AccessITHome award BBC iPlayer

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Access-IT_at_Home award BBC iPlayer
Jonathan HassellBBC Future Media Technology
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BBC iPlayer summary

• a website
• which enables people to be educated, informed,
  and entertained
• by BBC TV and radio programmes
• however, wherever and whenever they want
• in an accessible way
• thus advancing their independent living.

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Needs/Problems

• Digital TV has brought many advances for disabled
  people in recent years
• access services - subtitles, signing, and audio
  description
• these have made TV programmes more accessible to
  many disabled and elderly people

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Needs/Problems

• but its brought difficulties too, especially for
  disabled and elderly people
• what box do I need and how expensive is it?
• for example, our focus groups found many blind
  and VI people unsure of
• worried about what set-top box they need to watch
  audio described programmes on TV
• how much it costs
• how to work out which programmes have audio
  description
• and how to navigate to them

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Needs/Problems

• difficulties (contd.)
• 57 channels and nothing on
• finding the programmes you want can be difficult
  across many channels even using (sometimes
  complex) electronic programme guides
• how do you manage this on a set-top box without a
  speaking electronic programme guide?
• how do you find the programmes with signing or
  audio-description if they are in late
  transmission slots?

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How iPlayer solves the problems

• accessibility of the interface
• accessibility of the programmes

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Accessibility of the interface

• Accessibility of navigation

• Accessibility of the media player

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Accessibility of the programmes

• Subtitles
• over 90 of BBC iPlayer programmes have subtitles

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Accessibility of the programmes

• Signing

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Accessibility of the programmes

• Audio Description

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Key Benefits for all

• finding the right programmes to watch when I
  want
• categories really help people find what they want
  find the last 7 days of signed or
  audio-described programmes easily
• people can watch them when they want on demand
• breaking out of limitations of set-top boxes
• disabled people can use the ATs they rely on for
  watching TV now as well
• screenreaders are available free on PCs cf. very
  expensive to buy a set-top-box including speech
• where STB limitations dont exist this is still
  more affordable
• e.g. access to Audio Description without needing
  to buy the right set-top-box
• better enables all people to be educated,
  informed, and entertained through an affordable,
  inclusive, mainstream product

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Where it is currently offered

• just in the UK, for the moment

Total stream/download requests
Daily stream/download requests
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What people are saying
I have just watched all this weeks episodes with
audio description and I am impressed. There is a
pause, stop button which is easy to locate and
you can even restart the episode. If you go back
again it will take you to the same place where it
was if you listened last time. I find it very
accessible and easy to work and I am very pleased
with it. Only problem, it has made me start
watching Eastenders again!

• That is absolutely fantastic news about the
  iPlayer!! Brilliant. I'm going to use this so
  much now -)

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Replication

• most websites can be made accessible for
  reasonable cost
• by following the WCAG 2 guidelines from early in
  the web development process and interfacing well
  with assistive technologies.
• however, accessible video requires access
  services to be created
• by the videos creator, as assistive technologies
  cannot translate video into something universally
  accessible.
• this makes the cost-effective provision of access
  services for online video one of the most
  important and challenging issues facing
  accessibility at present

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Replication

• BBC iPlayer has created
• universally usable online playout mechanisms for
  accessible video through our Embedded Media
  Player
• the workflow tools to allow access services
  created for broadcast TV to be reused to create
  access services for online
• our success and high accessibility benchmark has
  encouraged other UK broadcasters
• to further develop their online offerings,
  encouraging them to aim for similar levels of
  accessibility
• we are also offering iPlayer technologies to
  other UK broadcasters
• to aid them in providing similar levels of
  navigation accessibility and access services on
  their VOD sites

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Replication

• and, as always, the BBC is sharing what we know
  via our accessibility standards guidelines
• these now include our subtitling guidelines
• and will include more video accessibility
  guidelines in the future.

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Future Plans

• ensuring iPlayer continues to set best practice
  for VOD as we progress
• cross platform
• iPlayer on TV, games consoles,mobile phones
• personalisation
• of recommendations, playlists etc.
• of presentation colours

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Contact Details

• iPlayer www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
• Accessibility blogs on iPlayer -
  www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/accessibility/
• jonathan.hassell_at_bbc.co.uk