91Èȱ¬

If you're visually impaired, you may be taking advantage of Audio Description (AD) services on your television set.

We at Ouch! often hear that broadcasters have had very little feedback about their AD output and are keen to find out how well they're serving the intended audience.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) aims to put this right and has created a simple which has the relevant contact details for the major channels to help you feedback easily and effectively

Joan Greening from RNIB's Media and Culture Department says: "We've had some brilliant feedback in the past. One person told us that the description on Planet Earth painted amazing pictures for him, for instance."

But she stresses that if you have any problems or notice factual inaccuracies, you should speak up: "We've heard that there's been a Woolpack on Coronation Street and a Rovers on Emmerdale in the past ... but feedback best comes from those who are watching it.

The page quotes one of the AD providers waiting to hear from you: "Channel 4 is really keen to get feedback from viewers who use our audio description service to help us in quality control as well as selection of programmes for description."

Major broadcasters have an obligation to describe 6% of their output but Sky, 91Èȱ¬, ITV, and Channel 4 publicly announced last year that they would voluntarily hit a target of 20%.

Around 70 channels are obliged to carry AD, and Ofcom figures from 2010 show that most of these channels already regularly exceed 10 or even 20 per cent, though this can often be due to repeated showings.

• AD is an extra spoken soundtrack that explains visuals, so that those who can't see the screen can fully follow what's happening. It's available as standard on Sky, VirginMedia and Freesat but only on selected Freeview sets or boxes.

(includes a link to a downloadable Word document with a list of commercially available AD-ready Freeview boxes and TVs).