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Bell Canada Enterprises has
ignored Canadians with disabilities. Its response to interventions
concerning its proposed acquisition of one of Canada's largest
English-language broadcasters failed to address the issue of accessibility
- or even mention the word.
Access 2020, a coalition of the country's largest organizations of
Canadians with disabilities, filed a 73-page intervention with the CRTC
about the BCE broadcasting purchase, asking it to support the empirical
studies, technological innovation, programming archives and education
needed to enable Canada's communications system to become fully accessible
to all by the year 2020.
BCE's response to interveners did not refer to the Coalition and wrote
that "all Canadians with access to television can view the programming" (para.
111). In fact, noted Beverley Milligan, Executive Director of Media Access
Canada, "Over 800,000 blind Canadians cannot 'view the programming' and
another 1.2 million cannot hear it. The current industry-driven approach
to inclusion simply is not working. Canadians need the CRTC to step in to
represent their interests -- and to ensure that our Coalition's plan for
100% accessibility by the year 2020 is implemented."
Accessibility standards do not exist for internet TV or telephones,
frequent errors make captions useless, and only 3% of TV programs must be
described, said Milligan. "TV broadcast should be accessible to all
Canadian audiences, which means 100% reliable captioning and descriptive
video," said Chris Kenopic, President of the Canadian Hearing Society.
"The lack of enforced standards, specifically descriptive video, renders
much television programming inaccessible for people with vision loss,"
added Cathy Moore, CNIB's National Director. "How long do we have to wait
to be able to access TV like everyone else? Frankly, if the CRTC approves
BCE's current application, it will be sending the clear and unequivocal
message that persons with disabilities are second-class citizens when it
comes to broadcasting and telecommunications."
The CRTC generally requires 6 to 10% of an acquisition's value be used to
benefit the broadcasting system. Since 2000 it has approved benefits worth
$878 million, of which just under $6 million (or 0.63% of the benefits)
have been directed to accessibility. Access 2020's intervention, A Bridge
to the Future, explained how allocating 1% of acquisitions from now until
2016 to an Accessibility Initiative trust fund would enable every
communications company in Canada to offer completely accessible television
content, on every platform, within ten years.
"We do not need a few more hours per week of described TV," said Mike
Potvin, Program and Communications Manager for the Canadian Council of the
Blind. "The entire communications system must become fully accessible. A
transaction of this magnitude must benefit all Canadians by funding the
desperately needed research and innovation that will reduce accessibility
costs for all companies, including BCE."
The Access 2020 coalition includes:
Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians
Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf
Canadian Council of the Blind
Canadian Hard of Hearing Association
Canadian Hearing Society
CNIB
Canadian Association for Accessible Travel Training Tourism Services
Easter Seals of Canada
Inclusive Design Resource Centre of the Ontario College of Arts and Design
March of Dimes
Neil Squire Foundation
Sir Arthur Pearson Association of War Blinded.
Source: Broadcaster, 01/28/2011 |