International Telecommunication Union What do we mean by “Accessible Audio Visual Media” for Persons with Disabilities and Why it Matters Susan Schorr, Head Special Initiatives Division International Telecommunication Union, Telecommunication Development Bureau ITU-EBU Meeting for Central and Eastern Europe on e-Accessibility in Television Broadcasting 3-4 December 2013; Zagreb, Croatia

Introduction and Background 1 billion people live with some form of disability

3 ICT Accessibility in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - CRPD  Article 9 of the CRPD defines ICT accessibility as an integral part of accessibility rights on par with transportation and the physical environment  Article 30 of the CRPD requires State Parties to “take all appropriate measures to ensure that Persons with Disabilities... enjoy access to television programmes [and] films... in accessible formats.

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Defining Persons with disabilities Disability is the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others 5

What kind of barriers do they face?  Deafness/hard of hearing  Blindness/low vision  Limited motion/reduced dexterity  Impaired cognition

Addressing Accessibility is good for everyone Accessibility features also help:  aging populations  following fast dialogue or slang  immigrants and refugees  promote social inclusion  the illiterate  new business models 7

Accessibility options for deaf/hard of hearing  Captioning or subtitles  Same language (intra- lingual)  Foreign language(s) (inter- lingual)  Closed or open  Color-coded  Not helpful for illiterate  Signing 8

Signing and how to caption 9 Learn how captions are made:

Accessibility options for sight impairments  For the blind and people with low vision  Audio description or video description  For TV, film and theatre  The who, what, why, where and when  Audio subtitles or spoken subtitles  Reads the subtitles aloud  Good for foreign language programmes 10 Learn how AD changes lives: _romero.php

Accessibility options for reduced mobility and dexterity  People with reduced mobility and dexterity  Well designed remote controls and EPGs  Accessibility keys, tactile and audible feedback, large, well- spaced keys, etc.  Formal help schemes for the elderly and those with registered disabilities to tune or retune set top boxes or TV receivers (provided by volunteers, paid staff or informally by friends and family)

ITU BDT Making TV Accessible Report 12  BDT Report, prepared by Peter Looms, Chairman of ITU-T Focus Group on Audiovisual Media Accessibility  Looks at how TV can be made more accessible  Timely given the transition from analogue to digital TV  BDT publishing a model ICT accessibility policy report

Model ICT Accessibility Policy Report  Provides policy guidelines and legal and regulatory framework Designed to help policy makers and regulators develop their own accessibility policies and regulations Modular design includes stand-alone sections on policies for: Mobile accessibility Audio visual media accessibility Web accessibility Public procurement Also identifies and explains changes needed for existing ICT legislation and disability-specific legislation Reviewed by industry and government stakeholders Planned for publication by ITU and G3ict in early

Conclusion and Recommendations  Accessible TV is required by the UN CRPD  Accessible TV is good for everyone  The switch to digital TV is an ideal time to develop access services  offers opportunity to provide a greater range of possible access services and increased flexibility  Broadcaster can offer “closed” access services, i.e. where users decide whether or not to use them  Accessibility involves producing, distributing and making users aware of accessibility features and how to use them

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