David Wood

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I am not alone. Internet media content for
people with disabilities
David Wood Deputy Director EBU Technical
European Broadcasting Union
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Access means....

1. People with disabilities being able to use the
   Internet - it being available and user-ready.
2. More than that. There is a stage two. The
   Internet is a fantastic tool and deserves to work
   for the greatest benefit to society. Society
   needs to make the best use of the Internet for
   people with disabilities. It needs to be (as
   economists say) a merit good.
3. Both the tools and the content are important.

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Why do we (all) watch/consume media?

• Its not the wires, buttons, or the boxes its
  the content
• Content is not just entertainment, education,
  and information. These are only the supply
  side.
• The demand side of content is the search for
  our identity as individuals. Who am I? Where
  do I belong? What should I be doing, thinking,
  feeling? What is my context?
• Where am I located in people space?
  It is finding out that I
  am not alone.
• People with disabilities have the same needs as
  everyone else. The media must help them too.
  (P.S They sometimes have less contact with the
  outside world, and so may even need more).

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Those with disabilities need..

1. To share in, and readily use, the everyday
   experience of the media along with everyone else.
2. Media content to locate themselves in people
   space.
3. Together, Internet media help lead them to the
   fullest lives.

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Quo Vadis Internet?
Multimedia - the web (mostly) today -
graphics/text/ hyperlinks/pictures/ video 1985
- ?
Internet
Video centric web services. - the growing part
of the web today. YouTube/Catch-upTV/, Web as
surrogate TV. 2003 -?
Hybrid Broadcast Broadband the combination of
web and TV. The future. 2010 -?
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Hybrid Broadcast Broadband
TVWidgets (Yahoo/Intel) Canvas (BBC) HbbTV
(ARD/ZDF/FT/Philips/Sony) MHP 1.0.3 (RAI) Viera
(Panasonic)
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(No Transcript)
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Making media more accessible....

• What kind of content?
• news
• documentary
• sports
• games
• drama
• all have a part to play
• how far do they take into account
  circumstances, needs, sensibilities?

• How to get it used?
• Content production needs professionalism
• no one wants to watch the neighbours holiday
  photos.

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Locating yourself in people space.
Who are the Heroes and Villains? What are the
common causes?

• Drama Stereotyping of the disabled
• cutesy
• superman

Drama helps us because we identify with the
people we see on the screen if I were him or
her , I would do....., He or she is like me ,
I belong to that team.
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What should we do?

1. Media providers, particularly those with a
   public service remit , should (be obliged to)
   take account of content for people with
   disabilities.
2. Professional media content producers should be
   asked to (obliged to) think before they write a
   script or plan media content. How people with
   disabilities are portrayed matters. They should
   be seen as real people and individuals.
3. People with disabilities who will make media
   content need to (must) become professional if
   they are not so already.
4. The area of content for those with disabilities
   needs more study. Scholarships? Workshops?
5. It is not just content for video centric
   Internet that needs attention, it is both
   content and usability for hybrid broadcast
   broadband. which may be the next wave in
   the evolution of the Internet.

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Thank you
Alone we can do so little, together we can do so
much Helen Keller.
wood_at_ebu.ch Skype davidinnov