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TACtv frequently asked questions

1.    What is the history of The Accessible Channel-TACtv and its creation?

  • On Tuesday, July 24, 2007, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved and supported an application from Accessible Media Inc., (then known as The National Broadcast Reading Service Inc. - NBRS), for a licence to set up a unique English-language TV service — The Accessible Channel (TACtv). By regulation, TACtv is part of the basic digital package of TV programming offered by all Class 1 & 2 cable systems and satellite direct-to-home services.
  • The CRTC long has identified the need to improve access to TV for those with perceptual disabilities, noting that TV is “a key tool in social integration… [allowing] Canadians to participate in a shared culture and shared social values.”
  • But with TACtv, the need for elaborate set-up procedures has been eliminated and, for the first time in Canada, Described programming is available in one place and at all hours.
  • The potential market is large. The 2006 Statistics Canada Census data put the number of blind Canadians at almost 900,000, considered a conservative figure. It is generally accepted by service agencies that many more people need assistance accessing traditional media.
  • Another eye-opening statistic can be found in a 2004 report by the Canadian Association of Optometrists (CAO). It discovered that 2.1-million Canadians aged 43-75 are experiencing blindness and irreversible vision loss as a result of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) alone. This is equal to the number of Canadians with diabetes (2 million) and 20 times the number suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
  • According to the study, 78,000 Canadians are diagnosed with Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) each year, and that number will triple during the next quarter-century, making AMD the leading cause of blindness.
  • The CAO study further reports that, by age 75, one in four Canadians will experience vision loss, defined as being no longer able to drive, read, watch TV and movies or see the faces of loved ones.
  • AMI serves more than 5 million Canadians.  TACtv is broadcast into more than 10-million Canadian homes.

 

2.    Why is Accessible Media Inc.-AMI so excited about TACtv?

  • For AMI, The Accessible Channel, also known as TACtv, furthers our promise of Making Media Accessible. That’s why the licencing approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is such a major breakthrough for Canadians who are blind, low vision, deaf or hard of hearing. And why it’s one more significant leap forward for AMI, a registered charity with a mission to Make Media Accessible.

 

3.    When did TACtv begin broadcasting and what is special about TACtv programs?

  • TACtv began broadcasting on January 19, 2009 with programming in “open” Description, meaning everyone who tunes in will hear it, and with Closed Captioning. When viewers tune into TACtv, the only sound track they will hear is the Described sound track.
  • Today TACtv can be found on the basic digital package of the service providers listed below. Many others soon will make their channel selections and will begin to carry TACtv.  We will keep you informed.  Here is where you will find TACtv depending on your service provider:

    Provider Channel
    Bell Aliant 888
    Bell TV 48
    Cogeco Ontario 555
    Cogeco Quebec 66
    Eastlink 888
    MTS 888
    Rogers 888
    SaskTel 554
    Shaw 888
    Shaw Direct 888
    Shaw Hamilton 368
    Source Cable 111
    Telus TV 55
    Videotron 27
    Videotron HD 627

4.    Who can receive TACtv?

  • The service is a mandated signal, so all Class 1 & 2 cable systems and direct-to-home satellite services must include TACtv in their basic digital service package.  Finally – and this is very exciting – the viewer who cannot see the screen, or cannot see it well, will not require additional special equipment to access TACtv.

5.     What is Described Video and why is TACtv a welcome innovation for people who are blind, low vision or print-restricted?

  • Described Video is a process in which a narrator describes key visual elements of a movie, documentary or TV show that are not apparent if one relies on the original sound track alone. That narration is added to the sound track.
  • For low-vision and blind Canadians, it’s the equivalent of Closed Captioning, which long has been available for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
  • “Description, as opposed to no Description, is like the difference between the experience a sighted person would inherit watching an NHL game on TV versus listening to a play-by-play sportscaster call the game on local radio,” says one advocate for sight-impaired consumers. “The radio broadcaster provides a much more vivid ‘visual’ picture of the on-ice action, as one is aware of painting a picture.”

 

6.    Do I need special equipment to access TACtv?

  • Provided that you have a basic digital package when you tune into TACtv, you'll always hear the description.
  • Currently you will need a digital box to access TACtv on Digital service.
  • Digital
    Signals need to be received through a special receiver box purchased from the cable, satellite or other television providers.
    Viewers are required to subscribe and pay additional monthly fees for digital service to be received through the digital box
    Channels available are in great quantity. Along with the basic channels provided with the digital service (such as TACtv), the viewer can select additional channels and channel packages
    Offered by cable, satellite and other television providers

  • Today, cable, satellite and other television providers, also known as Broadcast Distribution Undertakings (BDUs) have been asked by the CRTC to ensure that all Described Video provided by those companies on channels other than TACtv can be received through their digital delivery systems.

7.    What changes are coming in television transmission?

  • The Future of Television Transmission

    o    The broadcast world is moving away from using analog to deliver its television signals. This means all viewers will require a digital box to receive their television signals or to have a new TV with a digital tuner inside. Once the move to the “digital only” world comes about, it will no longer be possible to receive television with just an antenna or from basic cable.
    o    The Netherlands was the first to move to total digital transmission in 2006, followed by Finland in 2007. In North America, the U.S. was to move to total digital on Feb 17, 2009 but President Barak Obama agreed to delay the end of analog service to June 12 to give Americans more time to prepare. The U.S. digital adoption had an impact on about 2 million Canadians who still use rabbit ears or roof antennas to watch American stations’ – per Friends of Canadian Broadcasting (Toronto Star, Friday, February 6, 2009).
    o    Canada will move to total digital service on August 31, 2011. At that time, Canadians will no longer be able to watch TV with simply an antenna or rabbit ears. At that time, all Canadians will require a cable or digital box or a television equipped with a digital tuner and to watch their favourite programs.

  • If you have any questions, we encourage you to call your Television Service Provider, who will help answer your questions, including those related to availability of digital boxes and all relevant costs for boxes and service.

8.    Why is TACtv necessary?

  • To explain the need for a TV channel that will serve people who are low vision or blind, Geoff tells the story of watching Fatal Attraction years ago. His wife had been gamely trying to describe the action in the gripping thriller when suddenly, at an especially tense moment when Glenn Close appears to drown in a bathtub, Geoff’s wife fell silent.
    “What’s going on,” asked Geoff, who is blind.
    “Wait a minute, wait a minute…” his wife replied breathlessly.
    Finally, after Geoff had listened in frustration to dramatic music and sound effects until the scene ended, his wife told him what had happened.
    “Naturally she found it difficult to watch the movie and at the same time describe to me what was going on,” explains Geoff, who lives at Welland, Ontario. “Not everyone’s wife or son or daughter or friends can think quickly and are good at Describing a show. And why should we have to rely on them?”

9.     What types of programs does TACtv broadcast and where can I find the TACtv channel guide and broadcast schedule?

  • TACtv broadcasts programming in documentaries, information, drama and entertainment for everyone.  We receive our programming from broadcasters, such as Alliance Films, Canwest, CBC, CBS International, Crossroads, CTV, MGM Television, NBA Canada, NBC-Universal Television, NFB, Ouat Media, Rogers Broadcasting, Thomas Howe & Associates, Twentieth-Century Fox/Incendo Television, War Amps Of Canada and Warner Brothers.
  • TACtv also will acquire programming from U.S. studios and other broadcast groups to fill out the 24-hour schedule, 60% of which, as a condition of licence, must be Canadian.  As well, though TACtv is an English-language service, it will broadcast a small amount of French-language programming, up to four hours a week, once it’s up and rolling.
  • It’s possible today to see some first-run movies with Described Video, via headphones, in a small number of theatres. And certain programs on existing analog cable or satellite services are Described. But, for example, on basic cable, people who want to access Description must change the audio settings of their TV sets to S.A.P. (Secondary Audio Programming), a process that can be difficult, if not impossible, for people are blind or low vision since it usually works via a series of on-screen menu prompts.
  • Our program schedule is posted on the tactv.ca website.  You may visit the website for frequent updates.  We'll also be broadcasting that information on TACtv and on VoicePrint (of which more below in FAQ #11), our AMI sister service, in addition to TV Guide lineups.

 

10.    What happened on Wednesday, December 3, 2008?

  • On December 3, 2008, TACtv announced its official launch date at an awareness launch hosted by AMI at the Palais Royale, Toronto.  The main objective was to raise awareness that TACtv would begin broadcasting in January 2009.
  • The awareness launch coincided with United Nations’ International Day of Disabled Persons.  
  • A press conference was held at 4:30 pm followed by a reception at 5:00 pm.  TACtv went live with a Described version of O Canada! at 6:00 pm.  More than 300 people were on hand, including consumers and supporters.
  • The awareness launch gave us time to work with cable and satellite program distributors to adjust their schedules to include TACtv.

 

11.     What else should I know about AMI and The Accessible Channel-TACtv?

  • That we will continue to keep the promise to Make Media Accessible and to break down the barriers to news, information, entertainment and much more.
  • Twenty years ago, AMI launched VoicePrint, the award-winning, internationally recognized, ‘round-the-clock reading service that all cable and satellite program distributors also must relay.
  • And now TACtv: one more way we can Make Media Accessible and, by doing so in innovative ways, we enhance the lives of Canadians living with disabilities and do our small part in making Canada a more inclusive country.
  • Explains former AMI Board member Geoff Eden: “If you’re blind or vision-restricted and you’re in the workplace, people are talking about last night’s episode of whatever popular program. We refer to it as ‘water-cooler talk.’ If you aren’t able to watch it, or have missed the visual gags they’re talking about, you feel out of the loop. With TACtv, people will know that just because they’re blind or vision-restricted, they’re not excluded from programming that everyone else has access to.”
  • As Rob Sleath, President of Access for Sight Impaired Consumers (ASIC), points out: “It was not my loss of vision that made me disabled, but rather the environment around me. Change the environment and you minimize the disability, to a mere inconvenience at times.”
  • Recent technological advances now make producing Described programming easier, and TACtv will provide a cost-effective way of reaching the largest possible audience of low-vision and blind Canadians.
  • Cable companies and satellite providers will be required to add The Accessible Channel-TACtv to their basic digital package.
  • “The importance of TACtv to the vision-restricted community cannot be overestimated,” says Betty Nobel, an AMI Board Director who is blind. “People with vision loss often feel like second-class citizens. Because although we are always told that we have the same rights as all citizens, this is not true in real terms. We do not, as an example, have full access to television programming.”  For instance, she adds, “with The Accessible Channel blind viewers will no longer, be wondering what is happening during the tense music when the bullets are flying and you don’t know who has been hurt.”
  • The Accessible Channel eases those frustrations and, as a result, is a destination channel for increasing numbers of blind and low-vision viewers plus their sighted friends, families and companions.
  • TACtv is working with broadcasters and producers to see the potential need for the consumer so that more and more current programming will be made available. Nobel states, “Our goal is to have first-run programming Described as it’s done, by producers, and carried by broadcasters and cable companies. So, if tonight is the premiere episode of the new season of a popular show, both sighted people and blind people can watch it at the same time?”

On behalf of the Staff at Accessible Media Inc., Volunteers, Supporters, CRTC, networks, cable providers, Members of Parliament and Cabinet that supported the application to the CRTC, we THANK YOU for your continuous support.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions regarding TACtv, send us a note, email or voicemail and we will do what we can to respond to you as quickly as possible.

lkerhoulas@nbrscanada.com
Toll-free: 1-800-567-6755 extension 225

If you have any questions relating to availability of digital boxes and all relevant costs for boxes and service, we encourage you to call your Television Service Provider, who will help answer your questions.