Maya Jama

Love Island is back for its 10th series.

And while it might have been on screens since 2015, this summer there's a change for blind and visually impaired fans of The Show .

For the First Time contestants have provided audio description, describing how they look, their skin tone and outfits.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People praised ITV, calling The Move " a remarkable example for the industry".

" I'm a tall, mixed race woman, I'm 28 years old, half-Swedish, half-Somali, " host Maya Jama says in her audio description.

" I have long Brown Hair and Brown Eyes , " she adds, saying that she likes to wear colourful clothes and that she's smiley and enthusiastic.

Ron Hall , who's blind in one eye, was The Show 's first visually impaired contestant during this year's winter version.

The 25-year-old thinks ITV are making a positive " first step" when It Comes to accessibility.

" It's quite a nice start that The Place that gave me a platform is now following on from me being visually impaired and Helping Others as well, " he tells BBC Newsbeat.

" Although I'd say it's quite a big group, people do forget about The Blind and visually impaired, because people just Live day to day and watch it normally.

" So it's nice that they're taking The First step. "

Connor Scott-Gardner, who is blind, agrees and thinks it's good ITV are starting to think of fans like himself.

" I really look forward to the whole season to be honest, " the 29-year-old says.

" In terms of audio description, I think it's a great step that ITV are taking and providing an element of audio description for blind fans.

" I have checked out The Personal audio descriptions and I think it's interesting - it's definitely not something I expected. "

But Abi James-Miller, who's a big Love Island fan, thinks ITV could Go Further to enhance The Experience for blind and visually impaired viewers.

The 24-year-old is visually impaired and often messages other fans on Twitter to find out what's happening on screen.

While the contestants and host have described themselves, and there's a villa tour, there's no audio description available for each episode.

Other reality shows, like Too Hot To Handle and Naked Attraction , offer audio descriptions.

" I feel the descriptions they've done don't go far enough to actually enhance The Experience as a watcher, " Abi says.

" I can find out who they are, if they've got a tattoo, but you want to know the drama, that's why I'm watching it.

" I think we need more integrated audio descriptions in Iain Stirling 's presenting and his script. "

ITV says the nature of Love Island " means that there is very little space within the programme to add traditional audio description and no time ahead of transmission to write and record it".

" This is why we were so keen to create this additional content, " it says.

Abi also says The Show should include the audio descriptions on the channel's streaming service ITVX, instead of YouTube, so they're easier and less time-consuming for people to access.

ITV told Newsbeat it's looking to move additional audio descriptions on to ITVX in The Future .

Like Abi, Connor thinks there needs to be more audio descriptions of Live and pre-recorded shows - Love Island is usually pre-recorded but The Final is Live - across the industry.

" I don't think it's perfect, but I think any push towards accessibility has to be a good thing, " he says.

" And we need to view it as a positive as well as holding various media companies accountable and saying they also need to do more in future. "

A spokesperson for Love Island says ITV is " committed to improving the accessibility of our shows on a continuous basis and we're always working on new ideas".

.

Source of news: bbc.com