Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Minutes of Evidence


Supplementary memorandum submitted by the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB)

1.  HELPLINE FACILITIES

  As soon as possible, a helpline facility should be set up to deal with enquiries from disabled people in general and the specific questions blind and partially sighted people are likely to have. The Helpline should have a facility for people to speak to a live operator rather than to an automated system.

  Given the intention of the government is to give specific support to blind people, live operators on the helpline should have undergone visual impairment and disability awareness training to help them understand different impairments and their impact on using digital TV. They should alert blind and partially sighted callers to the availability of audio description on different platforms and on the prices of the options that deliver audio description and on where they are available from. Ideally, the helpline function should offer a clip of audio description for people to listen to, so that people who are not familiar with the service can experience it. Furthermore, the helpline facility should be a point of contact to enable people to find out whether they are eligible for the "vulnerable consumer support package", what this support entails and whether it comes free of charge in their particular case.

2.  THE DEMAND FOR AND THE COST OF AUDIO DESCRIPTION

For blind and partially sighted people

  When making decisions on the level of provision of audio description, it is important to bear in mind that currently around two million people in the UK have sight problems. An RNIB survey in 1991 found that 94% of blind and partially sighted people surveyed used television as a key source of information, news and entertainment.[8]

  Another RNIB survey conducted in April 2003[9] showed that 75% of blind and partially sighted respondents wanted audio description. This figure was confirmed by the TNS audio description research,[10] where two thirds of those in the age groups 16-64 and in the age group 65-75 showed wide appreciation for audio description.

  Some of the comments that RNIB has received on audio description on TV are:

    "I have listened to The Bill since it came out and I've never understood it. This was the first time I understood it (with audio description)."

    "TV programmes are much more interesting and easier to follow. I hope the TV broadcasters will expand this to all drama and films."

    "[Audio description] has made watching our favourite programmes far better, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Easters, are just a few that we can fully enjoy now along with anyone else. I cannot describe what it's like to fully understand what is happening. I have never had sight, and really didn't realise what a large part of the programme I actually missed out on. I would like to thank you from both me and my husband for making this fantastic service available to many visually impaired people, you have made a real difference."

    "I was sorry that Waking the dead and Spooks were not being described—they are good programmes that would really benefit from being audio described."

For sighted viewers

  The Audetel project conducted in 1995[11] found that 40% of sighted respondents involved in the project said they would find it useful to have descriptive commentary on certain programmes, especially when they have the TV on in the background, whilst they were doing something else and not actually looking at the screen. A third of people in the survey reported this happened very or fairly often.

The cost and reach of audio description

  The cost of audio description is the outcome of a commercial negotiation between the broadcasters and their audio description provider. It very much depends on the number of repeats on the channel, how many hours a day that channel transmits, the genre that is being audio described etc, the overall size of the contract, the length of the contract etc.

  One ITFC, one of the main audio description providers in the UK has informed us that taken into account that variations might occur, the price per hour of audio description is currently in the region of £500 per programme hour. Contrary to general perception, audio description is not massively more expensive than subtitling. Cost of subtitling also varies according to whether a programme is recorded or live and the size of the contract between the provider and the broadcaster, but can be averaged as follows:

    —  prices for life subtitling are currently around £250 per hour; and

    —  for new recorded programmes the cost is now somewhere between £300 and £400, and increasingly nearer the lower figure.

  The prices of subtitling have fallen dramatically over the past five years for the following reasons: increased size of contracts as subtitling requirements are higher than before, new technological developments, increased competition between providers and new working practices and other measures to reduce overhead costs.

  As a result the prices of subtitling have dropped dramatically in the past couple of years. RNIB is convinced that doubling the target for audio description to 20% of programming by the 10th anniversary of a digital licence could generate a similar effect on prices and therefore the actual' costs to broadcasters should be absorbable by their budgets.

  As audio description is currently being rolled out on NTL digital cable TV, the increased provision would have an additional impact as from the end of 2007 onwards it will be there to enjoy for blind and partially sighted people on all digital platforms: Digital terrestrial, digital satellite and digital cable.

  Therefore increasing the audio description provision to 20% of programmes would give blind and partially sighted people a real reason for converting to digital TV, rather than the current 10% which does not provide a sufficient incentive.

21 November 2005









8   RNIB (1991): Blind and partially sighted adults in Britain: the RNIB survey, Volume 1. Back

9   Perera, Silvie (2003), Interactive Digital Television Services for people with low vision, RNIB scientific Research Unit. Back

10   Taylor Nelson Sofres (2003), Audio description pricing research, unpublished report. Back

11   McKivragan, Kevin (1995), Audetel: potential among the general population, BBC Broadcasting Research, Network Television Group. Back


 
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