Re: [Fwd: Re: workshop on Accessible Media]

Assuming travel funding, I'll be there indeed, so there will be MFWG
representation.

I think MFWG isn't listed because it's not about annotations for
videos - not about metadata such as captions, subtitles, not about
alternate a/v representations such as audio descriptions or sign
language video. Direct addressing is interesting and important to
video accessibility, but really only a side issue and already in good
hands. The workshop is really being called to address issues with
HTML5 and the lack of activity around audio/video accessibility
formats like the ones I mentioned above.

So, overall, I wouldn't be too worried about the lack of mention of MFWG.

Regards,
Silvia.

2009/9/18 Raphaël Troncy <Raphael.Troncy@cwi.nl>:
> Dear all,
>
> I'm forwarding this announcement that can now go in public. This might be
> one of the topic we want to discuss at the end of the meeting. There will be
> a workshop on accessible media organized on November 1st just before TPAC.
> Silvia should be able to make it and attend TPAC as well.
>
> We didn't plan to have MF gathering at TPAC, but I'm wondering who from the
> group will make it? Erik / Davy ?
>
> The MF WG is not listed in the potential interested groups for this workshop
> but I think it should. Perhaps we are not sufficiently in their radar. I
> would like the opinion from the group.
> Cheers.
>
>  Raphaël
>
> --
> Raphaël Troncy
> EURECOM, Multimedia Communications Department
> 2229, route des Crêtes, 06560 Sophia Antipolis, France.
> e-mail: raphael.troncy@eurecom.fr & raphael.troncy@gmail.com
> Tel: +33 (0)4 - 9300 8242
> Fax: +33 (0)4 - 9000 8200
> Web: http://www.cwi.nl/~troncy/
>
> Folks,
>
> we have a proposal to consider for the a workshop on accessible media.
> I'm forwarding the proposal from Dave Singer and John Foliot.
>
> **********************
>
> We plan to hold an informal workshop or two on the subject of
> Accessibility of Media Elements in HTML 5.  The media elements are audio
> and video, and their supporting elements such as source.
>
> This will be an informal workshop, as we wish to hold it before the
> November 2009 TPAC and there is not sufficient time to announce a formal
> workshop (six weeks' notice is required
> <http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/events.html#GAEvents>).
>
>
> The current specification of Timed Media elements HTML5 takes a fairly
> hard-nosed approach to what is presented as timed media:  it is inside the
> timed media files that are selected from the sources.
> There is currently no provision for linking or synchronizing other
> material, and there is no discussion of how to manage the media so it's
> accessible.  This needs addressing.
>
> We would like to understand the 'landscape' and put in place good
> architectural support in general, as well as making sure that specific
> solutions exist to the more pressing problems.  We anticipate working, in
> public, to develop proposals for any changes to specifications that might
> be suggested by the work, and also to develop a cohesive 'best practices'
> document that shows how those provisions can be used, by authors, by user
> agents (browsers), and users, to address the issues we identify.
>
> We are aware that good accessibility rests on four legs (at least):
>
>  1. Proper provision in the specifications and documentation of those
> provisions and how to use them;
>
>  2. Willingness and ability to use those provisions effectively on the
> part of authors;
>
>  3. Provision of the right preferences, tools, and user interfaces in
> user agents to enable access to the provisions, perhaps automatically; and
>
>  4. The ability of those who need the provisions to find, enable or
> access them, and understand what they get.
>
> It's easy to fail on one of these, and good accessibility is not then
> achieved.
>
> Accessibility provisions for Timed Media might themselves be timed (e.g.
> captions) or un-timed (e.g. a readable screen-play or transcript).  We
> wish to consider both categories.
>
>
> The questions we would like to address include, but are not limited to the
> following:
>
> # What accessibility issues, and what are the 'classic' provisions for
> them, in timed media?
>
> We are all aware of captioning for those who cannot hear the audio; less
> common is audio description of video, for those who cannot see.
> The BBC recently had some content that had optional sign-language
> overlays.  Issues can also arise with susceptibility (e.g. flashing videos
> and epilepsy, color vision issues, and so on).
>
>
> # What solution frameworks already exist that would be relevant?
>
> We are all aware of the existence, for example, of screen readers and
> perhaps even Braille output devices.  We've seen tags in other parts of
> HTML that are there to support accessibility, and frameworks such as ARIA.
> Are there existing good practices that naturally extend to Timed Media?
>
>
> # Are there solutions that will benefit, be tested and seen by, and more
> likely authored by, the wider community?
>
> There have been ongoing debates about whether 'unique' provision for
> accessibility (functions with no other purpose) are desirable.  We do not
> intend to have this philosophical debate, but it would be useful to hear
> of related problems and opportunities that help make the debate
> irrelevant.  For example, the provision of a transcript or separately
> accessible captions, in text form, makes indexing and searching content
> much easier.  Are there problems like this that we can address that will
> make it more likely that authors build accessible timed media?
>
>
> # What new problems and new opportunities arise when we use digital media
> embedded in the world-wide-web?
>
> Much of the work and research in this area has been done for isolated,
> analog, systems (classic television). Instead, we have a digital content
> presented in a rich context (web content).  What new opportunities and
> solutions are opened up by this?
>
>
> # What technologies and solutions exist that we should notice?
>
> The work of the W3C on a common Timed Text format, and the existence of
> general frameworks such as ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications),
> suggest that there are pieces of the solution space we should consider.
> What are they?
>
>
> # What can be done today, given the structures we have? What experiments
> and proof-of-concept work should we notice?
>
> We are aware that there are a number of pioneering organizations in this
> area.  The BBC's work with sign-language has already been noted; workflows
> for captioning content have been developed in a number of places.  There
> have been script-based experiments on captioning.
> What are some of these systems and experiments, and what can we learn from
> them?
>
>
> This informal workshop will last one day, and the first one will be held
> in the Bay Area on November 1st at Stanford University.  To attend the
> workshop, you must come prepared to present on one of the questions above,
> or a suitable other question, drawing from your experience or expertise to
> help inform the discussion and make progress on proposing solutions.
>
> We expect the workshop to spend perhaps two-thirds of the time on these
> presentations, with short Q&A for each.  Then we may have a panel session
> or two, or moderated discussion, to address focused questions.  As stated
> in the introduction, we are looking for a framework and solutions with
> good 'longevity', simplicity, and efficacy, that will be embraced by the
> standards community, content authors, user agent developers, and end
> users.  This is ambitious but achievable, we believe, and opportunities
> such as this to 'get it right from the start' come up all too rarely.
>
> We think that at least the following communities and groups might be
> affected:
>
> * HTML 5, the place where the Timed Media tags are specified, and the
> integration therefore must occur;
> * PFWG, where much thought has gone into this general problem space;
> * Media Annotations, who are concerned with metadata for Timed Media;
> * Timed Text, owners of DFXP, one of the likely text formats;
> * CSS, who define the styling of text, and also the nature of 'rendering
> surfaces' (and a presentation where a provision is needed, such as
> captions, might be seen as a rendering surface of a specific kind).
>
>
> If you feel prepared to attend, present, and work cooperatively on this
> problem, please contact the workshop organizers as soon as possible.
> --
> David Singer
> Multimedia Standards, Apple Inc.
> singer@apple.com
>
> John Foliot
> Stanford University Online Accessibility Program
> jfoliot@stanford.edu
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Received on Saturday, 19 September 2009 03:06:47 UTC