Descriptive TheatreVision™

Motion pictures, television and live programs described for the blind
and partially sighted

# Helen Harris

**President**

November 9, 2000

Mr. William E. Kennard, Chairman

Federal Communications Commission

Mass Media Bureau

Policy & Rules Div.

445 12^th^ St., S.W., Room 8B201

Washington, D.C. 20554

RE: Docket #99-339

Dear Mr. Kennard:

I am writing to you in opposition of the arguments against the above
mentioned document. No new information has been provided by the
petitioners to the FCC, so I hope that the Report and Order will
continue to be carried out as scheduled. I would like to bring you up to
date on the technologies we have at present, which are quite capable of
successfully bringing the audio description to television programming at
this time. As a blind person myself, I know just how important audio
description for the blind and visually impaired is, and how it can
impact our lives.

I was once a normal, self-sufficient Woodland Hills housewife, and then
27 years ago I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) along with
two of my three sons. Since then, I have lost my eyesight completely. At
that time, the doctors told me that there was no cure for this disease,
and no treatment. He also said that there are not enough cases of RP to
expect any research to be done on it. I was devastated, my life was
changed forever. I was determined to do something about this, and I
founded a non-profit organization called Retinitis Pigmentosa
International, spending my time trying to help researchers get funded to
find a cure, and providing services to the blind and visually impaired
in order to improve their lifestyles. We have come a long way since
then.

A number of years ago I created a system called TheatreVision™ (audio
description for the blind and visually impaired), which allows blind and
visually impaired people to again enjoy going to the movies, and we have
described a number of movies for them that have been accepted with open
arms by the blind and visually impaired communities (both those who have
been born blind, and those who have become blind). Some of the movies
we've described are: "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace,"
described by Samuel L. Jackson; "Tarzan," described by Tony Goldwyn; "At
First Sight," described by Mira Sorvino; "Batman Forever," described by
Michael Gough; "The American President," described by Martin Sheen;
"Pocahontas," described by Irene Bedard; "Apollo 13," described by
William Shatner; "Forrest Gump," described by Vin Scully; "Mission
Impossible," described by Angie Dickinson; "Braveheart," described by
Vin Scully; "Schindler's List," described by Mario Machado and Helen
Harris as well as Holocaust survivors, Elane Norych and Leopold Paul;
"Twister," described by Fritz Coleman; "Hercules," described by Lillias
White; "Mulan," described by Pat Morita; "Quest For Camelot," described

**P.O. Box 900 -- Woodland Hills -- California 91365 -- (818) 992-0500
-- Fax (818) 992-3265**

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by Carole Bayer Sager; and "Titanic," described by James Cameron and
Angie Dickinson, to name a few.

James Cameron wrote in a letter sent to us shortly after "Titanic" was
described by himself and Angie Dickinson**: "*Among the multitude of
hurdles and obstacles the blind face is their de facto exclusion from
many cultural events, such as theater and film, that sighted people
simply take for granted. Consequently, I was thrilled to learn of the
TheatreVision™ program through which "Titanic" could be made accessible
to the blind. I've loaned my voice to the description gratefully and
with the hope that it will bring my film to full and vibrant life for
those who could otherwise not experience it*."**

TheatreVision™ has also described many of the old classic movies, and
distributes one film to 200 stations throughout the country every month
for televising for the blind and visually impaired.

I am enclosing my responses to the complaints filed by the entities who
are against audio captioning for the blind and visually impaired in
order to familiarize you with the true and full story of what is
actually available here and now in order to accommodate the mandate. I
hope you will consider this request and keep the mandate effective. This
mandate is a dream come true to blind and visually impaired citizens.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,

![](media/image1.png){width="1.8590277777777777in"
height="0.5680555555555555in"}

Helen Harris

President

HH:li

(enc.)

Via e-mail: : wkennard@fcc.gov

## LI131 

**"In opposition to petitioners for reconsideration of the reported
order on video description"**

### Docket NO 99-339

[Industry's argument]{.underline}: #1. **"[SAP]{.underline}"** -- cost,
time, labor, difficulty in implementing to stations.

[Accessibilities response to #1]{.underline}: "TheatreVision™ encoding
technology would be a zero cost to stations. This [technology is
available immediately]{.underline}, built by a major broadcast
contractor. It is fully field tested and compatible with
**[ALL]{.underline}** NTSC/PAL and ATSC video broadcast/editing systems.

[Industry's argument]{.underline}: #2 **"[Writing Cost]{.underline}"**.

[Accessibilities response to #2]{.underline}: No different than what was
approved for the deaf with closed captioning. If television producers
can afford to pay actors millions of dollars per episode and gross tens
of millions of dollars in profit from syndication, licensing and
advertising revenues, they can certainly afford a few thousand dollars
to make their product accessible to tens of millions of partially
sighted and blind viewers across the United States.

Closed Captioning divides the cost among three parties, we would
continue to do the same. Captioning also frequently has the cost
underwritten by advertisers, reducing their financial outlay often to
zero.

The hundreds of millions of dollars now saved by the industry from the
TheatreVision™ technology can be used to fund the described narration a
thousand times over.

[Industry's argument]{.underline}: #3 **"[National Federation of the
Blind]{.underline}"** has stated they do not want visually impaired to
have access to this service.

[Accessibilities response to #3]{.underline}: 99.9% of the people in
this country who, over the next few decades will become blind, legally
blind, or severely visually impaired, will again be able to fully
experience television with the descriptive narration.

Diseases like Macular Degeneration, Diabetes, Glaucoma, Retinitis
Pigmentosa and accidental trauma steal sight [after]{.underline} birth.
These children, teenagers, women and men who've lost vision [will always
"think" in color]{.underline}. They will always understand the
incredible mental imagery provoked by the narrative description of: *the
green of the grass, the white blankets of snow in winter, the powder
blue sky of a crystal clear spring day, and the golden glow of color
that only a sunset can inspire.*

It would be a crime to listen to the unfounded objections of a minority
population (NFB) who resent the "newest blind community" because that
new community still needs the visual link to their memories, a link
which can be completed with TheatreVision's™ narrative description. I,
personally, have received calls from people who were born blind, after
having experienced a described feature film, who were so excited and
happy to have this experience in their lives, and who have expressed the
hope that there will be more of the same in the future. They look
forward to the day when the great artworks in famous museums will be
described by audio description, a schoolroom will be described for them,
and maybe even a mall or a hospital facility, allowing them to find
their way around such places.

Imagine every curb on every street corner WITHOUT the gradual concrete
ramps we've all become accustomed to. Now imagine a population of
individuals in wheel chairs, born without legs,

mounting a formal opposition to those who have recently lost their legs,
saying, "we don't need ramps on every corner. We can navigate just as
well as those with legs." Absurd, isn't it? No one group has the right
to deprive any individual of their freedom whether that comes in the
form of a ramp, an automatic door, closed captioning, or narrative
description.