1. International Telecommunication Union Geneva, 2 November 2009 Sign Language and technology - access, applications and interoperability Jeff McWhinney, Managing Director Significan’t (UK) Ltd ITU-T Workshop "The impact of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the work of the ITU-T" Geneva, 2 November 2009

2. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 2 Introduction - Key Partners Jeff McWhinney – MD Significan’t– London, England Jacques Sangla – Chef de Projet – WebSourd, Toulouse, France Emmanuel Buu & Didier Chabanol – Co-Founders, IVèS, Grenoble, France

3. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 3 Article 9 – UN Convention on the Rights of the Disabled Person 2(e) To provide forms of live assistance and intermediaries, including guides, readers and professional sign language interpreters, to facilitate accessibility to buildings and other facilities open to the public;

4. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 4 Article 9 – UN Convention on the Rights of the Disabled Person Problem: In the UK there are 250 deaf sign language users to a sign language interpreter – average waiting time = 2 weeks. Solution: Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) Avatars – WebSourd

5. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 5 Article 9 – UN Convention on the Rights of the Disabled Person 2(g) To promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet; 2(h) To promote the design, development, production and distribution of accessible information and communications technologies and systems at an early stage, so that these technologies and systems become accessible at minimum cost.

6. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 6 Article 9 – UN Convention on the Rights of the Disabled Person Solution: Video Relay Services

7. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 7 The Proof: US VRS market demand Source: www.neca.org

8. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 8 Key barriers to efficient video calling Lack of peering agreements amongst SIP providers High speed broadband access and availability Interoperability in video calling devices ENUM not widely implemented Solution?

9. International Telecommunication Union Geneva, 2 November 2009 Video Relay Services Centre Jacques Sangla Chef de Projet WebSourd ITU-T Workshop "The impact of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the work of the ITU-T" Geneva, 2 November 2009

10. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 10 Video Access Point

11. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 11 Accessibility in Technology The relay centre solution offers independence for deaf people enabling them to make direct phone calls. It avoids misunderstandings, missed appointments, stress and unnecessary trips for the deaf person. WebSourd relay centre is available on the internet through a P.C., a videophone or any other compatible terminal such as a 3G cell phone. It is then easy to communicate via a relay operator in sign language or type it out in French 30.000 calls by 150 persons per year

12. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 12 The use of WebSourd’s Relay centre Regular increase of the phone calls Sociological study of the Relay Centre's users with four main kinds of phone calls: To understand and be understood: quick access to an interpreter Commercial calls: to place orders or book items as well as getting information, compare prices and access to certain services To get back in contact with people who have drifted away from the deaf person because of the lack of phones To change the way deaf people interact with society by being equal to others in communication

13. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 13 Criteria Full and easy telecommunication network accessibility Access to phone calls free of charge Open and available 24 hours a day Access to the phone for all Easy use of the telecommunication device Quality requirements

14. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 14 The WebSourd Avatar The implementation of the 3D avatar in computer generated images able to express itself in sign language on command and with two great principles A guarantee of a high quality of animation that transcribes all linguistic treasures of the sign language the software development that can create the easiest sign language

15. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 15 The WebSourd Avatar (2) The automatic message in sign language by an avatar is now a reality and can be expanded to other services in France or abroad The WebSourd avatar has been developed with the SNCF. The Gare de l’Est in Paris is provided with information screens on which you can see Jade, the virtual assistant, making announcements in French sign language and this has been in operation since June 10th 2007

16. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 16 The WebSourd Avatar (3)

17. International Telecommunication Union Geneva, 2 November 2009 Accessibility in Technology Emmanuel Buu & Didier Chabanol Co-Founders IVèS ITU-T Workshop "The impact of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the work of the ITU-T" Geneva, 2 November 2009

18. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 18 Accessibility in Technology – The Needs Relay services: intermediation when the two parties cannot communicate directly Need to exchange media requirement and speech capabilities Remote assistance Text captioning for hard of hearing people Video for remote assistance of people with visual impairments (indoor, outdoor), far end camera control Remote reading by assistant (elderly people)

19. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 19 Relevant standards exists to fulfil those needs Relevant (non-IMS) standards Real-time text RFC 4103 and co: total conversation Camera control H.323 annex Q Dual video (remote viewing) H.239 In call location http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-sip- location-conveyance-13 http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-sip- location-conveyance-13 IMS represents a chance to integrate all these standard cleanly First step: 3GPP TS 22.173 IMS Multimedia Telephony Service now says that it can be used to implement Total Conversation as described in ITU-T F.703

20. International Telecommunication Union ITU-T Workshop on Accessibility Geneva, 2 November 2009 20 Implication for IMS networks IMS based operators will need to accommodate devices which aim is to provide accessibility in real life Audio and video are not the only media/info to be handled in a call. Text, location (provided by terminal) Richer device to device control protocols for remote assistance (e.g. Camera control) IMS should be able to be used by service providers. Not only by major telcos