Australia lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to providing audio description, says woman’s legal representative

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A blind woman has launched an unlawful discrimination case against the ABC for failing to make audio description part of its regular programming.

Audio description is a second track that describes actions, scene changes, gestures and facial expressions for those who are blind or have low vision.

Suzanne Hudson believes that by not making programs accessible for those people, the public broadcaster has engaged in indirect discrimination.

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre is representing her in the federal circuit court. The centre’s chief executive, Edward Santow, said Australia lagged behind the rest of the world when it came to providing audio description.

“Many countries, including the UK, US, Ireland, Germany and Spain, already provide the service on free-to-air or subscription services,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

“By comparison, 20% of the UK Channel 4’s programs offer audio description, which works out at more than 33 hours per week.”

The ABC trialled the service for 13 weeks in 2012. After handing a report to government, the communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, agreed late last year to fund a further 15 months trial on iView.

“The technical trial will test the digital delivery path for audio description services within the ABC,” the broadcaster said on its website.

It will also provide a greater understanding of the issues associated with the public’s access to and use of such a service. A report will be handed back to government in the second half of next year.

Santow said the iView trial was welcome, but significant barriers to the online service remained, especially for those who relied on screen-reading software.

“The technology and accessible content exists, so we are urging the ABC to take this important, permanent step towards equality,” he said.