industry and community could
not sustain an effective Audio Enhancement service with
production costs at this level.

Our view is that Scripted and Timed Integration should be
provided and funded as part of the process for producing high
budget Australian drama and documentary
content.

Beyond this, the Australian Television Industry could have access
to Described

programming from the US and UK. In reviewing the range of
programming available through DVS for example, we were aware of
several major documentary series
screened recently by the ABC and SBS where Description would have
been available had a delivery mechanism been in place in
Australia.

7.2.2 Improvised Description

Where description of television drama has been undertaken in
Australia it has been accomplished through use of a technique we
identify as Improvised Description.
Here the Describer has access to the program material after its
production but before its broadcast. As undertaken by 3RPH in
Melbourne a team of two Describers
previews the program, taking detailed notes that will prompt
their description of key visual elements. The Describers, who
have been volunteers in the
Australian context, go over the program several times to ensure
their familiarity with it, in order that they can predict when an
action sequence or scenic
view is to be shown so that their description remains timely and
relevant to the program content. 3RPH has arrangements in place
to have direct access
to the program audio at time of broadcast, via ISDN or broadcast
line. The Describer then views the program via an off-air monitor
and their description
is mixed with the program sound and broadcast as a simulcast in
parallel with the television transmission.

The blind viewer can then listen to the Description via a
standard radio receiver or can balance the television sound and
radio broadcast so that they can
effectively determine the relative levels of the original sound
and description.

As undertaken in Australia this Enhancement technique has been
very inexpensive as the description has been prepared and
provided by volunteers from among
the large and dedicated group who sustain the 3RPH service.

While the quality of the Description provided has varied over
time and across the various drama productions described, the
service is popular among the
3RPH listening audience and its availability is limited more by
the scarcity of available air-time than it is by the availability
of enthusiastic and trainable
volunteers.

Our view is that Improvised Description should be developed as
one of the mix of enhancement techniques that would be part of a
comprehensive Audio

Enhancement Service. We see this as the technique which could be
most suited to support lower budget drama series, soapies, and
much of the pre-produced

entertainment content.

7.2.3 Audio Captioning

When reviewing overseas development and implementation of Audio
Description we were concerned to note that no sustained attempt
was being made to enhance
access to news, current affairs, sport, information and
infotainment programming.

A quick review of television program guides in Australia shows
that such

programming dominates the Australian content available on
free-to-air television. The consumer group assembled for this
project made it clear that programming
across these content types is important to them yet is often the
hardest to access.

It is our view that access to this content could be dramatically
improved through

the provision of what we describe as Audio Captioning.

As described below we have produced a range of audio captioned
material and

tested its effectiveness with our consumer group. The response
was that the

addition of a verbalisation of the on-screen text and graphics
often allowed the blind viewer to make effective use of such
programming.

Based on the production and consumer testing described below, our
view is that Audio Captioning can often be added in real-time (as
the program goes to
air) and that where provided by a trained narrator who is
familiar with the program format, requires little preparation. If
such a service were provided
in co-operation with the Producer, Audio Captioning would be an
easily achievable and highly valued adjunct to television news.

We have also tested the technique with sports coverage, game
shows, information segments and advertisements.

Even if Audio Captioning was being provided without the direct
involvement of the program originator there are techniques
available such as Digital Frame
Store that would allow the narrator to add the captioning in a
professional and timely manner.

The video material that accompanies this report includes examples
of Audio

Captioning across a range of content types.

7.2.4 Real-time Events Coverage

There are each year many hours of television air-time devoted to
coverage of sport and other major events in real-time. Clearly
Audio Enhancement in support
of this programming presents its own demands and opportunities.
This again is an area where the Australian experience appears to
be ahead of the US one.

As described earlier in this report, Audio Description in
Australia was largely

founded on coverage of major tennis events and then coverage of
other public

spectacles.

The need for what we describe as Real-time Events Coverage is
both extensive and diverse. The priority of course should be to
ensure access to those events
of major interest, that do not enjoy effective radio coverage. In
the Australian context this form of Enhancement should be
available for live or delayed
sports coverage, major public spectacles, live entertainment and
ceremonial occasions.

The Technique of Real-time Events Coverage requires a Describer
or Describers with an understanding of the Event to be described
and with adequate advance
access to key information. For sports cover this would include
team lists; player and team statistics; details of the Event
program (what match will be
on when etc). For other events it might include the Producer's
script or running sheet, details of key participants; and details
of any visual effects
that are to be introduced.

Where the service can be provided in close co-operation with the
providers of the television coverage this can be of real
advantage as it might enable access
to the Director's Talkback, off-line camera shots and a direct
audio feed of the actuality sound.

The Australian experience shows that even where this direct
linking is not possible, skilled and well prepared Describers can
soon read the situation so
that they can predict when best to intersperse their description.

The 3RPH experience is that when Real-time Events Description is
offered as a

genuine community service, professional sports callers and the
like are keen to offer there support.

7.2.5 Commercial and Promotional Content.

Our study of the commercial content of Australian Broadcast
Television

(advertisements and promotional announcements) revealed that this
aspect of

television content mirrors program content in that:
some segments are not accessible to the blind and vision impaired
audience as their story line is presented in a totally visual (or
near totally visual)
form: they need Audio Description.
other segments are discriminatory to this audience as, while the
underlying content might be intelligible, key information such as
prices, contact details,
conditions of sale, etc are provided only in a visual form: These
announcements need modification or where this is not possible
Audio Captioning.

Section 6 "The Deprivation Study" reports on consumer response to
a range of

commercial material. With the benefit of this input we produced
Exemplars of both Audio Described and Audio Captioned commercial
material.

As indicated elsewhere in this report we are convinced that
Television Advertisers deny themselves access to a significant
part of their market by poor
advertising practices.

Clearly, the addition of Audio Description and Audio Captioning
should become an integral aspect of Australian Television. It is
however equally important
that those who produce and fund commercial content recognise that
there are simple techniques available that will often ensure that
their core message
reaches the blind and vision impaired audience. In so doing,
their message will be better reinforced to the broader population
of television viewers who
can not be expected to sit with their eyes glued to the set for
the entirety of their viewing,

Our point here is perhaps best made by reference to an
announcement shown

widely on commercial and ABC television during October 1998. This
contained

essential information as it related to the restoration of Gas
supply throughout

Victoria following major interruption to supply in late
September.

The announcement consisted of a series of still slides and a
voiced message. The speaker verbalised all of the information
shown on-screen except the most

important detail, the telephone number to be used for further
information or in cases of uncertainty. The slight script
modification necessary to include
verbalisation of the six digit number would have made no
difference to the length of the announcement but would have
substantially increased its impact
across the community.

This practice is not however confined to instances where urgent
material needs to be got to the viewing audience. In fact, in
preparing material for the
Deprivation Study we noted many similar instances where the key
information was not provided to the vision impaired audience,
including material produced
for both the MS Society of Victoria and the Guide Dog
Associations.

In selecting and preparing material for this project we reviewed
much of the

commercial