Making In-Flight Communications and Entertainment Accessible
Detailed Overview

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Airlines are increasingly offering passengers Internet connectivity, access to satellite TV and/or video on demand. Fully featured handheld or embedded media and communication systems will soon be commonplace services offered to travelers through next-generation in-flight entertainment systems (IFE). These systems will also allow passengers to independently access up-to-date flight information such as arrival times, information about connecting flights and gate changes.

A significant milestone that will accelerate these services occurred in December, 2005, when a unanimous FCC ruling enabled wireless Internet access on commercial jetliners. Whether these services are freely available or offered for a nominal charge, they represent yet another area where the pervasiveness of media technologies in every aspect of our lives is needlessly placing people with disabilities at a disadvantage. Given the role that communication technologies and news media play during emergencies, the need for equal access to information via in-flight entertainment and news systems is critical to the safety of people with disabilities.

NCAM proposes to develop solutions that can make in-flight communication and entertainment systems accessible to people with sensory disabilities. Project activities include:

• research technical solutions, procedures and practices required to infuse access considerations into in-flight hardware, digital content management systems, interactive and display systems, connectivity and content.
• develop a demonstration model using a state-of-the-art IFE system that prototypes in-flight system support of user-selectable captions, audio description and talking menus.
• participate in World Airline Entertainment Association technical committees and working groups and promote the adoption/inclusion of standard accessibility metadata models into new and existing standards developed by those groups.
• publish a White Paper outlining the functional requirements of an accessible IFE system.
• promote review of demonstration model and proposed specifications through dissemination and high-profile demonstrations within industry, government and the disabilities communities.

For more information, contact:

Larry Goldberg
Project Director
Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media
WGBH Educational Foundation
125 Western Ave.
Boston, MA 02134
617 300-3722 voice and fax
larry_goldberg@wgbh.org