Raimund Lunzer, Austrian Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted Audio description in Austria: There is still much to do! Conference Accessibility of audiovisual works to people with visual impairment: The means of their social inclusion and knowledgeability 21 June 2012, Bratislava There is still much to do! With this sentence we can describe the situation auf audio description in Austria. But we can also add: in recent years much has happened already! On 20 February 2004 the Austrian national public service broadcaster ORF aired the first film with audio description: The episode Contract for a murder from the TV series The old man. The ORF promised to provide four self- or co-produced films with audio description annually for the 318,000 blind and partially sighted people in our country. I repeat: Four films a year only! 1 When I started my work for our association, it was very important for me as a trained communication scientist to issue a press release 2009 with the headline: Audio descripted films at the ORF: Good bye, Austria! with the subheading: Who lost his sight in Austria, must be a confirmed fan of the television detective Matula. Matula is the main character in the TV series One case for two which was one of the very few series with audio description Although my former boss said: I need no audio description, I already have my wife who describes me what happens in the TV, we started a lobbying campaign, aiming at the state secretariat for media, the public service broadcasting, the media authority RTR and the film institute among others. You must imagine: Audio description was not even embedded in the broadcasting law in contrast to subtitles! Back then, the times could not be more favorable: The legislator had to convert the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS). The new regulations commit the state in
article 7 to accessibility, for blind and partially sighted people in form of audio description, particularly the public service broadcasting. The evaluation draft of the government only stated, that the broadcasts for hearing-impaired and visually impaired must be gradually increased each year by appropriate activities, with 31 December 2009 being the baseline date. That was not enough! I wrote a statement on behalf of our association: This part of the new law is formulated in a very unclear way and does not constitute any actual obligation for the ORF: The Austrian Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted therefore calls on the legislature to provide a phased plan of accessibility and to make it legally binding - with the final result to equip all programmes of its public service mission with audio description within the next decade, by 31 December 2020 the latest. ( ) By entering into force of this law this accessibility provision also must have validity for all new (co-)produced TV films and documentations by the ORF also including the entertainment sector. I justified this clarification also with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by Austria. We were partially successful! In paragraph 5 of the new ORF law it is codified: The television information programmes will be in accordance with the technical development and economic feasibility designed to make it hearing- and visually impaired people easier to follow programmes. In addition, making sure that the respective shares of accessible programmes for the hearing and visually impaired (sic!) with appropriate measures is continuously raised compared to the level of 31 December 2009. For this purpose, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation must conduct hearings for representative organisations of hearing and visually impaired (!) and by 31 December 2010 present a plan for further expansion of accessible programmes ( ) and its online services, including measures for phased implementation. The plan shall be annually reviewed and adjusted if necessary. In the medium term the ORF must subtitle all its TV broadcasts with speech content. 2 So, a well-defined target for the group of hearing impaired people is not a problem, for blind and visually impaired people, however, this is not possible? Who would understand this
unequal treatment? But I have bored you enough with uninspiring legislative texts let us rather take a look at their practical implementation! Every year again comes not only Santa Claus, but also the time for a meeting with the ORF as it is required by law. The department at the ORF responsible for our concerns is the one on humanitarian broadcasting which is linked directly to the Directorate General. The first meeting at the end of 2010 we already had to insist on. Back then the finished planning stages were already with the Board of Trustees. We were not asked for our ideas, which obviously is against the law! Of course, when we take the year 2004 as the baseline date, the increase is enormous. In 2004 the ORF aired 68 hours with audio description, in 2011 it was ten times the amount, 676 hours. 3 Credit: ORF On closer viewing, more than half of the current 676 hours are not films, but audio commentaries of sports events as football (like the current European championship for which the Austrian team did not qualify), grand prix or skiing; but also royal weddings and funerals or the programme Dancing Stars. Only 42 percent are films with audio description, 58 percent are audio commented live events.
Credit: ORF It is about time for a scientific study: How many of the 318,000 blind and partially sighted people in Austria know of the audio description offers? How many of them make use of them? What kind of broadcasts do they consume? Such a scientific study we are now initiating in cooperation with the institute for scientific communications at the University of Vienna. Before coming to the end of my presentation, I would like to inform you about a few key points related to the audio description in Austria: 4 Segment channels and internet The previous versions of the law concerned only the main channels ORF one and ORF 2. Segment channels of the public broadcasting service like ORF III and ORF SPORT + are not accessible, also the ORF TVarchive on the internet is only partly accessible. Movie promotion In our country there are basically three major funding agencies, which support the accessibility of films financially: The Austrian Film Institute, the Television Fund Austria and the film promotion funds of the Austrian federal state, of which the biggest one is the Vienna Film Fund.
Austrian Film Institute: each DVD or similar media of supported films must be accessible, this part of the production costs are reimbursed. Television Fund Austria: The production of TV films for hearing or visually impaired people is financed with 80 percent of the actual and documented costs, the maximum amount is 10,000 Euros. Vienna Film Fund: The beneficiaries of funding must produce each DVD or similar media in an accessible format. Costs To make a film accessible for blind and partially sighted people, you need to pay between 6,000 and 7,000 Euros. Conclusion / Demands 5 Every film sponsored with public money shall be accessible, shall have audio description, also every new ORF film. The public broadcasting service shall audio descript also segment channels, documentations and the latest news. Blind and partially sighted people shall benefit from a reduction of the tax which funds the ORF, independent of their income, because they cannot make use of the whole program. We need a hotline with information on accessible program for blind and partially sighted for those people cannot use a computer, for example elderly people.
Blind and partially sighted people shall be included in the production process of audio descripted films, we want to introduce a special training for this. Austria is a film country, think of Christoph Walz or Stefan Ruzowitzky. We need to donate an own award for accessible films, similar to the award in Germany, the Hörfilmpreis. Last but not least: We need accessible cinemas! 6