Access to Locally Televised On-Screen Information

1
Access to Locally Televised On-Screen
Information

• Geoff Freed
• Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family
• National Center for Accessible Media
• WGBH Educational Foundation
• geoff_freed_at_wgbh.org

2
About NCAM

• 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

3
Access to Locally Televised On-Screen Information

• 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

4
Project Activities

• 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.

5
Rules regarding accessibility of on-screen
information

• 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.

6
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.

7
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.

8
Examples of current practice
9
Examples of current practice
10
Solutions descriptions

• Analog One stream of additional audio inserted
  into the SAP channel.

11
Solutions descriptions

• Multiple streams of information

12
How its done TTS
13
Solutions captions

• 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

14
Solutions relocatable captions (lower-third)
15
Solutions relocatable captions (upper-third)
16
How its done captions

• 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

17
How its done captions
18
Guidelines

• 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.

19
Additional work in accessible alerts

• Access to Emergency Alerts, 4-year grant from
  U.S. Dept. of Commerce http//ncam.wgbh.org/alert
  s
• 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

20
Excerpted recommendations to media

• Produce a library of fully accessible (text,
  audio, video) emergency messages that can be
  delivered on-air, 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

21
Access to Locally TelevisedOn-Screen Information

• Geoff Freed
• geoff_freed_at_wgbh.org
• http//ncam.wgbh.org/onscreen