From Nicole Lawder

Dear Members

Please see attached media release outlining a commitment to captioning DVDs from the Australian Visual Software Distributors Association (AVSDA), representing the home entertainment, film and TV industry.

This is very encouraging news and is a result of a lot of work by many people on DVD accessibility. You could write to AVSDA to pass on your appreciation of this commitment. You can email them at info@avsda.com.au

The distributors who have made this commitment include
1. Disney Studios Home Entertainment,
2. Hopscotch Entertainment,
3. Madman Entertainment,
4. Paramount Home Entertainment,
5. Roadshow Entertainment,
6. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment,
7. Twentieth-Century Fox Home Entertainment,
8. Universal Pictures Video and
9. Warner Home Video.

This may take a little time to flow through and make an actual difference as many releases are already scheduled before this commitment was made.

There is at least one distributor (who I don’t think is an AVSDA member) that hasn't agreed to increase captioning, and that is 21^st Century Pictures. They are not interested in captioning or audio- description. If you want to tell them what you think, their email address is info@21stcentury.org
Or you can write to them at:
21st Century Pictures
449 Darling Street Balmain NSW 2041
Ph: (02) 9555 7133 Fax: (02) 9555 7322
They won't change anything unless they think people want captions and audio description ... so why not email them and ask them why they do not support captions and audio-description on the majority of their new releases.

Remember nothing will change unless you keep contacting these organizations to tell them you want captions.

Well done to those members who have worked hard to make this happen.

Regards

Nicole Lawder
CEO, Deafness Forum of Australia
218 Northbourne Avenue Braddon ACT 2612
phone 02 6262 7808, mobile 0404 037 177
TTY 02 6262 7809, Fax 02 6262 7810

email nicole.lawder@deafnessforum.org.au
web www.deafnessforum.org.au
www.hearingawarenessweek.org.au