Universal Access to Multimodal ITV Content: Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

Research in the area of universal access has gained a wide interest in the past 7 years [1]. This is attributed to the versatility of the subject and its prospect in a wide range of applications for pervasives computing technology. This paper considers the prospects and challenges of providing universal access to a multimodal interactive television (ITV) content. First, the paper overviews the evolution of the ITV technology: the market, the distinctive features, and the developmental needs and requirements. Second, the paper discusses the relevance of the concept of universal access and its portability to an ITV platform. Third, the paper considers the ITV presentation of financial news and tickers by a virtual human avatar as a case study of an innovative prototype for Business Television (BTV) that reveals the prospects and challenges of universal access to a domain specific ITV content. The case study proposes a new paradigm for authoring universally accessible multimodal ITV content and draws a future research agenda in this respect.