Tom Sainsbury lends voice to new audio description initiative with TVNZ+ and Able

Taskmaster is returning for yet another star-studded season but low vision and blind fans may notice a major difference -and a familiar voice.

Following the recent collaboration between Able - a not-for-profit organisation working towards a more inclusive Aotearoa - and TVNZ+, the show will now include audio description (AD) with the first episode voiced by the popular Kiwi actor and comedian, Tom Sainsbury.

Speaking to the Herald about his new gig, the star explains: “Audio description is predominantly for people who are blind or have low vision. If you’re watching a television show, the audio describer will just describe all the kind of visual things that you can’t hear but that are really important for the story.”

“It’s a really helpful tool so people can follow the story.”

Comedian Tom Sainsbury has recorded the audio description for the first episode of Taskmasters. Photo / Fiona Goodall

As it stands, audio description is currently used by 7 per cent of the New Zealand population - equating to approximately 180,000 Kiwis. Now with funding from the Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage, those Kiwis will be able to enjoy content on TVNZ+ whenever they want.

Sainsbury says the initiative is “fantastic” adding, “This just opens up this whole catalog for blind and low vision to watch anything they want, anytime they want.”

Providing audio descriptions on the hundreds of shows available on the streaming service through the app, called Earcatch, Sainsbury says it’s more important than we may think.

“Obviously film and television is such a visual medium and so much storytelling is done through how it looks and what you’re seeing.”

“If you miss that, then you kind of sometimes miss the whole gist of the whole story, so it is really important.”

And he isn’t the only one who is thrilled with the new service. In a statement released to the Herald, Blind Citizens NZ member Thomas Bryan says the lack of audio description has been “frustrating”.

“For many years now many in the blind community [blind, deafblind, vision-impaired or low vision and many other communities], have not been able to access AD on TVNZ+, the on-demand TVNZ platform. This has been frustrating, to say the least for those of us who depend on AD to know what is happening on screen.”

Thankfully, that is all changing and TVNZ acting director of content, Nevak Rogers, said they’re “excited” about what the partnership means for TVNZ’s viewers.

“We’re excited to partner with Able on the Earcatch App to open up the accessibility of a huge range of our local titles on TVNZ+.

Meanwhile, Bryan says: “I have already downloaded the app and can’t wait for it to go live and be able to watch my first TVNZ+ show with AD. This will make a huge difference in how I watch TV.”