27 November 2022
Royal National Institute of Blind People(RNIB) has acknowledged brands that have made their Christmas advertisements accessible to blind and partially sighted people.
Amazon, Sainsbury’s, John Lewis, Waitrose, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Virgin Media, Aldi, Morrison’s, Haleon and TK Maxx are among companies that have added audio description to their festive marketing this year.
The spoken description of visuals on screen help viewers with sight loss to follow what is happening on screen.
Broadcaster and audio description manager at RNIB, Sonali Rai, observed that every year there is excitement about the creative and magical advertisements that retailers have launched in the lead up to Christmas.
“Everyone should be able to enjoy these adverts, and we’re delighted to see so many big brands keeping blind and partially sighted people in mind with their festive adverts,” she said.
She added that the need for inclusion continues beyond the festive season.
“We need advertisers to commit to creating accessible adverts all year round. It benefits brands too, by making their sales and products accessible to the two million people living with sight loss in the UK,” Rai said.
ADTEXT creates audio description, subtitles, closed and open captions for advertisements to ensure that they are accessible.
Managing director of ADTEXT, June Johnson, shared that helping advertisers to adopt socially inclusive television and online advertising is always a source of pride.
“When called on to work on their brilliant Christmas campaigns, we can add delight. These commercials add considerably to the sense of excitement of the season, and it is wonderful to see so many advertisers demonstrating they really do care,” she said.
More information about making advertising accessible can be found on RNIB’s website.
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