One content, three devices, the same need: access to information by people with special needs.

Transcrição

1 One content, three devices, the same need: access to information by people with special needs. Jorge Fernandes Minister of Science and Technology / Acesso Unit jorge.f@acesso.mct.pt Keywords personal computer, digital video broadcast, DVB-T, UMTS, web, access, information, design for all, MHP, disabled, elderly, impairment, guidelines, total conversation. Abstract In our days the PC, the TV and the telephone, mainly the mobile phones, will be the privileged equipment to accede to the information. As if information can draw that serves the necessities of each one of these equipment. It will be this possible? How to obtain to make comp atible the necessities of each one, in a standard one that it serves to all? Will not have been always this the question when we spoke about citizens with special needs? They will be the citizens special, or they use special equipment, or better different equipment with its proper needs? How to obtain this Standardization? The stress industry will think in standards before market sales? And the users, what it is that they ask for? This paper it presents 3 documents: the first one arrests with an effort of implementation of the web guidelines (on the basis of the WAI) in the Portuguese Public Administration. The second guidelines is resulted of public consultation and international gauging of that the users need to use the digital television and the last document mentions the third generation of mobile phones. In a word, as the users can usufruct of a constitucional law: that is the right to access to information. Technical questions like: The DVB MHP operating systems should be standardised?; The AUDETEL i standard for audio description in DVB should be a European wide standard?; There should be a standard for picture-in-picture signing in DVB? All the services offered on DVB terminal should be available electronically at an standard external connection point - facilitate the use of special assistive devices (e.g., voice synthesisers, braille printers)? The information should be available in an industry standard format (e.g. XHTML)? The DVB terminal should have a standard interface for keyboard and mouse? It should be possible to store different profi les if some of the family members have different needs terminals? The numerical keypad should have the same layout as a telephone? Finally, about the telecommunications, the issue is not just one of making sure people with special needs are not excluded from using telecommunications terminals and services, but also to ensure that telecommunications can have additional value for people with functional restrictions or other impairments by helping to organise social relationships at home or at work and by supporting care services thus empowering people with special needs to participate as active members of society. FJ - 1

2 Accessibility Requirements. Implementation - Phase I - Accessibility Requirements. MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. Presentation of the Information 1 - Associating text with non-text equivalents. In most cases it is enough to use "ALT" to briefly identify the content of a non-textual element. This rule applies to: - images; - text graphics, including symbols; - image map areas; - animations (e.g. animated GIF); - applets and programmed objects; - ASCII art; - frames; - interpretable programs; - images used to signal enumeration points; - spacers; - graphics buttons; - sound (whether produced with the user's interaction or not); - independent audio files; - audio tracks for video; - video clips; Contacts. 2 - Offer a clear and simple way to contact the organisation's content developer and the site administrator(s). 6 - Enable users to use the keyboard to activate page content. People with reduced dexterity or who are unable to see the cursor on the screen find it difficult to use a pointing device like a mouse. The keyboard may be their only alternative. Conformance. 7 - Implement accessibility requirements. We suggest that you give priority to the accessibility requirements mentioned in this document. You may however use the accessibility requirements from the W3C Web, which are available in Portuguese at the UTAD site at: Check the site's accessibility. Test the accessibility of the information by using automatic accessibility analysis tools or services and text navigator emulators. We recommend Bobby ( for analysing accessibility and the Lynx Viewer emulator ( You can also use the keyboard to navigate through and interact with the information in the site you are testing. 9 - Make any necessary adjustments and test it again Dis play the accessibility icon. 3 - Give the organisation's address, phone number, fax number and address. 4 - Webmasters should subscribe to the distribution list incne-internet@egroups.com, by sending a blank (with no subject or message) to incne-internetsubscribe@egroups.com. ii Navigation 5 - Make sure that text links or links with text alternatives are understandable out of context. Use the TAB key to jump from one link to another on a Web page and read the text out loud. The blind use a similar technique to navigate, with a synthesiser to make up for their visual impairment. "Click here" links are no use to people that only hear the link information. Also, if you use the same text several times for different links it can cause confusion. FJ - 2

3 Accessibility Guidelines to Telecommunication Services for Citizens with Special Needs iii (Version October, 30th) Citizens may feel they have special needs when the telecommunication equipment and services they are offered cannot be handled in the ways they master, and do not allow information exchange in the ways they prefer. The ability of human beings to exchange information and carry out control operations in different ways varies considerably. These variations are often enhanced by age and disabilities. It is important to ensure the accessibility of telecommunication equipment and services, regardless of such variations. National and EU laws and regulations should provide that the facilities of basic telecommunications are to be accessible to all citiziens without exception. The key to accessibility is to provide information exchange and offer control over telecommunication equipment and services in a number of alternative ways. A good example would be the Total Conversation concept. It adds real time text conversation to video and voice services wherever such services exist, and can be seen as a migration path for the text telephone services to richer functionality and widened user benefit. Basic information and control modes are: visual (text, sign language, gestures, images and light signals); audible (voice, tones and ringing signals); and haptic (profiles, Braille, embossed symbols, keypress, movements, positions and vibration). Conversion between modes is often needed as an additional service to enable people to be able to share information when they need to handle it in different ways. Added value services like text and video relay services, translating between different modes of communication, should be encouraged in order to further expand the opportunities of those citizens who are disadvantaged by their limitations in access to the voice telephone services. Since it is not feasible to include provision for all specific variations in an original design, interfaces should always be included, so that access can be provided in other modes by additions to the original design. The following are guidelines to follow to assure accessibility for citizens with special needs. Awareness about Equipment and Services 1. A department should be set up, to attend to customers with special needs (DCSN) and collate information about telecommunications equipment and services; this department should preferably be staffed with people with special needs. 2. Advertisement, promotion and appropriate awareness actions should be carried out regarding telecommunications equipment and services and new solutions to increase telecommunications accessibility for citizens with special needs. These actions require accessible formats and media (including videotapes in sign language for the deaf and practical workshops). 3. Close cooperation should be established between the DCSN and organisations of people with special needs and professionals working in this field, for larger dis semination of the DCSN activities and support to user education actions. Availability of Equipment and Services 4. Additional telecommunications equipment and services should be provided to compensate for any lack of technical compatibility or accessibility, in order to ensure full and accessible end-to-end telecommunication services to citizens with special needs. 5. Suitable tele-alarm services should be provided to citizens with special needs. 6. Standardised interfaces should be provided, to allow access by text -phone users and others who require special devices to use telematics. 7. Text relay, video (sign language) relay and speech-to-speech relay services should be provided for citizens with hearing and speech impairments. A good example would be the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) "Guidelines for Telecommunication Relay Services for Text Telephones", ETSI TR , Priority attendance should be put in place for citizens with special needs in case of malfunctions, etc.. 9. Mail, bills, product manuals and contractual information should be presented in Braille, large print or in electronic format (computer disk, e- mail and Web pages) to citizens with visual impairments, upon request. FJ - 3

4 Appropriateness of Equipment and Services 10. Providers of telecommunications equipment and services and the regulatory authority should regularly consult organisations of and for people with special needs about their accessibility requirements in order to take appropriate measures. 11. Providers of telecommunications equipment and services should consult national and international organisations and experts of and for people with special needs, regarding the development of future services and products. Affordability of Equipment and Services 12. Citizens with special needs should, as far as possible, be able to use telecommunication services at prices equivalent to (or cheaper than) those for people without special needs. 13. Additional costs of providing access to citizens with special needs should be met by means of dedicated financial resources or included in the general operating costs. 14. Universal access to telephone communications should be ensured, including the accessibility to solutions of text - and videotelephony at affordable prices for citizens with special needs. 15. A free information service should be provided, adapted to citizens with special needs; in particular, access to the telephone directory. 16. The possibility to link delegations with new generation communications at reduced prices should be made available to organisations of citizens with special needs; this should include not only set-up costs but also running costs. Design for All 17. Iinformation about telecommunications equipment and services should be provided in an accessible format (including information on the Internet, videotapes in sign language for the deaf and practical workshops). 18. In case the provider offers public call boxes, these should be in reasonable number, fully accessible by wheelchair, with text telephones and hearing aids, and with volume amplification. 19. Total Conversation services should be provided, to allow simultaneous communication between users in video, text and voice so that users can communicate in the combination of modes that is most suitable for their needs. 20. Where universal access is impossible, services or additional equipment should be supplied to compensate the lack of accessibility. 21. Service providers should stay in contact with and support accessible technology researchers, so that wherever universal access is still impossible, it can be implemented as soon as feasible, thus reducing the need for additional equipment. About the guidelines These Guidelines were drawn up on the basis of The Telecommunication Charter from COST219 bis and on the document Telecommunications services for people with disabilities iv from UK. The recommendations were organised in accordance with the 5 priority factors of the PROMISE (PROMoting an Information Society for Everyone) project of the European Union: Awareness, Availability, Appropriateness, Affordability and Design for All. To provide the highest level of technical evaluation, Portuguese Accessibility Special Interest Group invited several experts to form an International Telecomm Accessibility Board (the "Board"). The Board reviewed and discussed the Guidelines in online forum, from the 9 to 18 of October The Board members were: Name Representing Country Beat Kleeb Fondation PROCOM Switzerland Gunnar Hellström Omnitor AB Sweden Jan Ekberg STAKES and COST 219 bis Finland Jim Tobias Inclusive Technologies USA Moderators: Name Representing Country Diamantino Freitas FEUP Portugal Francisco Godinho FJ - 4

5 PASIG Portugal In this document citizens with special needs mean older people and people with disabilities. FJ - 5

6 Guia de Acessibilidade à Televisão Digital Terrestre por cidadãos com necessidades especiais (Guidelines of Accessibility of DVB- T for people with special needs) v Versão de Dezembro de 2000 Note: During the workshop we will distribute this document in English. A televisão desempenha um papel muito complexo na vida dos cidadãos, proporcionando entretenimento, informação, companhia, integração e coesão social. Para pessoas com necessidades especiais (acamados, idosos e pessoas com deficiência), confrontadas com limitações físicas, sensoriais, de mobilidade e participação social, o acesso aos benefícios da televisão, como instrumento de comunicação de massas e equipamento doméstico, representa sem dúvida um factor muito significativo de qualidade de vida. A evolução da televisão terrestre, da plataforma analógica para a digital, vem modificar a forma como hoje se vê televisão. A tecnologia digital vai permitir a difusão de vários canais de vídeo, áudio e dados; o fornecimento de se interactivos; a integração da Internet e a convergência com a tecnologia da indústria Esta convergência permitirá aproveitar todo o know-how adquirido na acessibilidade de equipamentos e aplicações informáticas (incluíndo as de natureza telemática como a Internet) por pessoas com deficiência, por forma a garantir o acesso universal a um serviço de televisão terrestre, que usufrui de um recurso público muito limitado - o espectro radioeléctrico. Porém, para que estes objectivos sejam alcançados, são necessárias politicas activas, compromissos sociais sérios e muita iniciativa. A acessibilidade da televisão por cidadãos com necessidades especiais representa fundamentalmente um comp romisso social relacionado com a promoção da qualidade de vida das pessoas com deficiências e idosos; da língua gestual portuguesa, enquanto expressão cultural e instrumento de acesso à educação e da igualdade de oportunidades; e o cumprimento de um direito fundamental dos cidadãos, consignado na Constituição da República Portuguesa: o direito à informação. Segue-se um guia da acessibilidade à televisão digital terrestre por cidadãos com necessidades especiais: Recomendações 1. Deve ser garantido o acesso universal à informação da televisão digital terrestre por parte dos cidadãos com necessidades especiais, recorrendo para o efeito à legendagem, à tradução em língua gestual, à descrição de imagens e à conversão de texto em voz. 2. As entidades reguladoras e os fornecedores de equipamentos de televisão digital terrestre devem assegurar a introdução progressiva de interfaces (receptor de televisão digital, set-top boxes e soluções para computador) com acesso e compatibilidade com tecnologias de apoio para cidadãos com necessidades especiais, tais como: comando remoto adaptado, teclados e ratos especiais, leitores de ecrã, sintetizadores de fala e terminais braille. 3. Na impossibilidade do acesso universal, devem ser fornecidos serviços ou subsidiado equipamento adicional que compensem qualquer falta de compatibilidade com as tecnologias de apoio ou de acessibilidade ao nível da informação e interacção sem recurso à visão, à audição, a movimentos precisos e acções simultâneas. 4. Os operadores de televisão digital terrestre, as entidades reguladoras e os fornecedores de equipamentos devem permanecer em contacto com a investigação em tecnologia de acessibilidade televisiva e apoiá-la, de forma a que o acesso universal actualmente inviável seja concretizado logo que possível, reduzindo assim a necessidade de serviços e equipamento adicional. 5. As organizações de pessoas com deficiências e idosos devem assegurar a sua representação e participação em órgãos consultivos da comunicação social e organizações de defesa de consumidor, fazendo ouvir-se em relação à acessibilidade de equipamentos, conteúdos e programas específicos que os afectam. 6. As entidades reguladoras da televisão digital terrestre devem consultar regularmente as organizações de e para pessoas com deficiências e idosos sobre as suas necessidades especiais de acessibilidade, peritos em acessibilidade televisiva, nacionais e internacionais, bem como os operadores de televisão, a fim de tomarem as medidas adequadas à promoção do acesso universal. FJ - 6

7 7. Os programas emitidos em língua portuguesa devem ser legendados, de forma progressiva, através do teletexto, nos prazos mais imediatos possíveis e de acordo com o estado da técnica, com prioridade para os programas de notícias, debates políticos e sociais, sem esperar pela perfeição técnica. 8. A cobertura noticiosa dos principais acontecimentos nacionais e estrangeiros deve incluir tradução gestual. 9. Os operadores de televisão digital terrestre devem adoptar serviços de teletexto compatíveis, para permitir o intercâmbio de programas. 10. Os operadores de televisão digital terrestre devem divulgar, valorizar e promover o ensino da língua gestual portuguesa, enquanto expressão cultural e instrumento de acesso à educação e da igualdade de oportunidades, a surdos e ouvintes, através de programas televisivos específicos, recursos multimédia interactivos e livros adaptados para vídeo. 11. Os operadores de televisão digital terrestre devem emitir programação específica \direccionada para cidadãos com necessidades especiais, bem como desenvolver uma pedagogia televisiva que sensibilize a sociedade quanto aos deveres de respeito e solidariedade para com aqueles cidadãos. 12. Os operadores de televisão digital terrestre devem fornecer um serviço gratuito de livros falados em formato digital e livros adaptados para língua gestual em formato de vídeo digital, com prioridade para livros educacionais direccionados às crianças. 13. Os operadores de televisão digital terrestre devem fornecer informação específica direccionada aos cidadãos com necessidades especiais no teletexto e na Internet. 14. Os operadores de televisão digital terrestre devem fornecer informação sobre serviços e programação em formato acessível, incluíndo a disponibilizada na Internet. 15. Os custos adicionais resultantes do fornecimento de serviços para cidadãos com necessidades especiais devem ser incluídos em fundos específicos criados para esse efeito. FJ - 7

8 References i Audetel ((Audio Description of Television for Visually Impaired and Elderly People) iii UMTS. v TV Accessibility. Other References Web Accessibility HelpDesk of Public Administration WebMaster incne-internet@egroups.com Bobby test of Accessibility TAW Test Web Accessibility(Spain) Lynx Viewer Web Accessibility Symbol WAI Guidelines Portuguese Accessibility Special Interest Group Microsoft Accessibility Technology for Everyone. The Telecommunication Charter Telecommunications services for people with disabilities PROMISE Omnitor AB STAKES and COST 219 bis DVB-T Introduction in Portugal. Tiresias Project (Devices specifications for people with special needs, BlueTooth Technology) FJ - 8