First speaking digital TV for blind people

The introduction of the digital TV led to problems for partially sighted and blind people as this technical revolution made watching TV impossible for them: While in the past a combination of hearing, residual sight, and audio description (AD) was used to describe what was shown on-screen, this information nowadays is written on the screen and cannot be accessed by blind people. Ironically, information about programs and how to find these is also displayed this way and hence impossible to access for partially sighted or blind audiences.
Due to this situation, the European Blind Union (EBU), a non-profit and non- governmental European organization representing the interest of blind and partially sighted Europeans, has since 2007 worked on initiating further development. EBU has taken action together with the European Disability Forum (EDF), an independent NGO representing the interests of people with a disability in Europe, and the European Commission and started negotiating with industry representatives of “DigitalEurope”, the voice of the European digital technology industry. In February 2013, the specifications have been accepted and published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), an international conformity assessment and standards body for all fields of electro technology.
Panasonic has now created the first speaking digital television, which already can be found in shops. The EBU is confident that other manufacturers will also start creating speaking television for partially sighted and blind customers to tap into the market potential they represent. As always, these product innovations will probably benefit more consumers than only those originally target, or, as Michael Stuber puts it: “If you manage to satisfy some of the specific Diversity segments, you will easily win in the mass market!”