[vicsireland] Re: Review of Broadcasting Access Rules

  • From: "GERARD SHANAHAN" <gershan@xxxxxx>
  • To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:39:16 -0000

Robbie, re-reading your emails has provoked another thought linked to the 
thoughtful phrase with which Gerry Ellis, my old comrade finishes his emails: 
"if you don't know where your going, how do you know when you get there", well 
all I can say in this case, concerning R.T.E., R.T.E. N.L., The B.A.I.  and 
Comm Reg and disability rights.  We know what we want accessible television and 
suitable technology but there are so many scare crow like figures in the field 
of wheat that we can't make out which is the moving target of the farmer 
checking his crop so we might as well add the Advertising Standards authority a 
another agency to contact and complain to, Why?  The soarview add uses the 
phrase "Accessible digital television for everyone" or such phraseology.  we 
seem to be acquiring more and more agencies to tackle which in the long run 
will defuse the momentum of any actions on our part, so should we just give up 
now and save ourselves the bother? Can I ask Gerry , what exactly is being 
achieved in the audience representitive group discussions?  As regards the sub 
titling, I can't directly speak about it's quality but I know that fully 
sighted people with no defective vision can find it hard to read at times due 
to the fact that the text is coloured i.e. white and the background is set on 
the default programme picture rather than a contrasting band of colour.  So as 
for example, in a Scammal programme somemonths ago, the white text had a 
background of white due to documentation on a table in the picture, Now How 
thoughtless is that!!  the producers should be made watch old subtitle films 
where the text was white on a font high background of black but that would be 
too conventional and old fashioned.  Gerry
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: RobbieS
  To: vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2011 1:51 PM
  Subject: [vicsireland] Re: Review of Broadcasting Access Rules


  Hi Gerry,

  Two proverbs come to mind:
  t's good we're trying different ways to skin a cat. &
  By their (RTÉ's) fruits, ye shall know them.


  RTÉ admit  they have broken the law regarding the 1% tartget by the 2006 
Sectoral Plan; what worries me, is that their excuse for this shows that they 
are not suitably put out by this and that we can expect more such from them in 
future.  Lets hope this new BAI process is more than just a can-kicking 
exercise.

  2.  In setting ou the spec for saorview, RTÉ ignored the needs of vips.  Now, 
they claim changing the spec would be too expensive - all because of their 
original neglect: this denial of equal service is, of course, against 2005 
Disability Act and Dept. of Communiunications Sectoral Plan (2006).

  I've found the email adderss of someone in Monaghan through which complaint 
about this can be made (Comreg); I'll have more time to fish it out, have a go, 
and post it here during the Christmas.

  Having said that, the person who has done most work on this for BLA has been 
Pat McCarthy, and perhaps, a swopping of recipes would be useful.  Pat has 
kindly allowed me to put his number here: 086-2714307.

  I'm sure, he's amenable to giving and accepting advice to or from anyone 
interested in any facet of the RTÉ thing.  He's really covered them all.

  Regards,

  Robbie

  Also, anyone who reads Sections 53-54 will se that thse sections seem to 
supercede Sectoral Plans, and RTÉ have ignored the lot.

  You can bring a horse to water....


  Robbie


  On Sun, Dec 18, 2011 at 12:23 AM, RobbieS <robbiesin@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

    Hi Gerry,

    Sorry to be so brief but I don't have the time to research tat the moment.

    I have given hapter and verse to RTÉ in my complaints against thejm (for 
what it's worth).

    Apart from the usual 26-38 of the Disability Act, there is also, specific 
to RTÉ and other broadcasters, sections 53 and 54 of the same Act which apply 
specifically to Public Sector Broadcasters.

    Either way, it is obvious - and RTÉ have admitted so - that RTÉ are in 
breech of the Sectoral Plans to date [which I have read in full + updates] - 
but they seem to think that only those with money behind them matter.

    Are  they right?

    Robbie


    On Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 11:29 PM, Gerry Ellis 
<gerry.ellis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

      Hi,



      What legal obligations? RTE neither make settop boxes nor did they set 
down the specifications for settop boxes. RTE-NL set down the specs based on an 
international set of requirements, but this is separate from RTE.



      If you have some legal details that would help in pursuing this issue I 
would love to hear about them as they may add some leverage.





      Take care,



      Gerry ellis



      If you don’t know where you’re going,

      How will you know when you get there?



      From: vicsireland-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:vicsireland-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of RobbieS
      Sent: 17 December 2011 16:55
      To: vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


      Subject: [vicsireland] Re: Review of Broadcasting Access Rules



      For the record, all credit to Pat McCarthy of the Blind Legal Alliance 
for getting the BAI to at least go through these motions.



      then, true to form in such matters, they wouldn't even inform him that 
they'd acceeded to his demand/request.



      RTÉ have put two fingers up to the Disability Act 2005 where vips are 
concerned.



      For instance, they claim that:

      a). it's not parctical in terms of cost at this late stage to have an 
accessible set-top box.  Their neglect of the matter in the first place has led 
to this situation, but there will probably be no accountability for this 
flagrant breech ot their legal obligations.



      Also, RTÉ claim that they couldn't meet the niggardly 1% target for 
audio-description because they couldn't find companies in ireland to do it - as 
if they couldn't do an in-house job if they were really serious about it.



      Come to think of it, wouldn't an in-house job be cheeper, with no 
tendering process or profit-margin required?



      Up the BLA,



      Robbie











      On Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 4:45 PM, GERARD SHANAHAN <gershan@xxxxxx> wrote:

      Mark, I'm so disappointed, talk about splitting hairsIt reminds me of a 
friend who hired a prosperous electrical contractor to fit a door bell:  1 
supervisor, 1 bell fitter and 2 men to put in 12 feet of electrical cable and 
connect the bell to the bell push.....No wonder nothing gets done in this 
country Comre, BAI, R.T.E. NETWORKS, SOARVIEW, EVERYONE IS DOING SOMETHING BUT 
NO ONE TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR NICHE PROBLEM SOLVING. Shouldn't we send a 
submission to comreg on accessibility of technology...This could turn into a 
debate and the digital change over will have taken place before we even get an 
acknowledgement of submission. regards confounded, confused and deluded Gerry
      ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Magennis" <Mark.magennis@xxxxxxx>
      To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
      Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 10:21 AM
      Subject: [vicsireland] Re: Review of Broadcasting Access Rules




      Gerry,

      Set top boxes are not covered by the access rules. The Access Rules only 
cover content access services - audio description, subtitling, and sign 
language. In fact, the BAI itself is only concerned with television content. 
Technical aspects of broadcasting and networks are under the remit of ComReg.

      Mark

      On 14 Dec 2011, at 21:41, GERARD SHANAHAN wrote:

      Gerry, B.A.I.  have provided documentation on access for consultation on 
www.bai.ie/?page_id=2006 I've just downloaded them but haven't read them yet 
maybe other people should have a look and make submissions before closing date. 
 Do you know if the topic of accessible set top boxes is within the parameters? 
 Gerry
      ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gerry Ellis" 
<gerry.ellis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
      To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
      Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 8:47 PM
      Subject: [vicsireland] Review of Broadcasting Access Rules



      Hi,

      These Access Rules are set by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, but 
are
      given statutory strength through the Sectoral Plans of the Disability Act.
      The old plans required 2% of Audio Description and 2% of Subtitling, but
      neither of these targets were met.

      I think it would be great if VICS made a submission on the review either 
by
      itself or as part of the TV Access group.

      I would suggest that reference to the 21st Century Communications and 
Video
      Accessibility Act from the United States would be helpful as it has far 
more
      ambitious targets than anything that is likely to come from the BAI 
itself.

      See details of the call for submissions at:
      http://www.emara.org/news/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7054




      Take care,

      Gerry ellis

      If you don't know where you're going,
      How will you know when you get there?





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