Tricolor Opens Access to Content for Optically Challenged Children

On October 14, the conference dedicated to the 10^th anniversary of the audio descriptive commentary concept took place in TASS. Such a commentary is a laconic description of an item, space or action that are incomprehensible for blind (optically challenged) people without special verbal explanations. Representatives of culture and arts, as well as those of the telecom industry have told about the projects aimed at development of audio description in Russia.

Representatives of leading establishments of culture, arts and telecom industry took part in the press conference along with members of Rehacomp, the Institute for Vocational Rehabilitation and advanced training of VOS staff. At the event dedicated to the 10^th anniversary of the audio descriptive commentary the best initiatives in the field were shown and a few unique projects of the Special View Program of the Art, Science and Sport Foundation were presented.

In the framework of a social project Tricolor together with the TiJi TV Channel and Animaccord Studio will provide free access to the content library with audio description on kino.tricolor.tv and in the Tricolor Movies and TV app for mobile devices and Smart TV as early as this October. Four animated series will be available for optically challenged children and their families and about 120 episodes of Masha and the Bear, The Pirate and the Captain, Ernest & Celestine. Besides, specifically for the operator the TiJi Channel has exclusively prepares audio comments for the second season of Octonauts, a popular animated series.

“Tricolor pays special attention to environmental, cultural, sport and inclusive initiatives to mate the content as accessible for all the clients as possible. We provide support not for entertaining and educational TV projects only, but for social ones as well, and we are happy to take part in the Special View Program by assembling the content with the audio description made in the framework of Equal Opportunities Hour on TiJi in Tricolor’s online service for this purpose. All the content can be watched on any screen anywhere for free and without authorization”, Arsen Khomutov, Tricolor Director for Content, comments.

“We are confident that in the future audio description will cover more and more areas of life of optically challenged and blind citizens to become as common service as subtitles. Today our projects prove that the concept of audio descriptive commentary is an actual too that helps to make cultural and art facilities more accessible”, says Fatima Mukhomedzhan, Director of the Art, Science and Sport Charity Foundation of Alisher Usmanov.

Tricolor is a multiplatform operator that develops a shared information space of entertainment and services for the entire family accessible from any device, anywhere, anytime. Along with TV that can be watched both via the satellite and in the Internet, the operator offers its clients cutting-edge digital services including online services, smart houses, CCTV monitoring and satellite Internet. At the end of Q2 of 2021, the total base of Tricolor amounted to 12.259 mln. households, over 10.3 mln. clients that use the HD compliant equipment. Currently, the operator has more than 500,000 4K clients.

The Art, Science and Sport Charity Foundation offers people with disabilities relevant service solutions for self-actualization, development and better integration in the society and arranges comprehensive development of inclusion and accessible environment in the field of culture for optically challenged people in the framework of the Special View Program. In the framework of the program the Foundation works in the following areas: habilitation of people with visual disabilities through increased awareness and practical training; adaptation of the cultural environment for the optically challenged people using audio description and tactile models and development of infrastructure. Due to the Foundation’s support theaters started to arrange productions with audio description.