ABSTRACT

The transition of audiovisual media from traditional terrestrial broadcast to broadband platforms such as catch-up television and streaming services is challenging how people with disability access audiovisual content. Hard-won access features across terrestrial broadcast platforms are being lost with these disruptive broadband-enabled services. Disability advocates are again being challenged to engage in new ways to ensure that these new services do not reinstitute the ableist barriers of the past. Highlighting the “streaming wars” in the Australian context this chapter illuminates the dichotomy of new technology as enabler or barrier for people with disability.