Transcript Seeing Sound, Hearing Images Bringing Access Services To DTV

WGBH/Media Access Update:
DTV, Mobile Media, In-Flight
Entertainment and Emergency Alerts
National Association of the Deaf Convention
New Orleans - 2008
Mary Watkins, Media Access Group at WGBH
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WGBH & Access
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WGBH & Access
The Caption Center (est. 1972)
Traditional audience: people who are deaf or hard of hearing
 Captions television, feature films
 CD & DVD-ROM
 Streaming video
Descriptive Video Service/DVS (est. 1990)
Traditional audience: people who are blind or visually impaired
Describes television, home videos, feature films by inserting key
visual elements during pauses in dialogue
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Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for
Accessible Media at WGBH (NCAM)
(est. 1993)
Research and development facility
• supports national policy decisions
• develops technical solutions
• conducts research
• promotes advocacy via outreach
Captioning in Digital Television
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Big, beautiful screens and images
High definition TV's, or DTVs are required to display
captioning… and not just “regular” captioning, but captions
viewers can set preferences for themselves (size, color,
background, etc.)
Captioning in Digital Television
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Captioning in Digital Television
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Captioning in Digital Television
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Then why are people having problems viewing captions???
It starts at the store (Best Buy, Sears, Costco… take your
pick). Checking out captions is just not easy…
why?
Because the “taped” programming they show on all the
display sets is not captioned. Why don’t they just show
broadcast or cable TV on the sets? Because their
competitors’ ad may come on… not good.
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(You can) Insist they disconnect the taped program and tune
to a local network so you can activate the captions.
Captioning in Digital Television
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OK, so you’ve taken a chance on a model you like (or received a
recommendation from a friend), are you all set? No.
Many cable companies’ digital set-top boxes (those manufactured by
Motorola or Scientific Atlanta, now owned by Cisco System) require you
to turn the cable set top box off to find the control menu to activate
captions. That’s right. It’s a (secret) “firmware” menu that you can only
get to when the box is turned off and you activate the menu button on the
box’s remote control.
How would you know this? Motorola says so in their set-top box
manual…
http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/DCT6412/downloads/
DCT6412_User_Guide.pdf
Captioning in Digital Television
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OK, so NOW you’re set, right? Um, not yet.
Some broadcast and cable networks are broadcasting in both “standard
definition’ and “high definition.” If it’s the same program, you would think
both versions would be captioned. However, sometimes the “standard”
captions have not been upconverted to high definition captions, even
though there is equipment to make this nearly automated.
The FCC’s captions mandates require nearly 100% captioning of network
programs… but, are high definition versions of existing networks NEW
networks (and therefore exempt from the mandates for four years from
their debut date)? The FCC has not ruled yet.
Captioning in Digital Television
Is there more you need to know?
Yes… start here: www.dtvaccess.org
A Web site full of information about access services and the DTV
conversion, including white papers WGBH has written on the subject and
links to other helpful resources maintained by industry and consumer
groups.
Captioning in Digital Television
WGBH has established a one-way e-mail address
[email protected]
as an aggregator of complaints and problems.
If you send a report about a DTV access problem to this
address, you will receive an automatic response that says that
your report has been received and that we are gathering
information but cannot respond to your inquiry, and that we
will pass along common issues to relevant parties.
Access to In-flight Communications and
Entertainment
Three-year, Department of Education-funded project to research
methods of making in-flight entertainment systems accessible to
airline passengers who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or who have
low vision.
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Determine means of delivering closed captions and audio
descriptions within these devices, and how to make the user
interface (usually touch-screen based) accessible to people with
little or no sight via audio navigation prompts.
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Work with the airlines, hardware and content
(programming/movie) distributors to get captioned and described
movies, news and tv programs onto planes.
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Access to In-flight Communications and
Entertainment (Prototype screen 1)
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Access to In-flight Communications and
Entertainment (Prototype screen 2)
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Access to In-flight Communications and
Entertainment (Prototype screen 3)
Captioned movie
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Access to In-flight Communications and
Entertainment (Prototype screen 3)
Captioned TV
Captioning Solutions for Handheld Media and
Mobile Devices
Explore
and prototype methods for delivering captioned
media to mobile devices of all kinds
Address the technical requirements for packaging and
distributing captions
Examine ways for users to access and control caption data
Captioning Solutions for Handheld Media and
Mobile Devices
Launched
October 1, 2007 (http://ncam.wgbh.org/mm)
Partners and participants include...
 AOL
 Apple
 HP/Hewlett-Packard
 Open Media Network
 Research In Motion (makers of the Blackberry)
 MacNeil/Lehrer Productions
 Samsung
Funding provided by the U.S. Department of Education
Captioning Solutions for Handheld Media and
Mobile Devices
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this time, only Apple’s I-Phone, Touch and Nano devices can display
true closed captioning… this is cc on an iPhone…
Apple iPhone: CC settings
Apple iPod Nano: Closed Captions
Apple iPod Nano: CC settings
BlackBerry Curve 8320: Open Captions
HP 210 Open Captions
What’s next?
•Focus
groups in Los Angeles and Boston
–test a variety of caption-display options
–ideas for caption-control interfaces
•Continue
studying caption-creation methods for mobile delivery
•Begin creating prototypes of caption-control interfaces
•Continue to work with standards groups
•Continue to work with vendors to develop and refine methods for creating and
distributing caption data
•Create working examples of captioned media, and provide online survey so
consumers can provide feedback and preferences
Want to see more?
•Comparison
chart of devices and demos online
ncam.wgbh.org/mm/samples.html
Access: A Disney Solution
Tactile Controls
Activation
Access to Emergency Alerts for People with Disabilities
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Four-year grant, funded by U.S. Department of Commerce’s
Technology Opportunities Fund (concludes September 2008)
Awarded to NCAM for its legacy in uniting consumer and
industry to influence policy, standards, and technology on
behalf of people with sensory disabilities
Commitment to accessible emergency information from
beginning of first captioned news
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In emergency management arena, no other focus on accessible
notification for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or who
have low vision
Not charged with implementation
Information requirements and presentation preferences from
consumers
Online information repository
Recommendations to industry and government
Significant outreach to federal, state and municipal government
agencies, industry, and consumers
Access Alerts Participants
National advisory board includes national and state consumer
advocacy organizations (including NAD), NOAA/NWS, state and
municipal government officials
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National working group includes state and municipal emergency
management personnel, providers of notification services and
equipment, and others
Access Alerts Draft Information Requirements
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Be compatible with various
transmission systems
Provide warning message
details in:
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Audio and text form
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Image or other visual
form
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Multiple languages
Use multiple forms of
presentation appropriate to
needs of individual recipients
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Make appropriate use of font
size, foreground/ background
color and other visual attributes
in image and text
Use appropriate language for
comprehension by the at-risk
audience
Allow extension of info format to
meet future needs
Facilitate delivery of message to
all recipients thru multiple
channels
Access Alerts Focus Groups and Usability Testing
Conducted at three points over the course of the project with:
Consumers who were
• deaf,
• hard of hearing,
• blind,
• low vision or are
• deaf-blind
Individuals within above groups self identified as tech savvy
or not tech savvy so project could address multiple needs and
make sure recommendations represented all users.
Access Alerts: What can be done immediately…
•Involve consumers in drills and training sessions
•Make subscription sign-ups for alerts accessible
•Include accessibility as a requirement in bids and contracts
with providers of notification equipment and services
•Explore creation of a library of accessible “standard”
emergency messages
Access Alerts Resources at ncam.wgbh.org/alerts
Re-launch end of Summer 2008
•Consumer and social science research
•Information repository
•Draft information requirements, drawn from existing
authoritative works and working group:
–National Science and Technology Council “Red Book”
report on “Effective Disaster Warnings”
–OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee
warning format requirements
–World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Accessibility
Guidelines
Information/materials at access.wgbh.org
Mary Watkins
Director of Communications and Outreach
Media Access Group at WGBH
[email protected]