AudioVision Canada

In 1995, The National Broadcast Reading Service Inc., operator of VoicePrint, launched its second division: AudioVision Canada (AVC). Ever since, AVC has been pioneering new technologies and service standards to provide the best possible product to blind and vision-restricted Canadians and their families.

Over the course of its existence, AVC has “described” hundreds of movie and TV productions, including Stargate SG-1, Chilli Beach, Monsters Ball and Girl with the Pearl Earring, plus such television specials as Shattered City, H20 and The Greatest Canadian. Many people have said this process does for people with no or low vision what closed-captioning does for people who are deaf — make film and other forms of entertainment more accessible.

Here’s how video description works: the description of the meaningful visual elements of a movie or TV production (or even a commercial or corporate video) are scripted, narrated and then matched to the soundtrack in a way that is congruent with what is on the screen and without distracting from the original dialogue or sound effects. 

AVC titles are available in video or DVD. Many are also available on what we call AudioCinema®, an audio-only version of a described movie on audio cassette and CD. As well, many described movies or TV programming can be accessed on the secondary audio program (S.A.P.) of many TV stations.

The market  — thanks to an aging population  — for described movies and TV programs is growing. There’s no getting around the fact that as we age, our vision decreases. By the age of 50, for example, one in two people require prescription eyewear. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the number of blind people worldwide exceeds 150 million, and is increasing. Every seven minutes in North America someone loses his or her eyesight. Currently, there are 13 million people with vision restrictions.

The CRTC certainly recognizes this trend and now is requiring, as part of the license-renewal process, that television broadcasters (both conventional and specialty services) must meet a minimum requirement of “described-programming” hours in their regular prime-time schedules. And many producers and TV execs have turned to AVC to help them meet this requirement.

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• 1-800-567-6755
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