Text of defense.
This will respond to the questions you raise about the descriptive
video
argument, which is being so badly misrepresented on the Internet. The
National Federation of the Blind is supporting a policy that was
adopted
and subsequently reaffirmed after thorough discussion at our National
Conventions. This policy seeks to advance freedom of expression and
equal
access to information. Let me begin by observing that the National
Federation of the Blind is sometimes controversial (from the point of
view
of the less well-informed); it is sometimes determined (those who do not
like the positions we take would say mule-headed); but it is never
foolish.
We do not fight things we support. There are those who say the NFB
has,
with venality aforethought, joined the motion picture magnets to fight
the
blind. Sometimes, those painting this dire picture allege or suggest
that
the Federation has taken this mangy position with the prospect of gain
in
mind--financial reward. Those making such charges either do not have
all
the facts, or are willingly misrepresenting the truth. They may think
the
Federation has as little principle as they do. As you point out in
your
email, the Federation has supported descriptive video in the past, both
politically and financially. The organization has never adopted a
policy
opposing this service and has encouraged its development and
promulgation.
Every year at the Convention, we provide space and time for the
presentation of audio-described movies, and we print information about
the
presentation in the formal Convention Agenda. Furthermore, we have
supported the service in other ways. The policy of the Federation is
that
we believe matters of commercial interest and matters of information
which
are presented visually for the public at large, should be provided in
audible form. However, we do not believe that verbal descriptions of
entertainment should be mandated by law. The Motion Picture
Association is
apparently arguing that verbal descriptions of visual material
(regardless
of its importance or purpose) cannot be required because to do so would
violate the First Amendment. We believe that verbal descriptions are
sometimes of sufficient importance that they must be required to give
equal
access to information for the blind. However, we do not believe
everything
that is visual must be described. We think access to information is
essential as a matter of civil rights, but access to entertainment is
not.
We also believe that there should be room for freedom of expression.
It
is an oft-repeated claim that a picture is worth a thousand words. If
this
is so, descriptive video cannot hope to provide more than a tiny
fraction
of that which is presented visually. Consequently, we in the NFB make
a
distinction between straight information and artistic presentation.
Information such as telephone numbers, names of individuals, warnings
about
impending bad weather, and the like should be verbalized. We think the
law
should require this. Other presentations, which are artistic in
character,
should be verbalized if we can persuade the artistic presenters to do
it.
We believe that artists should have freedom to express themselves. We
believe it is not reasonable to demand that Leonardo Da Vinci make an
attempt to describe the Mona Lisa so that blind people can get the same
impression that sighted people do. Visual art is by its nature visual.
To
describe it is good, but the law should not demand it. For an
analogy,
consider the situation of the deaf. To provide a visual description of
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony with sufficient detail to give a deaf person
the
same impression that a hearing person would get would be an
impossibility.
It would be possible, perhaps, to take the sound of the Fifth Symphony,
run
it through a synthesizer, and display it as patterns of light on a video
screen. However, the essence of the experience is altered. To demand
that
an orchestra go to the trouble and expense of displaying the Fifth
Symphony
visually is unreasonable. We believe that videos or movies are
presentations of artistic talent. We believe it is highly desirable to
describe them so that the blind, along with the sighted, may enjoy them.
However, we think freedom of expression should permit the artist (if
the
artist is particularly boneheaded) to leave the description out. In
other
words, we do not think artistic expression should be dictated by law.
As
you can tell, the National Federation of the Blind is considerably more
sophisticated than those who have been telling the public that we don't
know what we are doing. Our thousands of members in Convention
assembled
discussed the position the Federation should take and voted to adopt our
current policy more than once. We took the position we have because we
recognize that for every accommodation demanded, a price will
necessarily
be paid in money, in acceptance of the blind in greater society, in the
influence blind people can have, and in good will. A balance must be
maintained which gives the blind what we need for equal access without
disadvantages that outweigh it. We at the National Federation of the
Blind
have adopted our policy with this in mind. We have filed a lawsuit in
Federal Court to demand that essential information be provided verbally.
Our suit also demands that the FCC not misapply the law by saying that
entertainment cannot exist unless it is described. It begins with the
movie theater, moves on to the night club, becomes a part of little
league
baseball, and expands to all of the millions of visual displays that
people
watch with such enjoyment. It is important to include blind people in
all
activities of society. It is equally important to do so in a way that
provides blind people with the characteristics that make acceptance and
integration possible. Sincerely, Marc Maurer, President NATIONAL
FEDERATION OF THE BLIND MM/anw
Hands-on Technolog(eye)s
Touching The Internet
http://members.home.com/poehlman1/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
voice: 301.949.7599
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