Press Release
NCAM Awarded Grant to Develop Access Solutions for Multimedia in E-Books
October 10, 2003
Comparison chart of e-book and digital talking book (DTB) hardware and software is now online, as is the project's first prototype e-book with captioned multimedia.
Boston, MA. The National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) at Bostonpublic broadcaster WGBH has been awarded a three-year grant from the U.S.Department of Education to study ways to make multimedia (images, audio andvideo) used in electronic book formats (e-books) accessible to people whoare deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired.
E-books offer online and portable access to traditional print media – fiction, nonfiction, textbooks, professional journals and other content- viapersonal computer, laptop, library systems or personal digital assistants(PDAs). The use of e-books is steadily increasing, as is the amount ofcontent publishers are making available in this format. Many e-bookformats contain features such as audio and video playback, built-in dictionaries, easy-to-read type, highlighting, note-taking, bookmarking,text searches and direct Internet connections. All these features offerconsiderable learning resources for users, sophisticated tools for educatorsand an entirely new development and distribution model for publishers, particularly in the educational market.
These features could also enhance and improve access to information for users with disabilities. Accessible e-books promise learners who are blind or deaf equal access to trade, text or scholarly books, a major leap forward in leveling the playing field for people with disabilities at home, at work and at school.
The goal of the project, called "Beyond the Text," is 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. Staff are currently evaluating e-book software and hardware for multimedia capability as well as for general accessibility tousers with hearing or vision loss. Project activities will yield accessible prototypes and a set of recommended practices for those interested increating multimedia that is usable regardless of hearing or visual acuity.
A comparison chart of e-book and digital talking book (DTB) hardware and software is now online, as is the project's first prototype e-book with captioned multimedia. These and other resources, which will be updated throughout the project, can be found at http://ncam.wgbh.org/ebooks.
Beyond the Text builds on existing NCAM research initiatives such as the Access to Rich Media Project and Specifications for Accessible LearningTechnologies/SALT, as well as the work now underwayin publishing and educational consortiums and standards organizations such asthe DAISY Consortium (http://www.daisy.org), the Open eBook Forum, the World Wide Web Consortium and the American Foundation for the Blind Textbooks and Instructional Materials Solutions Forum.
The project grows out of WGBH's three decades of experience pioneering and furthering access solutions to mass media for people with sensory disabilities. WGBH developed captioning for television in the early '70s, brought video description (which describes on-screen action, settings, costumes and character expressions during pauses in dialogue) to television and videos in the late '80s. Throughout the '90s, these services were applied and integrated into other forms of mass media, including movie theaters (via WGBH's "MoPix" technology and service), Web sites (via WGBH's MAGpie, a free software tool that enables do-it-yourself captioning and description for digitized media) and classrooms (through projects which utilize captioning and description to increase literacy levels and foster inclusiveness for all students). Today, all of WGBH's access initiatives are gathered in one division, the Media Access Group at WGBH.
About the Media Access Group
The Media Access Group at WGBH is a non-profit organization with offices in Boston, New York and Los Angeles. The service group includes DVS, which has made television, film and video more enjoyable to viewers who are blind or visually impaired since 1990, and The Caption Center — the world's first captioning agency — founded in 1972. The third branch of the Media Access Group, the CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media, is a research, development and advocacy entity that works to make existing and emerging technologies accessible to all audiences. Members of the Group's collective staff represent the leading resources and experts in their fields. For more information about access services, visit the Media Access Group's Web site http://access.wgbh.org or call 617-300-3600.
About WGBH
WGBH Boston is America's preeminent public broadcasting producer. More than one-third of PBS's prime-time lineup and companion Web content as well as many public radio favorites are produced by WGBH. Its best-known productions include NOVA, Frontline, American Experience, Antiques Roadshow, ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre, This Old House, Arthur, and Zoom on PBS and The World and Sound & Spirit on public radio. WGBH also is a pioneer in educational multimedia and in technologies and services that make media accessible to people with disabilities. Since its establishment in 1951, WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors, including Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards-- even two Oscars. For more information visit http://www.wgbh.org.
Contact
Mary Watkins, Media Access Group at WGBH
mary_watkins@wgbh.org
617.300.3700 voice/fax
617.300.2489 TTY
