The WGBH National Center for Accessible Media: Making In-Flight Communications and Entertainment Accessible WAEA Technology Committee Meeting January 18, 2006

Making In-Flight Communications and Entertainment Accessible A project to research barriers and develop solutions that can make inflight communication and entertainment systems accessible to people with sensory disabilities Making In-Flight Communications and Entertainment Accessible A project to research barriers and develop solutions that can make inflight communication and entertainment systems accessible to people with sensory disabilities.

“Access to IFE” - Project Team and Partners Larry Goldberg - Director, NCAM; co-PI Larry Goldberg - Director, NCAM; co-PI Brad Botkin - Director of Technology, NCAM Brad Botkin - Director of Technology, NCAM Caesar Eghtesadi - President, Tech For All; co-PI Caesar Eghtesadi - President, Tech For All; co-PI Katherine Hunter-Zaworski - Director, National Center for Accessible Transportation, Oregon State University Katherine Hunter-Zaworski - Director, National Center for Accessible Transportation, Oregon State University Jim Skvarla - Panasonic Avionics Corp. Jim Skvarla - Panasonic Avionics Corp. Rich Salter - WAEA and Working Groups Rich Salter - WAEA and Working Groups

WGBH& Access The Caption Center (est. 1972) Captions television, home videos, feature films, CD & DVD-ROM, streaming video Descriptive Video Service (est. 1990) Describes television, home videos, feature films by inserting key visual elements during pauses in dialogue WGBH & Access The Caption Center (est. 1972) Captions television, home videos, feature films, CD & DVD-ROM, streaming video Descriptive Video Service (est. 1990) Describes television, home videos, feature films by inserting key visual elements during pauses in dialogue

WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM - est. 1993) Research and development facility Federally funded research projects National policy development (public/private) Technical solutions and guidelines Community outreach Strategic Partnerships: IBM, Yahoo!, AOL, Apple,... Projects: MoPix, Rich Media-Online, DTV, Mobile Media, Home Media, Ed Tech, Emergency Alerts, … Standards and Specifications: W3C, IMS, PB Core, ATSC Standards and Specifications: W3C, IMS, PB Core, ATSC SMPTE, DCI, ISO, …

“Access to IFE” - Project Funder and Timeline U.S. Department of Education: U.S. Department of Education: National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research Three Years: October 1, 2005 > September 30, 2008 Three Years: October 1, 2005 > September 30, 2008

“Access to IFE” - Project Goals 1.Research technical solutions, procedures and practices required to infuse access considerations into inflight hardware, digital content management systems, interactive and display systems, connectivity, and content. Q: How can WAEA and its members help uncover the best possible solutions?

“Access to IFE” - Project Goals 2.Develop a demonstration model using a state-of- the-art IFE system that prototypes inflight system support of user-selectable captions, audio description and talking menus. Q: Working with PAC to create demo - other partners interested, especially content partners?

“Access to IFE” - Project Goals 3.Participate in World Airline Entertainment Association technical committees and working groups and promote the adoption/inclusion of standard accessibility metadata models into new and existing standards developed by those groups Q: How can we get involved in WAEA activities? Are there evolving standards we should know about? Are their other media standards you are interested in?

“Access to IFE” - Project Goals 4.Publish a White Paper outlining the functional requirements of an accessible IFE system. Q: Is WAEA interested in reviewing or contributing to this White Paper?

“Access to IFE” - Project Goals 5.Promote review of demonstration model and proposed specifications through dissemination and high-profile demonstrations within industry, government and the disabilities communities. Q: Can WAEA help with dissemination of results, including demonstrations?

Captioning Captioning Analog and digital TV Online DVD - subtitles and line-21 data In theaters - subtitles and Rear Window ®

Audio (video) Description Audio (video) Description Analog and digital TV Online DVD - alternate audio tracks In theaters - DVS Theatrical

MoPix

“Talking Menus” (navigation assistance) “Talking Menus” (navigation assistance) Screen Readers DVDs PDAs

DVD with Talking Menus

Contact us: WGBH National Center for Accessible Media 125 Western Ave. Boston, MA voice: fax: ncam.wgbh.org