Transcript Document 7776626

Access to Locally Televised
On-Screen Information
Geoff Freed
Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family
National Center for Accessible Media
WGBH Educational Foundation
[email protected]
About NCAM
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The Media Access Group at WGBH is a non-profit service
(offices in Boston and Los Angeles)
– The Caption Center (est. 1972)
• the world's first captioning agency
• makes audiovisual media accessible to audiences who are deaf or
hard-of-hearing
– Descriptive Video Service (est. 1990)
• makes television, film & video accessible to audiences who are
blind or visually impaired
– The National Center for Accessible Media (est. 1993)
• a research, development and advocacy entity
• works to make existing & emerging technologies accessible to all
audiences
– digital television, convergent media, educational technologies, web,
multimedia
Access to Locally Televised
On-Screen Information
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October 2005 – September 2008; extended until
September 2009; http://ncam.wgbh.org/onscreen
Exploring solutions to enable local television stations
to convey both emergency and non-emergency
information in a manner that meets the
communication needs of people with sensory
disabilities.
Funding provided by the U.S. Department of
Education
Partner television station: WCVB; Hearst-Argyle
Project Activities
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Develop prototype software to intercept data from various
sources, then extract, transform and prepare it for text
display or for speech output.
Create demonstration models.
Publish guidelines for local television stations which
suggest implementation schemes for various equipment
configurations, and provide recommendations for further
study.
Rules regarding accessibility of
on-screen information
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FCC 47 C.F.R. Part 79, established in 2000:
– Emergency information that is provided in the audio
portion of the programming must be made accessible
to persons with hearing disabilities by using a method
of closed captioning or by using a method of visual
presentation.
– Emergency information that is provided in the video
portion of a regularly scheduled newscast, or newscast
that interrupts regular programming, must be made
accessible to persons with visual disabilities.
Rules regarding accessibility of
on-screen information
– Emergency information that is provided in the video
portion of programming that is not a regularly
scheduled newscast, or a newscast that interrupts
regular programming, must be accompanied with an
aural tone.
– Emergency information should not block any closed
captioning and any closed captioning should not block
any emergency information provided by means other
than closed captioning.
Rules regarding accessibility of
on-screen information
– Emergency information should not block any
video description and any video description
provided should not block any emergency
information provided by means other than video
description.
Examples of current practice
Examples of current practice
Solutions: descriptions
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Analog: One stream of additional audio inserted into the SAP
channel.
Solutions: descriptions
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Multiple streams of information
How it’s done: TTS
Solutions: captions
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Relocate captions as necessary
– software that monitors position of on-screen
graphics so that captions may be automatically
relocated when there is a conflict between the two
elements
Solutions: relocatable captions
(lower-third)
Solutions: relocatable captions
(upper-third)
How it’s done: captions
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Application monitors a scene open in DekoCast
Controls GPI outputs to control an EEG CB412
Caption Data Bridge
CB412 is used to relocate closed caption text away
from lines where it would obscure the graphics
underneath
How it’s done: captions
Guidelines
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Publication of guidelines for local stations that
summarize...
– how software can be used to prepare data for
translation to speech, and inserted into the
broadcast stream;
– suggestions for an array of implementation
schemes for various equipment configurations;
– recommendations for further study.
Additional work in accessible alerts
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Access to Emergency Alerts, 4-year grant from U.S.
Dept. of Commerce; http://ncam.wgbh.org/alerts
United industry and consumers to identify replicable
approaches to accessible notification
Resources include:
– Information requirements model
– Consumer, emergency management & social
science research reports
– Recommendations to media, government, industry,
emergency management and consumers
Excerpted recommendations to media
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Produce a library of fully accessible (text, audio,
video) emergency messages that can be delivered onair, via mobile devices, the Web, shown in shelters,
etc.
Instruct on-air news personnel to audibly describe
what is visually presented (e.g., maps, remote
broadcasts, etc.)
Provide captions & audio descriptions for video
delivered on the Web
Ensure that broadcasters’ Web sites are fully
accessible
Access to Locally Televised
On-Screen Information
Geoff Freed
[email protected]
http://ncam.wgbh.org/onscreen