Jan Zawilski has spent four years advocating for equal access to television for Canadians who are blind or have low vision. As someone living with sight loss, Jan wants to ensure that the 1.5 million Canadians living with a visual disability have access to described video (DV), which provides television viewers with a verbal narration of what’s happening on-screen during pauses in dialogue.
While DV is typically activated through a button on the remote control, it’s not available for all on-demand platforms. For people who are blind or have low vision—a population that generally has a lower income than the general population —this means paying the same rates as everyone else for a service that they can’t fully access. Jan asserts that this is an example of systemic discrimination, noting that consumers who are Deaf or hard of hearing have access to closed captioning while those who are blind are still left in the dark.
Jan’s advocacy efforts began in 2020 when he noticed DV was absent on Cogeco’s on-demand platform. After an unsatisfactory response from the company, Jan filed a complaint with the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which deferred the issue until 2023. After that, Jan filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
In August 2023, the CRTC’s decision 2023-287 allowed Cogeco to renew its license until 2028 without requiring DV for its on-demand platforms.
Still, Jan remains committed to advocating for the rights of people who are blind or have low vision. At the end of November 2023, Jan learned that the Canadian Human Rights Commission had referred his complaint against Cogeco to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Jan is hopeful for a favourable judgment that recognizes this issue as systemic discrimination against Canadians with visual disabilities.
For information on CNIB’s advocacy work for Described Video, please visit our Government Relations page.