Beyond the Text
Detailed Overview

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The goal of the Beyond the Text project was to enable deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, visually impaired or deaf-blind users to easily locate, activate and utilize accessible multimedia content within various e-book formats and hardware devices. Activities in support of this goal included researching and producing demonstration models, developing recommended practices and contributing to specifications that support the creation of accessible images, audio and multimedia. The project also focused on the development and implementation of solutions within specially prepared digital talking books that are distributed to people who are blind, low vision or otherwise print disabled.

Building upon NCAM's ongoing research into Web-based multimedia accessibility, the Beyond the Text project identified the needs of deaf and blind users in the design of user interface, navigation systems, and the presentation of audio, video and illustrations. With the publication of "Accessible Digital Media: Design Guidelines for Electronic Publications, Multimedia and the Web," NCAM's research will hellp developers learn how to apply methods for improving e-book multimedia navigation, as well as how to create captions and video descriptions for the video and audio presentations.

Project activities included:

• analyzing barriers to identification, navigation, display and manipulation of captions and video descriptions within various e-book and DTB formats and hardware devices.
• identifying a wide range of caption and audio-description solutions for images, audio and video.
• researching and evaluating alternate solutions for access to multimedia.
• participating in DAISY and OeB/IDPF working groups, and working with DAISY and OEBF/IDPF to develop models of accessible e-book and DTB multimedia.
• participating in the National File Format, hosted by the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum (NCAC).
• writing recommended practices for authoring and delivering accessible e-book and DTB multimedia.

The recommended practices, "Accessible Digital Media: Design Guidelines for Electronic Publications, Multimedia and the Web," are now available.

For more information, contact:

Geoff Freed
Project Manager
CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media
WGBH Educational Foundation
125 Western Ave.
Boston, MA 02134
617 300-4223 voice and fax
geoff_freed@wgbh.org