The introduction of digital TV in Australia may have been less than spectacular, but some see it as the perfect vehicle to implement changes in broadcasting legislation that would benefit 1.7 million deaf people Australia-wide.
Changes to the Australian Broadcasting Services Act, which took effect from digital TV's debut on January 1, requires broadcasters to provide closed captions on news, current affairs and prime-time television programs.
Decoders, that are part of the standard package of newer televisions and can be purchased as an add-on for older sets, will be used to decode the closed captions so that people can read in print on the screen what is being spoken during the program.
Although some programs were previously captioned by broadcasters, "digital TV was seen as the vehicle to legislate it," deputy disability discrimination commissioner, Graeme Innes, told ZDNet.
"Basically not to provide the information in a form accessible to people who are deaf is in breach of disability discrimination legislation," Innes added.
There are 1.7 million people in Australia who are deaf or hearing impaired and two years ago 600,000 people regularly used television captions of this kind.
"We would like to see at least one million users of captions by this time next year," the Australian Caption Centre's Karen Williams said.
And with the advent of digital television, cinema captioning in major cities just weeks away and the captioning of payTV in the pipeline for next year, the Australian Caption Centre thinks this is well within the nation's grasp.
Since the introduction of the legislation on Monday, the Australian Caption Centre has received over 100 inquiries about the service, according to Williams.
It means that deaf people in Australia "are getting equal access to news and prime-time television which they haven't always had in the past," deputy commissioner Innes said.
