Christmas TV ads of 2020: accessibility for viewers with sight loss

Christmas ads on TV have been heralding the start of the festive season for the past few years. Brands splurge on lavish productions for TV and online viewing platforms. Typically, these go live in the week following the Halloween weekend and are on-air until just after Christmas. With their complex storylines, and a lack of sufficient audio clues, voice over and audio description (AD), most ads are not accessible for viewers with sight loss. Following RNIB’s campaign in 2019, six brands added AD to their Christmas ads to make them accessible for people with sight loss. In 2020, the number grew to 12.