Audio Description & DVD Navigation

I’ve just received, and have happily started watching, Doctor Who Series 9 on Blu-ray. And from a visually impaired person’s perspective, I’m very pleased to see they’re continuing with audio navigation and audio description on the discs. Sherlock gets the same treatment as well.

I personally find it very useful for pointing out smaller details that I’ve missed, and for reading text on the screen that I would otherwise have to pause and squint at to read, among other things. But it’s frustrating that such audio assistance isn’t much more widespread. So I thought I’d quickly explain what it is and why it’s useful.

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Journal – March 2015

Welcome to my next set of journal entries. This has been quite an eventful month, including a colleague retiring, electoral work, our builder visiting, a friend’s relationship ending, my best mate’s wedding preparations continuing, and my TV explorations with a new streaming box. So I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – January-February 2015 (Guernsey Holiday)

Here we go once again into another year. This looks set to be significantly busier than the last one, in particular because my best mate from Guernsey is getting married, and I’m going to be one of the two best men at his wedding, alongside his cousin.

So these lengthy, detailed entries to start the year are all about my recent trip to see my friend on the island, where I got to meet some of his family members and relatives, had nice walks, ate lots of nice things, watched various TV shows and films, played video games, and even had my first experience of getting properly drunk. And I’ll be travelling over there again a couple more times in the months ahead. So I hope you enjoy reading about it all!

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Journal – May 2014

If you’ve been following these journal posts for a while then (a) thank you so much and (b) no, you’re not missing anything, there really has been a 5-month gap.

I didn’t write any journal entries for the first part of this year, as nothing happened that was of any interest. Our planned move to London still hasn’t gone ahead, as for various reasons we haven’t been able to get much work done on our current house before we can sell it, which has been unavoidable but frustrating. And there hasn’t been a lot else going on either.

This month, however, I have met up with some friends, I’ve got some updates from work, and we’ve had devastating weather that completely destroyed a vital artery of Devon’s railway network. So that’s given me a variety of bits and pieces to mention here. And as always, I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – October-December 2013

And so we come to the end of another year. There wasn’t anything of interest to mention in September or November, so it’s just the other two months that I’m covering here, where I talk about a new computer, our moving plans, more socialising and Christmas, amongst other things. I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – July-August 2013

Here we go with another set of journal entries. There wasn’t anything to write about during June, so this post covers July and August instead, during which I’ve had another work-related visit to Bristol, met my friends in Exeter and celebrated my birthday. So I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – February-June 2012

Welcome back to my journal. I didn’t write many entries during the first half of 2012, which is why I’ve gathered a bunch together here. But each update contains several bits and pieces as usual, including another social weekend in Exeter, continued preparations for our London move, updates on my Nan’s health after hitting her head last year, a few more jokes and DVDs, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and several stories in the world of sport that have been memorable for the wrong reasons. So I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – October 2011

Welcome to another batch of journal entries. I didn’t write anything in September, as there wasn’t much going on, but this month I had a lovely long weekend in Bournemouth with some friends. So that’s the main topic here, along with updates from home, things I’ve enjoyed watching, and a few more jokes I’ve been sent. I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – May-June 2011

Time for my next set of journal entries, looking back at another busy period, with plenty of socialising and a barn dance, dealing with the last financial affairs from Dad’s estate, the UK local elections, the death of Osama Bin Laden and various other things. So I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – November-December 2010

This is a difficult set of journal entries to share, with Dad going back into hospital, as things haven’t ended well in that regard. I could just stop sharing these posts and resume when things improve again, but as this is life-changing and will clearly have a huge impact on my future, it’s important to include and acknowledge it.

I do mention various other things in these entries as well, including DVDs, TV shows, music, Christmas food, news stories, etc. But most of it is about my father, with some of the details edited out of course. So if it’s the sort of thing you’d rather not read about, then by all means skip this, and come back at a later date when things improve again. But if you do read on, I hope you find it of interest.

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