Towards inclusive digital television

Abstract

Over the last decade, the shift from analogue to digitaltechnology has brought about significant changes to thetelevision landscape. The subsequent emergence of mobile,IPTV and other carriers affords the opportunity to crea-tively reassess how people interact and engage within thisdiverging medium. Accessibility services to audio-visualcontent through sign language, subtitles and audiodescription have become vital forms of interaction for deafand hard of hearing, those with low literacy or learningdisabilities, and blind and partially sighted people.Improved accessibility affords both humane and economicbenefits to the wider society, as access to suitable inter-active media implies better quality of life, independenceand social inclusion. The payback for technology providersis also considerable, as greater inclusion implies broadermarket potential for commercial products. Digital televi-sion (DTV) potentially affords enhancements in commu-nication, quality of life, safety and support of independentliving. Related examples include community televisionapplications in the UK, where the medium has been used tosupport communication between older citizens in publichousing and local authority services [5], as well as socialtelevision solutions aimed at improving social connected-ness for older people living alone [11].Despite this, the dangers of a widening digital divideremain. Ease of use of DTV continues to be a formidableproblem—in the purchasing, self-installation of equipmentand access of content. Consequentially, there are still asignificant number of people who will struggle to adapt tousing this technology. Freeman and Lessiter [4] classifythese vulnerable groups as those on low incomes and/orwith a reduction in one or more ability. In particular, there isstrong evidence to suggest that reductions in cognition,sensory and manual dexterity can create significant barriersto the access of related interactive services. This includesthe poor design of remote controls, both in terms of theirdesign consistency, tactile feedback and appropriate label-ling of buttons. These issues can be further exacerbated byage-related changes to working memory, creating addi-tional ‘cognitive load’ in the mapping and switching ofattention between remote control and TV interfaces [2].Colour contrast, font type, screen size and distance to screencan all invariably affect text legibility; however, in manyinstances, DTV lacks support features to readily personalizegraphical content. As such, there is an increasing consensusthat the self-adaptation of the user interface will helpimprove interaction barriers for a wider spectrum of users.One notable example is the GUIDE project,