Investigating Disability Access to Video on Demand

Not for Profit advocacy group, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, is funding research into the accessibility of video on demand sites, including Netflix and Stan, for people with disability.

Curtin University researchers Dr Mike Kent and Dr Katie Ellis are conducting research to look at how accessible the relatively new way of accessing television through the internet is for people with disability.

“We are very keen to get the perspectives of people with different disabilities on how accessible the different services offered are through a brief online survey,” Dr Kent said.

“With subscription sites like Netflix and Foxtel on Demand rapidly growing in popularity and use, if this is the future of television, as some have predicted, then we want to make sure that is able to be accessed by everyone regardless of any disability or impairment that they may have.”

The survey consists of 15 questions and should take less than 10 minutes to complete.

Dr Kent said if participants in the survey had any trouble understanding what they were agreeing to if they took part they should ask someone they trust to help explain it.

“The results of this study will provide information to see how accessible these services currently are and provide information on how they could potentially be improved,” he said.

ACCAN said the research is the first to examine access for people with disability to new subscription video on demand (VOD) services, such as Netflix, Stan and Presto.

“This is a new and growing area that many Australians are embracing. ACCAN believes that all consumers should have equal access to online services so we’re particularly interested to hear from people with disability about their experiences using (or not using) these services,” ACCAN spokesperson, Narelle Clark said.

“We look forward to working with the researchers from Curtin University to find out more about how to improve the accessibility of VOD services for all consumers.”