User-generated & multi-media content - challenges and opportunities for accessibility

1. User-generated & multi-media content - challenges and opportunities for accessibility Jonathan Hassell Head of Audience Experience and Usability BBC UX&D AbilityNet Accessibility 2.0 conference 25th April 2008

2. What I’m going to talk about… • BBC & accessibility – some history • Why web 2.0 changes the rules for accessibility… • UGC – responsibility and creation • Multimedia - opportunities and threats • Beyond Inclusion – inspirational future thinking

3. BBC & accessibility – a brief history • BBC long-term commitment to making its output as accessible as possible to all audiences to fulfil its public service remit • Three themes: • inclusion, personalisation, and beyond inclusion • TV/radio: • body of experience within the BBC of disability issues • TV accessibility – subtitles, signing, audio-description [inclusion] • established programmes and audiences (e.g. See Hear, In Touch), moving towards mainstream (Desperados) [beyond inclusion] • Online: • 1998: Betsie – tool for creating text-only personalised web pages (still used by other sites - e.g. Newcastle City Council) • 2002: • created bbc.co.uk accessibility training course (with AbilityNet) and set accessibility standards & guidelines for BBC websites [inclusion] • BBC disability website – Ouch! – created [beyond inclusion] • 2005-6: • created BIMA award winning My Web, My Way accessibility help site to help users understand how to customise their computers (with AbilityNet) [beyond inclusion] • helped write PAS-78 accessibility commissioning guidelines with BSI • 2006-8: Huge amount of work on web 2.0 accessibility • advising and usability-testing core products with disabled people e.g. iPlayer, BBC homepage etc. [inclusion] • personalisation leaps ahead with ATK • researching groundbreaking accessible games on BBC jam [beyond inclusion]

4. Recent example - new BBC Homepage • An example of inclusion and personalisation coming together to make an accessible ‘web 2.0’ homepage “… a lot of sites look up to the BBC for guidance and inspiration. To see such an important, highly trafficked and well respected site come out with a valid, accessible home page shows everyone that it can be done.”Source: unintentionallyblank.co.uk “…let’s talk about the outrageously AWESOME stuff first. The Beeb has included accessibility options on the beta home page – users can choose between eight different viewing formats to help them read the website…” Source: enable-usability.com • Complexity of accessibility in practice – JavaScript often seen as accessibility problem, here was a solution…

5. Accessibility 2.0 & UGC • AbilityNet have already illuminated the many problems which face disabled people getting into social networking sites… • unfortunately that’s only the start of the accessibility challenge… • what happens when they get to the content? • the site owners used to be the people who created this • increasingly now it’s their users creating the content • how is this going to change things? • well, this used to be my main “accessibility evangelism” slide – how it used to be…

6. Accessibility is a partnership to make a website accessible, all of the following need to work together: • Website creators • Assistive technology creators (e.g. Freedom Scientific, ReadPlease) • Operating system creators (e.g. Microsoft, Apple) • Disability assessment agencies (e.g. AbilityNet, RNIB) • Browser creators (e.g. Microsoft, Opera) • comms via W3C-WAI…

7. Accessibility 2.0 & UGC - responsibility • because of the DDA, the accessibilitycommunity has hadmany successes persuading site owners to make their content accessible...

8. Accessibility 2.0 & UGC - responsibility • but how do you persuade the everyday users of Blogs, MySpace, Bebo, or YouTube to make their contentaccessible?

9. Accessibility 2.0 & UGC - responsibility • we’d all agree UGC is important… • blogs have been identified as changing election results (US 2004-6) • and many sites have a “have your say… now with imaging…” • AbilityNet have an accessibility channel on YouTube • the BBC has just bought an island in virtual communitySecond Life

10. Accessibility 2.0 & UGC - responsibility • if disabled users need ‘accessibility support’ in content, how do we enable this? • split in responsibility between the tools and the moderation • responsibility of the site: the tools to enable it… • does the content building tool include a mechanism for enabling users to include accessibility support? • link with the lesser-known WAI-ATAG guidelines • quick example of current state of play: • quick survey of simple “site builders” (Sept-07) – only 1 in 4 of the sites I tried allowed me to add alt-text to images

11. Accessibility 2.0 & UGC - creation • but it’s not all about disabled people consuming UGC… • what about contributing it? • will the tools allow that? • for all? • or will disabled people be left without a voice in web 2.0?

12. Accessibility 2.0 & UGC - creation • for many this is easy… • for others it’s really not… • some examples • people with literacy difficulties • people whose first language is BSL

13. Accessibility 2.0 & UGC - responsibility • responsibility of site/content creators – adding accessibility support to content (moderation) • will the site owner let the users know accessibility support is important? • will they monitor if users are enriching their content with accessibility support? • and if those users aren’t doing this… • will the site owners do that enrichment themselves, through moderation? • it can be costly, and it’s very difficult to automate • should there be a difference in responsibility between social networking (e.g. Facebook, YouTube) and more general site creation tools (e.g. blogger, google page creator)? • the DDA isn’t clear here (cf. responsibility of ISPs, Napster etc. for content on them) • the BBC are looking at how we can do this… • we’re using the “moderator adds the accessibility” approach • and trying to be strategic - enriching most popular/quality UGC

14. Accessibility 2.0 & UGC - creation • people with literacy difficulties… • they may want to contribute… but words are the problem • so they might not want to add to wikipedia, as they didn’t want to email into “have your say?” • Compare the task of “email friends”in Facebook (for example) to Outlook (for example) • but they might if your site’s text entry mechanism includes a spell-checker… • you can find AJAX ones on the web if you try • and they might win Upstaged if they upload their video contribution to it…

15. Accessibility 2.0 & UGC - creation • people who use BSL… • may be happy to use written English in a closed-forum with their peers, but may feel intimidated if mainstream users arrive too… • but they might put BSL video on YouTube… • they might even add subtitles or transcripts to make it accessible to non-BSL users…

16. Accessibility 2.0 & Multimedia • moving on to rich media/multimedia • the bulk of web content used to be text + graphics… • the content now incorporates • applications • audio (podcasting) • video • animation • games • how is this going to change things? • let’s look at that “accessibility evangelism” slide again...

17. Accessibility is a partnership to make a website accessible, all of the following need to work together: • Website creators • Assistive technology creators (e.g. Freedom Scientific, ReadPlease) • Operating system creators (e.g. Microsoft, Apple) • Disability assessment agencies (e.g. AbilityNet, RNIB) • Browser creators (e.g. Microsoft, Opera) • comms via W3C-WAI…

18. Accessibility 2.0 & Multimedia • Threats: • the accessibility chain doesn’t work any more... • find me the assistive technology that can: • make video accessible to blind people… • or podcasts accessible to deaf people… • or MMOGs fully accessible to either? • the problem is that current ATs aren’t able to “crack” the content • it’s about the content… not just the controls • “accessible multi-media browsers” are useful, but how do you do ‘alt-text’ for a video? • this is why new techniques are necessary (cf. WCAG 2) • the web’s less and less about things which ATs which handle (esp. screenreaders) • so it’s up to the content creators - we need to bring in other accessibility professionals

19. Accessibility 2.0 and Multimedia • Opportunities: • these are huge, for many disabled people who sometimes get forgotten • WCAG doesn’t say much about learning difficulties, autism, Deaf… • but video, for many, is more accessible than text • why have “Plain English” when you can have TV? • e.g. rich-media can give us great opportunities to help Deaf people (BBC R&D) • get rid of the phrase “it is/isn’t accessible…” • replace it with “it is/isn’t accessible to people with this disability”? • understand that sometimes you can’t please all of the people with the same product…

20. Personalisation of Multimedia • accessibility isn’t just for blind people • get rid of the phrase “it is/isn’t accessible…” • replace it with “it is/isn’t usable by people with this disability”? • understanding that sometimes you can’t please all of the people with the same product… • hence personalisation… • e.g. access services for TV • subtitling • audio description • signing • or games • take all of the above • and add in 3D immersive environments • who you gonna call…? • and if this is UGC… back to that slide again…

21. Accessibility 2.0 & UGC - responsibility • responsibility of site/content creators – adding accessibility support to content (moderation) • will the site owner let the users know accessibility support is important? • will they monitor if users are enriching their content with accessibility support? • and if those users aren’t doing this… • will the site owners do that enrichment themselves, through moderation? • it can be costly, and it’s very difficult to automate • should there be a difference in responsibility between social networking (e.g. Facebook, YouTube) and more general site creation tools (e.g. blogger, google page creator)? • the DDA isn’t clear here (cf. responsibility of ISPs, Napster etc. for content on them) • the BBC are looking at how we can do this… • we’re using the “moderator adds the accessibility” approach • and trying to be strategic - enriching most popular/quality UGC • if alt-text is costly, that goes double for: • Subtitles, Audio-description, Signing • ways of doing this… • the BBC are looking at the “moderator adds the accessibility” approach • and trying to be strategic - enriching most popular/quality UGC • ask other motivated users to add the accessibility (very web 2.0) • e.g. Porn for the Blind’s audio description

22. Beyond Inclusion – visions of the future… • sometimes even personalisation isn’t enough… • when a particular audience needs something specific to their needs, where those needs differ from the “mainstream” • doing something specifically for a particular audience can reap benefits… • and suggest new technologies and techniques which can suggest: • new ATs (assistive technologies) and • new AIs (alternative interfaces)… • a couple of R&D examples from the BBC: • a ‘create’ for children who are deaf • a pointer for Deaf-hearing social networking • a way of making 3D soundscapes accessible to blind children • through 2D and 3D audiogames

23. Any questions… • ? • Contact: jonathan.hassell@bbc.co.uk