Alan Schauder
31 Carnarvon Rd
Caulfield North Vic 3161
19 May 2004
Disability Rights Unit
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
GPO Box 5218
Sydney 1042
Dear Sir or Madam,
I do not represent any particular interest group – I am just a parent of a young, profoundly deaf child trying to give my son the best chance for language development, early childhood education and entertainment in a silent world. Captioning on Foxtel Digital would be enormously beneficially for our son, allowing him to access, enjoy and learn from the content that so many hearing children take for granted. Foxtel has a much broader range of children's programming (such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and the Disney Channel) than regular free-to-air TV. One of the big problems with animated cartoons is that there is no opportunity for lip-reading, so captioning is the only way for a deaf child to access these programs.
I'm heartened to see that ASTRA is planning to introduce captioning for Foxtel Digital, but concerned about the slow proposed roll-out rate. I would have thought that most programs shown on Foxtel have already been captioned in their host countries prior to distribution. To a layman, this should simply be a question of basic access rights for the hearing impaired, rather than Foxtel priorities and profits. After all, a public building is obliged to put in a ramp for wheelchair access, regardless of the profitability of the business being conducted inside.
Please do what you can to ensure that the captioning roll-out occurs as quickly and effectively as possible.
Many thanks,
Alan Schauder