S1: From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's
S1: your host, Sam Collins.
S2: Hello, everyone. It's great to be here with you. And
S2: for the next half hour, we talk matters of blindness
S2: and low vision.
S3: You know, if you close your eyes and you watch
S3: Friends or you watch Modern Family or Gilmore Girls or
S3: any of those sort of shows without vision, imagine just
S3: how confusing it would be to you, because, you know,
S3: obviously some of those shows have the laugh tracks in them.
S3: You don't know what they're laughing at, and you won't
S3: until you open your eyes and actually look at it.
S3: That's what audio description is for us. It's basically, you know,
S3: you watch the show your whole life with your eyes
S3: closed and then audio description being added is like opening
S3: your eyes and actually understanding what's happening and seeing what's
S3: happening for the first time.
S2: Welcome to the program. You may have seen an article
S2: floating around here and there about a university student from
S2: Brisbane who started a petition to gain audio description for
S2: her favorite show, Gilmore Girls. Her name is Tiana and
S2: she joins me on the show today to chat all
S2: about her petition and raise awareness for greater audio description
S2: services on streaming platforms. And then after you hear from Tiana,
S2: I'm joined by Vision Australia radio manager Conrad Brown to
S2: chat all about the Radio Listener survey, which is currently underway.
S2: And finally to wrap up the program this week, Stellar
S2: Glory catches up with me to chat all about the
S2: latest issue of foyer information, otherwise known as FYI. I
S2: hope you enjoy this week's episode of Talking Vision. Tiana
S2: Offord is a Brisbane based university student and audio description
S2: user who, as will soon discover, is a massive fan
S2: of the show Gilmore Girls. But no matter how many
S2: times she's watched every episode and memorized every line, there
S2: are some crucial details that she and other viewers who
S2: are blind or have low vision are missing out on
S2: without the addition of audio description. Tiana has started a
S2: Change.org petition to lobby Netflix to add audio description to
S2: Gilmore Girls with the potential to expand this to other
S2: shows in future. And it's my great pleasure to welcome
S2: her to Talking Vision Now to chat all about it. Tiana,
S2: welcome to Talking Vision.
S3: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited
S3: and can't believe this opportunity is here.
S2: Now, how long have you been using audio description for?
S2: Were you an early adopter or did you come to
S2: it a bit later?
S3: I would have to say that I'm not entirely sure
S3: when audio description came into effect and when it became
S3: sort of a normal thing for blind people to use it.
S3: I believe I started using it around 2012 in the
S3: cinema and then from there it kind of, you know,
S3: I ended up using it for everything. And now I
S3: find it very, very strange to watch anything without it.
S2: You're a fan of shows like Gilmore Girls and Friends,
S2: but I understand there's a few issues with audio description
S2: for those older shows. Tell us about those. Yeah.
S3: So Gilmore Girls is the main show that I'm promoting
S3: at the moment that I'm trying to get audio description for.
S3: It just doesn't have it and it doesn't there's not
S3: a track for audio description anywhere for sure. I've tried
S3: websites like the Audio Vault where they have shows with
S3: audio description uploaded in the audio only format and they
S3: normally have the audio description for them. But it's not there.
S3: It's not on Netflix, which is where they hold it,
S3: where they have the show to watch on streaming services.
S3: And I just think that it needs to have it.
S3: It's seven seasons long. It's a very popular show. It
S3: ran from 2000 to 2007. And I think shows like
S3: Friends where it does have audio description on the audio vault.
S3: There's no reason why that same audio description track shouldn't
S3: be available on Netflix or wherever else Friends is held.
S2: Yeah, that's perfectly understandable. And well, how long have you
S2: been watching Gilmore Girls for? How many times would you
S2: say you've watched every episode by now?
S3: I would have to say so. Different numbers to everyone
S3: because I honestly have no idea. But it would have
S3: to be like over 15 times. Like I've seen this
S3: show so many times that you can say a line
S3: to me and I can say the next one back.
S3: Like it's just I just know this show off my heart, okay?
S3: And it kind of just plays on a continuous loop
S3: in my lounge room while I'm studying, doing homework, anything
S3: like that.
S2: Oh, cool. But even after you've watched it 15 times over,
S2: you're still sort of missing key details, as I understand it,
S2: with little things about the plot. And you find out later, Oh,
S2: hang on. That's not how I thought it was, because
S2: you didn't have the visual information conveyed to you through
S2: the audio description. So you miss out on key aspects
S2: of the plot even after you're a Gilmore Girls superfan.
S2: And as he said, you know, every line off by heart,
S2: but you're still missing out on those visual details. So
S2: that also really speaks to why it is so important
S2: to have audio description for these shows.
S3: Yeah, I honestly, I don't understand why they haven't already
S3: put audio description on this show. Like there was a
S3: scene where a character, something happens in a dream and
S3: I never knew that it was a dream because there
S3: was no audio description. So I always assumed that that
S3: scene was in the real life of that character and
S3: that obviously it was a realistic scene. So it was
S3: something that could have happened in their life, but it didn't.
S3: And I always thought it did, which obviously changed my
S3: understanding of the next couple of episodes because it was mentioned.
S3: And yeah, so it just shows the little things that
S3: sighted people wouldn't really think about that really impacts a
S3: blind person's viewing of a show.
S2: Yeah, exactly. I mean, when it changes the plot and
S2: possibly the character arc of various people and you just
S2: thinking like, okay, you get back into it 2 or
S2: 3 episodes later and they might make a reference to
S2: it and you're thinking, Wait, hang on, that doesn't sound right.
S2: I didn't, you know, didn't pick up on that. What's
S2: going on now? So as you've mentioned, you've started a
S2: petition recently calling on Netflix to add audio description to
S2: Gilmore Girls. How's their response been so far?
S3: Yeah, look, so the petition is calling on Warner Brothers
S3: and Netflix to add audio description to Gilmore Girls. And
S3: I'm hoping that in the future this will be a
S3: stepping stone for them to go back and look at
S3: their other old content and add it to that as well.
S3: But the response has been incredible. I am up to
S3: around 7200 signatures now. Oh my God. I had some
S3: nine news articles published about me and back when they
S3: published them the. Titian was at 2500. So it's insane
S3: to see the progression of the condition. And I'm just
S3: you know, my mind's blown to the fact that so
S3: many people who don't even know me and who don't
S3: actually understand what audio description is or how it impacts me,
S3: are willing to make me have a better experience as
S3: a viewer.
S2: And Tiana, how long's the petition been going for and
S2: is there a time frame that you're looking at going forward?
S3: Yeah. So the petition has been going for about nearly
S3: a month now. It started in the middle of August
S3: and we're now partway through September, so we've got 7200
S3: signatures already. That's huge for me. I never expected to
S3: even get there. That is huge.
S2: Definitely.
S3: You know, while I don't have a time frame, I
S3: do sort of have a signature goal for now, which
S3: is 10,000 signatures. And we're very, very close. We're very
S3: close to 7500, which is sort of a goal that
S3: change.org sets. And once we get there, it's, you know,
S3: it's just a matter of time before we reach 10,000.
S3: And then after that, it's just a matter of, you know,
S3: getting it to bigger programs, getting it to the TV,
S3: seven news, all that kind of stuff, and making sure
S3: that it reaches a wider audience.
S2: Okay. And apart from Gilmore Girls and Friends, are there
S2: any other shows that you're really interested in getting audio
S2: description for, or is it sort of just a broader
S2: campaign to move past once you know, you've got the
S2: response about Gilmore Girls have all the description across the
S2: board for as many shows as possible?
S3: Yeah. Honestly, I'm just I'm looking to have audio description
S3: on as many shows as possible, but I know that
S3: that's not going to happen in one day. And so
S3: my focus was to go with obviously my favorite show
S3: because people who see petitions like this will sign if
S3: they see it's close to someone else's heart. So if
S3: I had, oh, everyone sign this so that we can
S3: have audio description on everything because it's important, I don't
S3: think it would have had sort of that emotional appeal. Yeah.
S3: And obviously I as a fan and a viewer, I
S3: want this like so much. I want to see this
S3: show from a completely different perspective with audio description and
S3: actually understand what is happening, what the characters are wearing,
S3: what their fashion sense is. Yeah, things that they're carrying
S3: that might not have known that they were carrying the
S3: food that they eat, just like everything that you would see,
S3: that you don't see when you're watching it, when you're blind,
S3: you know, obviously at the end I want it to
S3: be a wide spectrum thing and I want Netflix and
S3: any other streaming services to go back and look at
S3: shows that don't have audio description that could and just
S3: making the viewing experience more accessible for everyone, really.
S2: That's right. And it's also a matter of independence. Like
S2: people might be thinking, oh, just get a friend to
S2: tell you what's going on. And, you know, I can
S2: just tell you this is what's happening. But that's not
S2: what people are there to do and it's not what
S2: people want. The last thing people want is for some
S2: people to just go, Oh, just get somebody else to
S2: help you. And that takes away your independence, takes away
S2: your autonomy. And if that person's not there or they're
S2: not available, then that option is not there, obviously. And,
S2: you know, people shouldn't have to rely on, you know,
S2: other people to be there and say, oh, this is
S2: happening or that's happening that's going on. And yeah, and
S2: people don't necessarily even know what sort of details people need.
S2: And it might not even be that helpful in the
S2: first place. As much as they're trying to help, they
S2: don't necessarily understand, Oh, this is what we need to know,
S2: this is what it should be. But with audio description that,
S2: you know, you've got obviously people who are professionals and
S2: they know exactly what needs to be described and all
S2: that sort of thing. So what sort of messages would
S2: you have for people who are listening, perhaps from Netflix,
S2: to speak to the importance of audio description for people
S2: who are blind or have low vision and they've got
S2: the power to improve this, what would you say to them?
S3: I just want them to put themselves in our shoes
S3: and to sort of, you know, if you close your
S3: eyes and you watch Friends or you watch Modern Family
S3: or Gilmore Girls or any of those sort of shows
S3: without vision, imagine just how confusing it would be to you. Because,
S3: you know, obviously some of those shows have the laugh
S3: tracks in them. You don't know what they're laughing at
S3: and you won't until you open your eyes and actually
S3: look at it. That's what audio description is for us.
S3: It's basically, you know, you watch the show your whole
S3: life with your eyes closed and then audio description being
S3: added is like opening your eyes and actually understanding what's
S3: happening and seeing what's happening for the first time. You know,
S3: if you have the power to improve accessibility for someone
S3: who can't see why not? Why not do it and
S3: why not make accessible to people? We've done it with
S3: other disabilities. We've done it for the deaf community with
S3: captions and subtitles and all that. Why not do it
S3: for other disabled communities?
S2: Exactly right. And if people are interested in heading along
S2: and signing the petition, what's the best place for them
S2: to do that?
S3: Yeah. So the link to the. Is Change.org add in
S3: Gilmore Girls. So I would really, really appreciate anyone willing
S3: to take a minute out of their day to sign
S3: for accessibility for everyone. That would be amazing.
S2: That's a wonderful note to end on and I'm sure
S2: a sentiment a lot of people can agree with. I've
S2: been speaking today with Gilmore Girls super fan and petition organizer.
S2: Tiana offered all about her petition to create greater awareness
S2: for audio description, especially when it comes to her favorite show,
S2: Gilmore Girls. Tiana, thanks so much for your time today.
S2: It was a pleasure to catch up with you and
S2: wishing you all the best to hit that magic 10,000 mark.
S3: Thank you so much for having me. Really appreciate it.
S2: I'm Sam Culley and you're listening to Talking Vision on
S2: Vision Australia radio associated stations of RPI and the Community
S2: Radio Network. If you missed any part of my interview
S2: with Tiana or you'd like to listen to the interview again,
S2: you can listen to Talking Vision through the Vision Australia
S2: Radio website at VR radio.org. That's V radio.org. Or you
S2: can find the full program as well as selected interviews
S2: on your podcast app of choice or through the Vision
S2: Australia Library. The Vision Australia Radio Listener survey is currently
S2: underway and we'd love to hear from you. So if
S2: you'd like to have your say in what we do
S2: on Vision Australia Radio and give your valuable opinions and feedback,
S2: what better person to chat to with all the important
S2: details than our manager of radio and audio services, Conrad Brown,
S2: who joins me right now. Conrad, welcome back to Talking Vision.
S2: Great to catch up with you.
S4: Oh, always a pleasure, Sam. Great to be here.
S2: Now we're catching up about a very important topic today,
S2: the Vision Australia survey. Tell us all about it.
S4: So it's our annual listener survey for the Vision Australia
S4: Radio Network, and it's the opportunity that we give to
S4: our listeners and our community of interest to give feedback
S4: on what we do on air and what they like
S4: about the programs that we put out, the podcast that
S4: we put out, but also to give us a bit
S4: of an idea of where they are and who they
S4: are and to tell us what we're doing well, what
S4: we can improve on and potentially what else we could
S4: be doing that they'd like to hear on Vision Australia Radio.
S2: Okay. And how do people fill out that survey, Conrad?
S4: So there's a couple of ways. The easiest way is
S4: to go to the Vision Australia Radio website. So RVA
S4: Radio dot org and on the home page there's a
S4: link there that takes you straight to the survey. There's
S4: also an option for a call back service for anyone
S4: that may have difficulty navigating the Virgin Australia radio website
S4: or the survey online itself. So all they need to
S4: do is call the National Call Centre through Vision Australia
S4: and register their interest for a call back. And one
S4: of our lovely call centre team or one of our
S4: volunteers will call them back and help them fill out
S4: the survey later on this month.
S2: Okay. And that number is 1300 847 466, that's 1300 847 466 if that
S2: call back option does appeal. Now, Conrad, what is the
S2: time frame for the survey? How long is it open for?
S4: So it closes at the end of September. So people
S4: have still got a little bit of time to do it.
S4: But we really want to encourage people to get onto
S4: it as soon as they can so that we can
S4: make sure that we get everyone's feedback. And we also
S4: want people to be able to let friends of theirs
S4: know that the survey is going as well. A lot
S4: of people think that because they might not listen to
S4: Vision Australia radio locally, that potentially we might not want
S4: to hear from them. But if you're listening to one
S4: of our great shows as a podcast or you stream
S4: it somewhere around Australia, you know, if you're one of
S4: those huge talking vision fans that live around Australia, we
S4: want to hear from you. We want to know what
S4: you love about the show, what you like about what
S4: we're doing. And you know, like I said, what potentially
S4: we could be doing in terms of new content and
S4: new programs and that you'd like to hear across the
S4: Vision Australia Radio Network.
S2: And people also go into the running to pick up
S2: a couple of exciting little things if they do participate
S2: in the survey. Conrad So just quickly before we wrap up.
S2: Tell us a bit about them.
S4: So if they go to RVA Radio Org and complete
S4: the survey and it takes about, I don't know, 5
S4: to 6 minutes, let's say there's an opportunity there. Future also, right?
S4: A little bit more. So let's say ten minutes all up.
S4: You can put yourself into the draw to win one
S4: of five $100 gift cards. So those cards are always
S4: going to come in handy at the moment, cost of
S4: living in all of that sort of thing. So there's
S4: a bit of an incentive there, but we really hope
S4: that the incentive that really gets you involved in want
S4: to participate in this survey is to let us know
S4: what you think about what we're doing. We really want
S4: to hear from people and we really want to find
S4: out what our audience is enjoying and also what we
S4: can do to engage with our community of interest better
S4: as well. So yeah, jump online RVA Radio org and
S4: fill out that survey please.
S2: Every little bit of feedback. Does help us immensely. Do
S2: feel free to check it out and have your say.
S2: I've been speaking today with Vision Australia, manager of Radio
S2: and Audio Services, Conrad Brown, all about the Vision Australia
S2: Radio survey, which is currently under way. Conrad, thank you
S2: very much for your time today. Great to catch up again.
S4: Thank you, Sam, Always a pleasure.
S2: It's about that time of month again where Vision Australia's newsletter,
S2: for your information, otherwise known as FII, hits people's inboxes.
S2: And while Helen the usual editors away on a well-earned holiday,
S2: if I, for the time being, is currently in the
S2: extremely capable hands of a favourite of ours on Talking vision,
S2: Stellar Glory, who joins me now. Stella, welcome back to
S2: Talking Vision. Thanks so much for your time today.
S1: Oh, you don't have to thank me, Sam.
S2: There's an exciting issue of FII coming up for people.
S2: Tell us all about it.
S1: Well, I'm glad you used the word exciting. So I
S1: guess the big one we're talking about at radio is
S1: that the radio survey is out. So Vision Australia Radio
S1: is committed to making a difference to our community of interest.
S1: So that's your listeners there, Sam, but it needs to
S1: ensure it remains relevant. So now is your chance to
S1: help the station help you with the annual radio survey.
S1: Maybe you wake up to our live to air news
S1: reading programs, or perhaps you'd be lost without talking tech,
S1: not to mention talking vision. Where would you be without
S1: talking vision? And that's not to say if you don't
S1: do the survey, we're going to take those shows off
S1: the air. Is there something you're burning to tell us
S1: about how the station could improve surveys confidential and takes
S1: around 5 to 10 minutes to complete? It will be
S1: in the upcoming F.Y.I. It's also on our website as well.
S1: Other things that are in the newsletter Leep program. Are
S1: you familiar with Leap?
S2: Sam Yes, I've had quite a few dealings with Leap,
S2: Great little program, a lot of wonderful projects in there.
S1: Yep. So it's created for teenagers who are blind or
S1: have low vision 14 to 18, and the program teaches
S1: them the confidence and skills to thrive in life and
S1: their future work place. I've got a really interesting article
S1: from outside the organisation about a Brisbane University student who
S1: started an online petition calling on Netflix to add audio
S1: description to Gilmore Girls. Now the Gilmore Girls is about
S1: 20 years old. It's been on Netflix for about eight
S1: years already and it is still one of the most
S1: popular shows. And this young woman. So it's got a
S1: bit of a cult following now. It's a real icon.
S1: She's watched it about seven times, but she said she's
S1: still missing out on key elements of the plot because
S1: of the lack of audio description. So it's a bit
S1: of David and Goliath going on there. There is now
S1: I said Netflix for eight years, but his Netflix has
S1: been going for eight years.
S2: It has been. It actually used to be the competition
S2: for Blockbuster. That's how long it's been around for.
S1: Oh, right. Blockbuster video. That's right. Bingo for audio description.
S1: We've got some information about something for young people to
S1: get involved with. Audio description. We've got info about a
S1: parenting mentoring program, and I've got some news about Team Australia.
S1: At the recent IBSA World Games. Our team came home
S1: with a total of nine medals.
S2: Oh my God. Yeah.
S1: Mike Lee scooped two gold medals along with two other
S1: team members. So that's four gold medals. There you go.
S1: And that's all in your upcoming FYI, a client fortnightly
S1: newsletter which I put together, especially because Helen's on holidays. Yes.
S2: And we're looking forward to hearing what Tom Helen's been
S2: up to once she gets back into Melbourne. I've been
S2: speaking today with Stellar Glory, editor of Foyer information, otherwise
S2: known as FII. And if you're someone you know would
S2: like to be added to the mailing list to receive
S2: FII in your inbox, simply head to the Vision Australia
S2: website at Vision australia.org. That's Vision Australia. All one word.org
S2: and search for your information to sign up and receive
S2: all these stories and more in your inbox every month. Stella,
S2: great to have you back on the show. Thanks so
S2: much for your time. Thanks, Sam. And now here's Francis
S2: Kelland with a reader recommended.
S5: Thank you, Sam. This book is back of Beyond One
S5: Woman's remarkable story of love, adventure, disasters and wonderful times
S5: in the Gulf country. This is by Jenny Old. At 22,
S5: Jenny fell in love with Rick old and went to
S5: live and work with him on his property. McAllister in
S5: the Gulf of Carpentaria. There she faced incredible hardship, living
S5: in a hut with not even basic necessities. Her only
S5: contact with the outside world was a two way radio.
S5: In this vast, empty landscape, she battled drought, flood fire
S5: and cyclones for 18 years. She and Rick struggled to
S5: stay on in the Gulf, eventually triumphantly turning McAllister into
S5: a thriving oasis. This extraordinary story of one indomitable Australian
S5: woman is told in her own words with skill and humour.
S5: A story of the Bush people and their generosity filled
S5: with wonderful characters. Most of all, the story of one
S5: woman's love for her man and the adventure it took
S5: her on. McAllister The story of Jenny Olds amazing life
S5: in the outback will captivate and enthrall. Let's hear a
S5: sample of Back of Beyond by Jenny Old. It's narrated
S5: by Sally Turnbull. As a child, some of my favourite
S5: books with the.
S6: Silver Brumby, Silver Brumby's Daughter and The Golden Stallion, which
S6: I read and reread. I had such romantic ideas about
S6: wild horses at McAlester. I loved to watch them gallop
S6: across the plains when we were driving around our boundaries,
S6: free and sure footed mainstreaming mussels gleaming the Mayor's Guide
S6: at the Falls while the stallion was ever watchful over
S6: his brood. This was indulgent thinking on my part. The
S6: Brumbies had become a pest and were increasing in numbers.
S6: They had caused a serious problem at the end of
S6: 1971 by plunging into the waterholes and stirring up the mud,
S6: making it impossible for the cattle to drink the water.
S6: I was distressed that these beautiful creatures might have to
S6: be culled. Fate stepped in when A few months into 1972,
S6: we had a visit from two brothers, Des and Morgan Walden,
S6: who asked for permission to trap brumbies on McAlister. Just
S6: do what you have to do and don't tell me
S6: anything about it or discuss it in front of me,
S6: I instructed sadly. This was a rare princess moment for me.
S6: I did learn that the brumbies would be trapped then
S6: yardage and trucked for sale in Cloncurry days and Morgan
S6: camped out by the waterholes, having first constructed Hessian enclosures
S6: into which they would guide the horses. For days the
S6: canny animals refused to come near but finally their need
S6: to drink drove them to overcome their fear and cautiously
S6: approach theirs. And Morgan quickly closed the gates behind them.
S5: And that was back of Beyond by Jenny Old. That
S5: comes from one of the most popular genres in the library.
S5: Australiana and biographies and memoirs are the two categories. If
S5: you would like to join the library and enjoy some
S5: of those fantastic books, you can call them on 1300 654 656.
S5: That's one 306 54656. Or you can email us at
S5: library at Vision Australia Talk. That's library and Vision Australia. Org.
S2: And that's all we have time for today. You've been
S2: listening to Talking Vision. Talking Vision is a production of
S2: Vision Australia Radio. Thanks to all involved with putting the
S2: show together And remember we love your feedback and comments,
S2: so please do get in touch on Talking vision at
S2: Vision australia.org. That's talking vision all one word at Vision australia.org.
S2: But until next week it's Sam Colley saying bye for now.
S1: You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during
S1: business hours on one 308 4746. That's one 380 474
S1: W6 or by visiting Vision australia.org that's Vision australia.org.