09/05/08

JOHN BUTTERFILL TAKES ACTION ON TV ACCESS FOR BLIND PEOPLE

Sir John Butterfill, M.P. for Bournemouth West, has written to Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, urging him to take action to boost access to TV for people with sight problems in advance of digital switchover.

According to national research by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), TV plays a pivotal role in the lives of people with sight problems.  Nearly 3 in 4 (73%) of people with sight problems spend five hours a week or more watching television but they find TV programmes extremely difficult to follow and struggle to navigate the visual menus and programme information now found on digital TV.  As a result they can feel excluded from mainstream culture and socially isolated.

Sir John met recently with the RNIB to discuss some of the services available to tackle this problem such as audio description – an additional commentary that describes on-screen action, body language and expressions, making the story clear through sound.  He said “Audio description is a great way of making programmes accessible to people with sight problems.  I am determined to ensure that the 3,000 blind and partially sighted people in Bournemouth West know about this free digital service and are supported to use it.  I would urge people to call the Audio description helpline on 08456 010181 to find out more.”

He went on to say “I also want to see an increase in the amount of audio-described programmes available (currently an average of 13% of programmes are audio described) and will be asking the Government what they plan to do about this.  Equally important is the need for talking menus and programme information.  Without this, blind and partially sighted people won’t have equal and independent access to TV.  I am calling on the Government to ensure that this technology becomes widely available.  A key thing they must do is to make sure the Freeview boxes they commission for the Digital Switchover Help Scheme include talking text as standard.  When switchover comes here in 4 years time, no-one must be left behind.”