News and Press Releases

Canada's Vision-impaired Community will 'See' Trudeau - The Man, The Myth, The Movie on CBC and VoicePrint

TORONTO, Mar. 15, 2002 - CBC English Television and VoicePrint will work together to distribute a version of the highly anticipated four-hour dramatic series, Trudeau, accessible to blind and vision-impaired Canadians. The soundtrack of the described mini series will be broadcasted simultaneously on the Second Audio Program (S.A.P) of CBC and on the VoicePrint broadcast network on Sunday, March 31 and Monday, April 1 at 8 p.m. (local time).

Through description, blind or low-vision viewers will be able to follow the mini series through the aid of an unobtrusive audio description of key visual elements not obvious from the original soundtrack - allowing them to follow the story as easily as their sighted family and friends.

The description process designed by VoicePrint ensures that there is little disruption for any sighted viewers who watch the mini-series with their vision-impaired friends or family members by coordinating the descriptions exactly with the on-screen visual presentation. This enhances the viewing experience, creating an enjoyable activity for all.

"The Trudeau dramatic series marks the fourth time CBC worked with VoicePrint to create and air described programming," explains Slawko Klymkiw, executive director of network programming for CBC. "This is another example of CBC making television more assessable to vision-impaired Canadians by delivering programming that reflects and meets the needs of Canadian viewers."

"Enriching the lives of blind and vision-impaired Canadians is something VoicePrint is dedicated to," says Arlene Patterson, program manager for VoicePrint. "Working in this way with CBC allows us to deliver quality programming to Canadians who often find it difficult to follow dramatic series and movies because they cannot see what is on the screen, or cannot see it well. We're able to get beyond that thanks to description technology."

NBRS, VoicePrint's parent company, began working with the CBC in 1998. Since then, NBRS has described The Arrow, Big Bear and Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story for CBC. The described version of Trudeau will be available to most CBC viewers. In Toronto and southwestern Ontario, the described version will be carried using the S.A.P. component of CBLT-TV's transmission.

The described version of Trudeau can be heard in 6.4 million homes throughout Canada on the VoicePrint network on cable through the S.A.P. of CBC Newsworld, on Star Choice channel 825, on Express Vu channel 967, on Look TV channel 100 (audio 2) and live on the Internet at www.voiceprint.ca.

VoicePrint is a division of The National Broadcast Reading Service Inc. (NBRS): a non-share corporation dedicated to enhancing access to printed news and information for 3.2 million vision- and print-restricted Canadians. Licensed by the CRTC, the round-the-clock service provides an audio version of newspaper and magazine stories, features and editorials. AudioVision Canada, a second division of NBRS, is the pre-eminent Canadian producer of description products that allow vision-restricted viewers enhanced and independent access to television and movies.

For more information contact:
VoicePrint
Shannon Bowness
Tel: 416-422-4222 ext.222
e-Mail: sbowness@nbrscanada.com

CBC Television
Tamara MacKeigan
Tel: (416) 205-7167
e-Mail: tamara_mackeigan@cbc.ca