At a recent Parliamentary reception, local MP Andrew Miller supported the Royal National Institute of Blind People’s (RNIB) call for more audio description for the 3,000 blind and partially sighted people living in Ellesmere Port and Neston.

  Audio Description (AD) is an additional commentary that describes the body language, expressions and movements that someone with sight loss cannot see. Currently the Communications Act (2003) only requires 10 per cent of television programmes to be audio described.  This limits blind and partially sighted people’s access, understanding and enjoyment of television. The RNIB is calling for an increase in the amount of AD from 10 to 20 per cent of programming.

Andrew Miller said:  “At the event I watched Dr Who* with a partially sighted person and I now realise how difficult it is to follow a programme without audio description if your sight is impaired – who is the Dr pointing the gun at and who did he shoot?  Blind and partially sighted people are at risk of being left behind; unable to join in the conversations we have every day about TV shows.  As digital switchover gathers pace, I’ll be calling on the Government to make sure blind and partially sighted people aren’t left in the past and can share in the future of this significant part of our national culture - television.”

Ends
3rd March 2010

For further comment please contact Andrew Miller MP on 020 7219 3580.

*Dr Who is routinely audio described on the BBC and BBC iPlayer. At the event a clip was shown, courtesy of the BBC, both with and without audio description to illustrate the difference is makes to the enjoyment and understanding of the programme.

The photograph shows Andrew Miller MP and RNIB Head of Campaigns Steve Winyard, with a reproduction of the first mass-produced TV, built in 1929 and invented by Logie Baird.