promoting accessible broadcasting for persons with disabilities peter olaf looms dr (danish...

Promoting Accessible Broadcasting

for Persons with Disabilities

Peter Olaf LoomsDR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation)

poo@dr.dk, polooms@gmail.com

ITU Europe and CIS Regional Workshop on Mainstreaming ICT Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities

Odessa, Ukraine, 1-2 November 2010

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Digital Television in Europe

approximately 500 million viewers

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Телевидение Содружество Независимых Государств, СНГ

Potentially 278 million viewers

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Political objective: e-inclusiveness

Users getting the full benefit from ICT

- including TV

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Political objective: avoid exclusion Political objective: avoid exclusion

How big is the problem for TV in Europe?

15%

What are the needs?Human diversity is an asset

Viewers born deaf or have hearing

impairment

Viewers who are blind or have visual impairments

What are the needs?

Viewers of programmes in foreign languages

Young viewers of foreign language programmes

What are the needs?

Immigrants and refugees

Adult viewers ofprogrammes with colloquialor fast language

Why now?

In Europe, free-to-air digital TVby 2012 represents a major window of opportunity…

…but there will be others

E-inclusiveness What can we do today?

Viewers born deaf or with hearing impairment

Signing and subtitlingSigning

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Subtitles (intralingual)= Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard-of-hearing, SDH

Source: European Broadcasting Union (EBU) april 2009

Trend towards 100%SDH coverage on mainchannels

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Visual Signing

Denmark & Netherlands use a dedicatedchannel simulcast.

Kilde: European Broadcasting Union (EBU) april 2009

E-inclusiveness What can we do today?

Viewers who are blind /with visual impairments

Audio description (AD) or spoken subtitles

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Audio description

Kilde: European Broadcasting Union (EBU) april 2009

Spoken subtitles in Finland,the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden(trials in Denmark in 2011?)

E-inclusiveness What can we do today?

Viewers of programmesin foreign languages

Dubbing or subtitling in national language(s)

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E-inclusiveness Current challenges

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E-inclusivenessCurrent challenges – live subtitling

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E-inclusivenessCurrent challenges – live subtitling

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E-inclusivenessCurrent challenges – live subtitling

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E-inclusivenessCurrent challenges – live subtitling

Challenge Solutions

• More live programmes need more live subtitles

• The delay between speech and subtitles needs to be addressed

• Re-speaking solutions for less-widely spoken languages need to be developed.

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E-inclusivenessCurrent challenges – live subtitling

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E-inclusiveness Current challenges

E-inclusivenessCurrent challenges – spoken subtitles

Viewers who are blind /with visual impairments

Spoken subtitles for foreignlanguage sequences

Challenge Solutions

• Today: Central solutions using speech synthesis to read aloud sequences in foreign languages

• Near future: Decentral solutions with speech synthesis in the TV receiver itself

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E-inclusivenessCurrent challenges – spoken subtitles

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E-inclusiveness Current challenges

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E-inclusivenessCurrent challenges – from awareness to use

AwareAware that access service exists that access service exists

Can find Can find access serviceaccess service

Can use Can use access serviceaccess service

Benefits Benefits from access servicefrom access service

Challenge Solutions

• Look at the four stepping stones from awareness to use

• Demand side goals• Service definition in

terms of what is needed, not which technologies are used (”technology-agnostic service definition”)

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E-inclusivenessCurrent challenges – from awareness to use

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E-inclusiveness Current challenges

Stakeholders and digital television

The blind men and the elephantThe blind men and the elephantThe big picture needs contributions from all stakeholdersThe big picture needs contributions from all stakeholders

Stakeholders and digital television

Subtitles for TV adverts - Subtitles for TV adverts - Think out of the boxThink out of the box

Stakeholders and digital television

Signing for video clips - Signing for video clips - Think out of the boxThink out of the box

Stakeholders and digital television

Consensus is more effective than coercionConsensus is more effective than coercion

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E-inclusiveness Challenges that we should meet

Thank you!

Contact particulars until 31/12

Peter Olaf LoomsDR, Danish Broadcasting CorporationDR MediaStrategy & ProjectsDR-ByenEmil Holms Kanal 20DK-0999 Copenhagen CDENMARK

E: polooms@gmail.comM: +45 51 56 75 46D: +45 35 20 83 66