Do you feel this way about all advocacy groups or just the NFB? Joining a mailing list isn't the same as joining an advocacy group, helping to set it's agenda and then working to implement that agenda. I don't always agree with the positions of the NFB or ACB, but I respect them as organizations and it's members who are willing to come together and work for the benefit of the blind. IMHO, if you don't like the positions of the NFB, ACB or some other group then you should join that group and help determine it's positions. It isn't like the NFB or ACB aren't made up of blind people and the positions they come up with aren't held by some blind people.

I'm also a little confused about the opinions of some on the list. If I recall the history of this issue, there were no laws requiring described video when WGBH, the Department of Education and others were producing described video. The NFB didn't do anything to prevent any of this, they only opposed the passage of a law requiring it. I don't see how anything now is any different than what it was before this law was defeated.

BTW, I don't think the NFB should as been as vocal as it was opposing this law, but I agree with the NFB that this should not be mandated via a law. Every time a law is passed mandating accessibility, there's a price to pay in things like public acceptance. For this and other reasons, passing such a law should not be done lightly.

I've listened to quite a few movies with described video lately, mostly via the Blind Mice Movie Vault, and I find that movies I tended to enjoy when I watched them without described video are the same movies I tend to enjoy with described video. Movies I couldn't sit through when they weren't described, such as 2001 A Space odyssey, I still can't watch with described video. Listening to someone describe all of the interesting things that happen when you're in a weightless environment is only nominally more interesting than long passages of silence. I've also seen a big difference in the quality of described video, and I wonder how good the described video would be if it were mandated.

Kelly Pierce wrote:
The reason I joined the PC Audio list and not the National Federation of the blind is because I have a life beyond eating, sleeping, voting, working, paying taxes and going to the bathroom. All of these things the NFB wants access to but really nothing else. Kane, if you want audio described movies and television programs in the United States, I encourage you to contact your member of Congress to support and co-sponsor legislation currently being advanced that would establish this access. Sending your monthly dues off to Baltimore and Letting NFB do your talking for you has led to your current state of limited options. this is not a partisan opinion but a truthful statement of the facts.

Kelly



----- Original Message ----- From: "KANE BROLIN" <kbroli...@gmail.com>
To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org>
Cc: "JFW Mailing List" <j...@freelists.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 9:43 PM
Subject: Re: Descriptive Video on Commercial DVDs and Downloads


Gee, I didn't think I would create such a partisan firestorm by throwing out
the descriptive video questions.      But it is a fascinating discussion
that has taken turns I did not expect. I am an NFB member, but do not look
at issues with a viewpoint that's as partisan as the Boomer Generation
Federationists.

I don't spend a lot of time with video content at this point in my life, but
have run into descriptive video in the past and simply presumed it would
have become more prevalent in the last 5-10 years. It seems that the trend
toward video description actually has reversed itself, at least in the
United States.

So Bruce, are you suggesting that if one finds a DVD series like your
Canadian sitcom that's commercially available, use DVD Audio Extractor as a means of listening to the whole content of the DVD? Or does this program simply convert the DVD into a format that some other player such as Windows
Media Player or Winamp can process?

Regards,

-Kane
----- Original Message ----- From: "Bruce Toews" <br...@ogts.net>
To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 6:28 PM
Subject: RE: Descriptive Video on Commercial DVDs and Downloads


If you like good humor, try the Canadian TV show Corner Gas. Seasons 2
through the present all have described video on the commercial DVD's.

Bruce

On Thu, 5 Mar 2009, Dave McElroy WA6BEF wrote:

> Oh really?  What planet do you live on?  <lol>
>
> NFB and their ilk kind of did it to us when they got the feds to say
that it
> was no longer a requirement.  So now if you really want descriptive
> programming you have to find it outside of our shores.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org
[mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org]
> On Behalf Of Kane Brolin
> Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 1:42 PM
> To: j...@freelists.org
> Cc: Blind iPod Mailing List; pc-audio@pc-audio.org
> Subject: Descriptive Video on Commercial DVDs and Downloads
>
> Hi, folks.
>
> I'm probably about to ask a question that's painfully obvious to many.
> But I'm showing up at the descriptive video/SAP party much later than
> some.  I'm writing to the JAWS list because I am a JAWS user.  I'm
> writing to the Blind iPod list because purchasing video content on
> iTunes is now accessible through use of the J-tunes interface.  So I
> hope others view this question as at least somewhat relevant.
>
> I'm presuming, first of all, that most Hollywood feature films on DVD
> come with a descriptive video track encoded somewhere on them.  I'm
> presuming the same could be true with downloadable films and TV shows,
> too, as from iTunes.  Certainly, most DVDs representing TV programs
> where action was described in the first place, should have that same
> DVS output on the subsequent DVD release.  If this is true, I'm
> wondering about the following:
>
> 1.  How can I be sure, if a film or TV show is downloaded, to get the
> download version that has descriptive video encoded?  Is there a good
> source for such material?  Is there a way I can know for sure about
> this feature before I buy?
>
> 2.  When playing such downloaded or DVD content on the computer, is
> there a software player that is fairly accessible and which also has a
> menu option I can invok for activating or turning off the
> descriptions?  I've not seen this in RealPlayer or Windows Media
> Player, but maybe I'm just not looking in the right place.
>
> 3.  Am I being completely naive here?  Obviously, I know a lot of
> stuff isn't accessible on its face, and I realize legislation in front
> of Congress is attempting to make much of this universal.  I've heard
> of some people going to a place like the Serotek network to download
> versions of films that have been uploaded specifically for those
> wanting video description.  But is this truly necessary?  Or can the
> same content be obtained through regular channels with just a little
> bit of work on the part of the blind consumer?
>
> Just trying to get a handle on this issue, for my own benefit and for
> others I may encounter.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> -Kane
>
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