The taxpayer-funded set-top boxes that Australians who are blind or have low vision are receiving are useless because of the difficulties in operating the menu systems and viewing the electronic program guide.
In the Weekend Australian published on Saturday, 18 February 2012, Chris Griffith explores the issues involved.
Stephen Conroy, the Communications Minister, said of the set-top boxes, "They have to be specially procured to meet the needs of vulnerable households, some of which may have hearing or vision impairments." However, Michael Simpson, Vision Australia's general manager of policy, said the government was installing set-top boxes in blind households that were inappropriate, even though it had successfully trialled a "talking" model.