[nabs-l] FW: Sony Partners With WGBH

[Rania]

I am just glad it is coming back.
Rania,
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sarah Alawami" <marrie12 at gmail.com>
To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 11:23 PM
Subject: [nabs-l] FW: Sony Partners With WGBH


> got this from a friend.
>
>
> Sony Partners With WGBH to Deliver Descriptive Video Service for DVDs
>
> By : Chris Tribbey
> Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the latest studio to join forces with
> WGBH Media Access Group to deliver select DVDs with Descriptive Video
> Service
> (DVS), an optional feature that provides audio narration for visual
> elements, allowing consumers who are blind or who have impaired vision to
> "watch" the
> content.
>
> PBS Home Video and Universal Studios Home Entertainment have both released
> titles that include the feature.
>
> "I don't know how large the untapped market may be. We're doing it because
> it's the right thing to do," said Tracey Garvin, SVP of worldwide 
> marketing
> for
> Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. "There's so much visually that the
> impaired can't pick up. It really enriches the experience, and it's
> certainly worth
> the additional expense."
>
> The American Foundation for the Blind estimates there are more than 20
> million people in the country with significant visual impairment.
>
> Mary Watkins, outreach director for WGBH's Media Access Group, said WGBH 
> had
> done descriptive content for VHS, producing more than 200 titles from 
> nearly
> all the studios.
>
> "The gap between the end of the road for the VHS format several years ago,
> and this announcement by Sony of all major titles going forward including 
> a
> DVS
> track, has been painful to an audience that loves movies as much as 
> sighted
> viewers," she said. "DVS on DVD enables people who are blind or have low
> vision
> to enjoy a movie independently, relieves their friends and loved ones of
> being amateur describers at home, and ensures a better return on Sony's
> original
> investment on the service for the theatrical release ... good news all
> around."
>
> The American Foundation for the Blind estimates there are more than 20
> million people in the country with significant visual impairment.
>
> The first Sony titles to include the feature will be The Taking of Pelham
> 123 (Nov. 3), The Ugly Truth, Julie & Julia and District 9. Beginning this
> fall,
> any theatrical release from Sony including descriptive audio also will 
> have
> the feature on eventual DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases.
>
> Listed as an audio option in the languages option of DVDs and Blu-rays,
> Descriptive Video Service offers narration describing everything from 
> facial
> expressions
> and gestures to costume and on-screen text.
>
> Garvin said that the transfer of a Descriptive Video Service for disc 
> isn't
> a difficult task for the studio. She added that Sony is "really proud to 
> be
> able to do this."
>
>
> Never give up! no matter how big or small the struggle may seem!
> Quote by Vicki Moore
>
>
>
>
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