[accessibleimage] audio description - Eight cinemas across Northern Ireland

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=629006

Belfast Telegraph
Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Cinemas sign up to help sensory impaired

By Ashleigh Wallace

Eight cinemas across Northern Ireland have signed up for a new programme aimed 
at providing their hard of hearing and visually impaired customers with access 
to the latest films.

World blind water ski champion Janet Gray and Lisburn man David McIlroy - who 
last year won two gold medals in the Deaf Olympics - were just two people who 
welcomed the new initiative which was due to be launched in Belfast's Queen's 
Film Theatre today.

The Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission's (NIFTC) cinema access 
programme is aimed at enabling deaf, hard of hearing, blind and partially 
sighted people to enjoy the latest films released in cinemas through specialist 
subtitling and audio description equipment.

And eight cinemas province-wide, including the Village Cinema in Belfast's 
Odyssey complex, Iveagh Movie Studio in Banbridge and the Queen's Film Theatre, 
have signed up to the new programme.

All cinemas across Ulster were invited to apply for necessary funding from the 
NIFTC. 

Those participating are now obliged to screen one film per week under the new 
scheme after £70,000 was awarded to each cinema to install the specialist 
equipment.

Dr Janet Gray, the world blind water skiing champion, said: "People with 
sensory impairments on the whole have been excluded from the enjoyment of 
cinema.

"With the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act which came into 
effect in October 2004, the installation of this equipment in a number of 
cinemas throughout Northern Ireland will increase the range of social 
activities that deaf and visually impaired can engage in and enjoy on a weekly 
basis."

Also welcoming the initiative was gold medal winner David McIlroy, who said: 
"It is very encouraging to see local cinemas taking advantage of the NIFTC 
funding that has been provided as part of this initiative and truly providing 
access for all."

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=629006

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