Digital TV and access to it Nick Tanton BBC October 2009 offers inclusion via “Access Services” Subtitling Audio description Signing and opportunities for improving Useability Digital Television Subtitling ..DVB Subtitling has been available in the UK on Digital Terrestrial Television since its launch in 1998 and on the UK “freesat”platform since May 2008. Notes : 1 In the UK subtitling is predominantly in English 2 BBC Services for Digital Cable are typically remultiplexed from DTT or DSAT and so have the appropriate access services. Access services Audio description ..Audio description has been available on Sky’s Digital Satellite and on Digital Terrestrial since 1999 and on the UK freesatplatform since May 2008. ..Subtitling and audio description are now also available on the BBC iPlayer. Signing ..Signing is also provided in-vision on a proportion of programmes. Access services During the first six months of 2009, the BBC ..subtitled > 99.8% of programme output on each of 7 linear TV channels, ..audio described over 12 %* of output & ..signed over 5% *of output. * depending on channel Access services During 2008/09 we delivered an estimated ..52744 hours of subtitling, ..5621 hours of audio description & ..2321 hours of signed content. Access services ..18 regional variants of BBC ONE * ..4 regional variants of BBC TWO * ..2 day-time children’s channels (CBBC & CBeebies) ..2 mixed-genre channels (BBC THREE & BBC FOUR) ..A 24hr live news channel (BBC NEWS) ..Parliamentary coverage (BBC Parliament) ..An HD channel (BBC HD) * “Reactive” channels with a mix of live and pre-recorded content. Access services To achieve this level of delivery we have worked with our partners (RedBEE Media and Siemens) to refine many elements of the “end-to-end” system ..Scheduling and workflow improvements ..Asset management ..Resilient systems for play-out and delivery (coding and multiplexing) ..Use of latest technology commensurate with service requirements (eg. HD) Access services Image quality to maximise legibility ..Font style and font size ..Antialiassedletterforms ..Proportional letter-spacing and word-spacing ..Colour, contrast ..Supports symbols and scripted languages ..Supports multiple languages DVB Subtitling Technologies are stable and standardised ..Image quality inc. font, size, spacing etc. is determined by thebroadcaster. ..Fully standardised (and HD capable) EN 300 743 v1.3.1 ..MostEu-wide receiver manufacturers (of stbsand iDTVs). have delivered product supporting DVB Subtitles over a number of years. ..Test regimes for receivers are available. ..Head-end equipment has been available from various manufacturers for a number of years. It includes transcodingfrom teletextso can make use of legacy authoring processes and archive material. DVB Subtitling DVB Subtitling DVB Subtitling DVB Subtitling Technologies are stable and standardised for SDTV ..Choice of “broadcast-mix”(DSAT) or “receiver-mix”(DTT). ..Fully standardised. ..A number of receiver manufacturers (inc. big-name iDTVmanufacturers) have delivered AD-capable product over recent years. This includes low-end as well as “big brand name”products. ..Test regimes for receivers are available. ..Head-end equipment has been available from various manufacturers for a number of years. Audio Description Current challenges for the provider ..Accuracy of live-subtitling ..Timing of live-subtitling ..Authoring for multiple platforms ..Audio description for multi-channel audio ..Signing in HD ..Capture and editing of live-subs for archive/rebroadcast Access services Near-future * technological advances ..Further workflow improvements (including integration with News Room scripting tools) ..Improvements in Voice Recognition ..Language tools to improve semantic accuracy in live subtitles and to filter inappropriate language ..Real-time monitoring of play-out and delivery errors ..Hybrid delivery (eg. signing via IP) ..New file-formats (eg. DFXP) * In next 3-5 years Access services Near-future advances (2) ..Tools to manage loudness of music and effects in production Access services Accessibility Key lessons learned ..Have a clear definition of the service requirements that is owned by all users (and providers). ..Keep faith with the principles of the agreed definition over time (“don’t keep asking for more bells and whistles”). ..Try to manage user expectations (e.g. live subtitles will have errors). Accessibility Lessons learned (2) ..Aim for a practicable and sustainable solution notfor “absolute perfection”. ..Aim for consistency of user experience across platforms. ..Adapt the delivery solution to the platform as needed (eg. B- mix vsRx-mix AD). ..Ensure the delivery solution is standards based (eg. Euor wider). ..Economy of content production leads to more hours of accessible TV (author once, deliver many). Accessibility Lessons learned (3) ..Put as much technical sophistication as is appropriate at the sending end rather than at the receiver. ..Ensure that any “personalisation”is a function of the receiver (e.g. size of subtitles). ..Ensure a suitable compliance test regime for consumer equipment. ..Challenge any CE manufacturers who say “it’s too hard”, “the market is small”etc.. Service definitions e.g. “Subtitling provides a simultaneous textual representation of the commentary or dialogue of any audio-visual content”. Accessibility and useability accessibility provision of assistive services useability ease of use and ease of access Useability ..is about common-sense and ease-of-use rather than product branding or minimising cost ; ..is about providing accurate, timely and relevant user information about those access services available with a particular programme or channel ; ..is about good practice in designing user interfaces with clear, simple and uncluttered screens and with appropriate user- feedback (beeps and icons) ; ..is about maintaining user preferences across channel changes and power cycling (eg. subtitles/language/AD selected) & ..is about user-friendly service discovery (eg. assisted retuning). Useability ..is about ergonomic remote controls (e.g. one-touch subtitles, one-touch audio description etc.) ; ..is about keeping it as simple as possible whilst delivering all the benefits that digital TV offers ; ..but it is notabout personalisation at the cost of added complexity. Useability Near future technological advances ..Talking menus and talking programme guides. ..Receiver signal processing to tailor audio reproduction to the needs of listener & room. And finally …. thanks for your attention nick.tanton@bbc.co.uk