Audiovisual content accessibility for persons with disabilities in the human rights framevork

In: Zbornik Matice Srpske za društvene nauke: Proceedings for social sciences, Issue 159-160, p. 859-875

Abstract

Accessibility of audiovisual content for people with disabilities is strongly
related to the right of freedom of opinion and expression, right to the equal
treatment and the right to freedom from discrimination. UN, Council of Europe
and the European Union regulate the issue of accessibility, including the
accessibility of information and communication technology, ICT, by a number
of documents ? conventions, charters, directives, etc. However, the most
important international instrument stressing this issue in the context of
human rights is the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Enormous developments in the field of ICT open up a large scope of
opportunities for persons with disabilities to have barrier-free access to
the audiovisual content. Among other things, digital distribution should make
the audiovisual content fully accessible to all. The legal framework of the
Republic of Serbia regulating this issue in general is in line with European
standards, however, the percentage of fully accessible audiovisual content is
far below acceptable in Europe. Stronger obligations for private and public
broadcasters to provide fully accessible media content, the introduction of
quotas, giving new and more binding powers to telecom and media regulatory
body, etc., are some of the ideas that, applied in Europe, had generated much
better situation in the audiovisual area for people with sensory impairments.
Without redefined and more binding obligations of broadcasters, without
larger powers of regulatory bodies, which would mean the possibility of
introducing sanctions for certain actions or lack of action of both public
and private media services, at this level of social responsibility awareness,
media service providers can always refer to the lack of technical and
financial capacities in their response why they did not provide accessible
content in their programs. Hence, only with great optimism it can be expected
that audiovisual area in Serbia in the near future will be barrier-free in a
more significant extent in order to finally achieve the goal of audiovisual
world accessible to all.