The Ever Shining Cinema, a charity program that reproduces films with audio descriptions for people with vision impairment, now covers nearly 4.5 million visually challenged users through its free on-demand service made available on cable television networks across 32 provinces and regions in China, official data showed on Monday, the day before the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Launched online by the China Radio and Television Network Group in September 2022, the cable TV service has offered 210 barrier-free films, attracting over 800,000 views, according to Teng Yong, deputy head of the radio and television planning institute under the National Radio and Television Administration.

Besides films, a series of audiovisual programs and projects designed to serve people with disabilities was launched to help meet their spiritual and cultural needs while promoting cultural industries for them. These initiatives include shows with voiceovers, sign language features and other accessible formats that assist disabled viewers, Teng said.

This year, more than 5,000 episodes of programs assisting people with disabilities were broadcast across satellite television channels nationwide. The total number of household views for public welfare programs related to disabilities reached 10.3 billion, according to CVB, a television show statistics collector affiliated with the National Radio and Television Administration.

"As the radio and television industry serves the public, our efforts to meet the needs of people with disabilities are meaningful. Today, more diverse accessible audiovisual content is available for people with disabilities," said Dong Xin, deputy director of the administration.

Those barrier-free programs also included news programs with simultaneous sign language interpretation, as there are now more than 200 sign language programs on TV networks across the country, totaling over 20,000 hours of content, Teng said.

Zhang Weixing, vice-president of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, said, "These audiovisual programs are essential channels for disabled people to access information and engage with the world."

Li Shangyi contributed to this story.