There are a few disadvantages. The majority of visually impaired people listen to radio. The advantages of radio are that it is broadcast into the blind person's home and there is a wide range of information available through this medium, including some programmes specifically for blind people such as In Touch on BBC Radio Four. The majority of visually impaired people watch TV, although some blind people prefer to buy a TV sound receiver only. Teletext is also available through TV and can be reproduced in large print and via a voice synthesizer.
TV has the same advantages as radio and a few additional disadvantages.
A new development which may help alleviate the second problem is audio-description. This is a verbal commentary describing scenery, costumes, body language, facial expressions and action during silent interludes in video, film, television and in the theatre. The Internet is one of the most significant communication developments since the invention of braille. For the first time ever, many blind and partially sighted people have access to the same wealth of information as sighted people and on the same terms. For example, a blind Net user anywhere in the world can now read today's issue of The Times, locate the best restaurants in Paris or search records in the Library of Congress, in exactly the same way as a sighted person might.