Sony Invents Television for the Blind

Well, not invents actually, since the television for the blind concept has been around for a couple of years, but the corporation has announced today that all of its Bravia range of televisions will incorporate Audio Description (AD) as standard. AD is similar to subtitles for the hard of hearing except the action is described for the benefit of blind or partially sighted viewers.

“We are all used to seeing and using subtitles on TV, but what many people don’t know is that the technology exists to make a similarly useful service available for the 30 million* or so visually impaired people we have in Europe,” says Andreas Ditter, Vice President TV Operations Europe. “The entire Sony BRAVIA television range now provides access to Audio Description (AD) as standard which, in combination with a commitment to raise awareness of AD, aims to increase the number of programmes, broadcasters and television manufacturers that offer the service.”

Until now Audio Description has only been available to those with a compatible set-top box, but now all Sony BRAVIA televisions will include Integrated Digital Television (IDTV) as standard, and provide access to AD without the need for an additional decoder.