Smartphones and tablets are used by viewers to comment on social networks on content. But now they also become an accessibility tool for people with visual and hearing disabilities.
Luis Guillermo Torres*
Although many of us do not know the term "second screen", we are users of it. The second screen refers to the electronic device (tablet or smartphone) that a television user uses, in order to interact with the content they are consuming. It's the same thing we do with our smartphones or our tablets while watching TV.
The use of this second screen, until now, has occurred mainly with the interaction of viewers on social networks (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) and with the search for information related to the content that is being viewed, such as, for example, knowing more information about one of the actors or actresses of the program, or know statistics about the sporting event that is being watched.
Television channels are finding in this second screen a powerful ally to retain their viewers. On the other hand, marketing gurus are devising ways for the consumer who sees an ad on television to access, immediately from their mobile device, to buy those products or services online.
Sensory disability
Among the most common sensory disabilities are visual and auditory disabilities. People with disabilities are, like everyone else, people with rights and duties within society. We must strive for equal opportunities for all and for this it is necessary to stimulate and develop forms of inclusion for people with disabilities in all areas, both cultural, sports, education, work, entertainment, etc.
One of the ways to achieve that inclusion is access to the information and entertainment that television provides us. There are alternatives that allow access to audiovisual content for people with any of these disabilities. These services are mainly:
Subtitles or closed caption: With these technologies people can access the audio content of a program, reading the texts corresponding to the dialogues that take place in the program. When these subtitles are specifically made for these deaf or hard of hearing people, in addition to the dialogues, they contain information about sounds and sound effects important for the complete understanding of the program.
Sign or Sign Language: Sign Language (LS) is a language like any other, with its own vocabulary and syntactic, semantic and pragmatic forms. Like oral languages, there are different LS. To make audiovisual content accessible to deaf people using the LS, one or more interpreters translate or interpret the content from their original oral language to that of the LS. Usually this interpreter is included in a box inside the television screen.
Audio description: When a blind person wants to watch television, it requires that another person (usually a family member or friend) be next to them telling or describing the most important images of the program, for their proper understanding. This process has been called audio description and it is possible to include it as part of television programs so that blind people can understand them completely, independently, without requiring someone to be with them.
Difficulties in implementing these services
Subtitles or closed caption: the main difficulty of this service in Latin American countries is that a high percentage of the deaf population does not know Spanish or Portuguese, therefore, although this technology is sufficiently developed in the processes of transmission and reception of the television signal and in terms of the possibility that it is the end user who decides to access or not to access this service (when it has been implemented), does not represent a solution for a significant percentage of the deaf population. This is why it is important and necessary to resort to Sign Language.
Another of the current barriers is that the HDMI format, through which the set top boxes or decoder boxes of cable providers are interconnected with television sets to take advantage of the qualities of high definition, does not allow the passage of closed caption, so this service is lost. The possible solution is that the set top box is the one in charge of making the closed caption visible and from there the viewer activates the service, but not all decoder boxes have this function. This problem generates a great barrier, because the end user does not usually understand these technical details and cannot find the solution.
Sign language: The biggest barrier is in the rejection manifested by many of the television channels, because it is necessary to include a box with the intéprete within the image, and in the standards of television there is currently no way to make this service can be optional and that only those who wish it, activate it.
The channels protest because they say that it interferes with the original image of the program and that it violates the rights of users who do not require this service. Although there is more and more awareness on the part of the channels, everyone would like there to be a way for the end user to activate or deactivate this service (when it is available), as it happens with the closed caption.
Audio description: In analog television there is only one alternative to send the end user an alternative audio with the description of the programs. It is through the so-called SAP channel (Secondary audio program), but due to its low use in other applications, in many Latin American countries it was never implemented within television transmission systems.
In digital television, since there is the possibility of sending several audio channels for each program, it is easier to make this technology available to end users and that they are the ones who decide the audio they want to hear. However, there remains the difficulty for the blind person to know how to access another audio channel and to know which channel should be selected, in case this service is provided by the television channel.
A solution
Just as there are many companies, television channels and individuals developing applications that allow the use and exploitation of the second screen in a convenient way for all those involved in the world of television (producers, TV channels, cable companies, advertisers, viewers, etc.) you can develop applications that benefit people with disabilities and that allow them to access in a way independent of television content.
The idea of an application of this style is to provide the possibility to people with hearing or visual disabilities, who can download an application on their smart mobile devices that allows them to:
1. Choose the desired service, according to your disability and needs: Subtitles, Sign Language or Audio Description.
2. Access the services in a simple and standard way, from your device.
With a solution of this type you can achieve, additionally, the benefit for the channel or television producer, of not requiring to "reformat" the accessibility services according to the means by which you are going to deliver it to your viewers. The same application and platform could be used to make the content accessible to people with hearing or visual disabilities, no matter if the content is delivered by television, internet, PPV, VoD or by other means such as DVD, Blurays, etc.
Some will say that it is not practical or feasible to see subtitles or Sign Language on a second screen because of having to alternate the gaze between the TV and the second screen. However, there are several alternatives, which, although simple, can be functional:
1. Place the tablet next to the TV in such a way that the viewer does not have to be alternating the gaze between the TV and the second screen.
2. Design a translucent device, which allows to see the image of the television, but reflect on it the subtitles or the interpreter with the Sign Language.
3. Download and use the application on glasses such as those of Google or other manufacturers, which will allow you to see the image of the TV and overlay, with the help of these glasses, the image of the subtitles or sign language-
The good news is that these technologies are not a thing of the future, but that some of these already exist in the market. The most important and necessary thing is, as always, the willingness of the different actors (TV channels, governments, advertisers, viewers, etc.) to find the most appropriate and fastest way to implement them and to permanently finance the production of good quality accessibility services.
By making the contents accessible to people with disabilities, they become consumers with the same purchasing potential as other viewers and, therefore, the costs of producing these services that will go from being perceived as an expense to become an investment, because the target audience and their family environments will increase the much-sought ratings of the channels.
* Luis Guillermo Torres is an Electronic Engineer from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; specialist in technology management at EAN University; founder and president of AT Medios, a Colombian company specialized in audiovisual accessibility. If you would like to contact the author or learn more about this topic, please write to [email protected]
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