The following agenda was accepted:
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2. Consequences of the 3 expert group meetings and concluding Bratislava workshop of 2006 (Rodolfo Cattani’s final report is attached).
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4. Which areas of accessibility (see report of the expert group meeting in Vilnius) should receive particular attention in light of the above shift in emphasis ?
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5. Can our work tie into any EDF activities in this area of interest ?
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7. EBU questionnaire concerning potential EBU Accessibility activities.
1. introduction and approval of final agenda.
After welcoming the participants, the above agenda was approved.
2. Consequences of the 3 expert group meetings and concluding Bratislava
workshop of 2006.
It was noted that the reports of the 3 expert group meetings and the Bratislava workshop results had been acknowledged by the EBU board and were taken into consideration when drafting the action plan for the next working period. This is proof of the use and efficiency of small expert group meetings, their outcomes lead to initiatives of EBU and EDF. Some of the recommendations made and endorsed by EBU may eventually influence standard setting bodies in Europe.
3. The Progress program and its shift in emphasis from non-discrimination to
equal opportunities for all.
The Term “equal opportunities” is directed towards higher degrees of accessibility, with an emphasis on design for all. The dg in charge is employment and social affairs. This shift should result in stronger proactive approaches and positive action.
4. Which areas of accessibility (see report of the expert group meeting in
Vilnius) should receive particular attention in light of the above shift in
emphasis?
The development of high quality speech synthesis for all official European
Union languages was identified as a fundamental prerequisite underlying many
other issues such as access to education and employment. To facilitate the
use of such speech synthesis, a flexible, open source interface (similar to
sapi) is required. Based on these deliberations, the following areas of
immediate interest were identified: .gif){kind=small}
Shopping on the internet. A number of reasonably accessible shopping sites
have shown that the shopping experience can be made available to the blind
and visually impaired. So this area falls more into the political than into
the technical arena. Pdf access. Negotiations with Adobe and progress in screen reader
development have led to improved pdf access. But since pdf has evolved into
a standard for all kinds of publications on the internet, ease of access
must be insured. This is first and foremost a question of correctly using
the existing accessibility features in creating pdfs (i.e. producing
correctly tagged documents, abstaining from passworrd protection and
removing other blocks for access technology. Good computer training and provision of useful training materials.
Close observation of developments in web 2.0. New features in web 2.0 such
as dynamic pages, ajax increasing use of flash and similar animations could
noticeably reduce web access. Cooperation with screen reader manufacturers
and the Web accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium is
necessary. Access to digital television. The demand for accessible digital
television, the electronic program guides and increased programming with
audio description is not only a matter of information and entertainment,
with added value such as shopping and e-government accessible digital
television becomes a necessity for social participation. Accessible banking. With a growing number of bank branches moving to
self-service terminals or closing down altogether, full access to banking
services is of extreme importance to realize financial independence as well
as self determination. One of the most pressing subjects in this area is the
unrestricted use of grid cards. Alternatives to capcha. The use of graphical codes to identify a person as
a human being rather than a robot trying to use a number of internet based
services must be strongly accused of preventing blind and visually impaired
people to use such services. There are proven alternatives (see for example
the google petition early in 2007) to this method of verification. Orientation in the environment. Unimpeded mobility is an important
stepping stone for access to education, employment and many leisure time
activities. Developments in Radio frequency identification (rfid) technology
in conjunction with global positioning systems (gps) must therefore be
closely monitored to guarantee user input in this vital field of technology.
5. Can our work tie into any EDF activities in this area of interest?
Groups within EBU and the EBU itself can use EDF as a lobbying instrument. By preparing position papers to send to the universal access committee of edf, issues can be raised and brought before the EDF board. If accepted there, they serve as an official EDF position paper supporting a particular demand raised by EBU.
6. Reports on various planned or already existing EU projects concerning
accessibility issues.
The expert group received brief reports on the CORTIVIS+, EASYWAY, and DICOMP-S projects.
7. EBU questionnaire concerning potential EBU Accessibility activities.
The expert group analyzed the questionnaire. There were two areas of particular importance that need to be emphasized: access to electronic voting as well as access to e-government. In general there is not enough reference to accesibility measures to be taken. To acquire the lacking information results of a similar RNIB questionnaire could be taken into account. RNIB should be approached to utilize their findings.
8. Any other business.
All persons present agreed to the usefulness of such small expert group
meetings since they afford an atmosphere of very stimulating exchange of
ideas and observations which can lead to increased dissemination
opportunities.
Before closing the meeting, Peter Brass thanked the group for their
excellent participation and motivating contributions.
Berlin, 9th October 2007
Peter Brass