A new era of inclusive entertainment.
For the estimated 575,000 Australians who are blind or have low vision, enjoying TV can often mean relying on flatmates, partners or loved ones to describe what is happening on the screen – with varying results.
Despite their good intentions, most sighted people lack the training needed to accurately describe what is happening on screen. This leads to patchy storylines, missing details, and confusing plots – all of which take away from the experience.
Not to mention the fact that being completely dependent on someone else to consume TV at all takes away any agency to choose what, when or where people can catch their favourite programs.
That all changes today. The ABC has unveiled a new campaign ‘Sounds like ABC’, via Decade of Action (D.O.A), to mark a new era of inclusive entertainment with the roll out of audio described content on ABC iview.
Audio description (AD) allows people who are blind or have low vision to enjoy their favourite news, shows and movies in a more inclusive way by providing visual descriptions that explain what's happening on screen.
To launch audio described content on ABC iview, the national broadcaster worked with social cause consultancy D.O.A who engaged directly with vision impaired community and advocacy groups to help bring the role of the audio describer to life (literally).
By bringing AD into the room, the campaign makes explicit what is often hidden and captures what it means to be able to participate on equal terms.
All campaign assets were designed to be accessible for people with vision impairment, including the use of a sonic mnemonic to capture the sound of AD.
Jonathan Craig, policy and advocacy advisor at Vision 2020 Australia, said he's excited by the ABC’s enthusiasm for audio description, and the conversations D.O.A had with our community as they’ve worked to bring it to ABC iview.
"I also love the awareness campaign, which lets us tell our own story," said Craig.
“So many people when they meet us assume we never watch TV or movies. That can make them feel anxious about talking to us, worried we won’t get their jokes, that we’ll have no common ground.
"As well as letting blind and vision impaired people and their friends and family know that audio description is now on ABC iview, I’m hoping these ads will raise awareness of the very simple technology that makes TV more accessible for us.”
Christian Stenta, head of strategy, D.O.A, said technology has changed the way people consume and interact with culture, yet media and tech are still in the most part designed for people who are sighted.
"Working closely with people who are blind and have low vision helped us understand how assistive technologies like audio description bridge the cultural divide, enhance relationships and enable self-determination," said Stenta.
Credits:
CLIENT: ABC
Audio Description Ambassador: Nas Campanella
Marketing: Karen Madden, Sarah McDonald, Sophie Beaton, Sasha McCarthy
Publicity: Angela Scrymgour, Kate Campbell
Corporate Communications: Nigel Henham, John Woodward, Nikki Tugwell, Alice Haglund, Lucinda Holdforth
ABC Made: Di Costantini, Clare Goodall, Marina Younger, Tasha Mahalm, Andy McNeil, Hayley Legg, Sally Hong, Ann Hoang, Pearla Ordillo
Media Strategy: Sally Phelps, Rachel Brown, Bethany Garnett Social: Louise Lenihan, Tiffany Liu, Eliza Buzacott-Spear, Josie Stockdill
AGENCY: D.O.A
Ebony Gaylor, Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Christian-Paul Stenta, Head Strategist
Sally Murchie, Head Operations
Bronte Smeaton, Research Assistant
