Accessibility
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The primary goal of Public Sector webcasting is to increase the "transparency" of public process. This means making information about what goes on in government more accessible. In a curious reversal compared with regular broadcasting, large audience groups are not as much of a concern as small ones.
A live audio or video feed, whether using webcasting or traditional radio or TV/cable adds significant accessibility compared with the traditional options of attending sessions in person, or finding out about them through news media.
On-demand availability of the same feeds makes them accessible to people who are not available to listen to or watch the events at the actual time they are occurring.
Further Factors that can be critical to Accessibility include:
- transcription and subtitles
- translation into multiple languages
- signing
- viewer bandwith and software
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Transcription and Subtitles
Subtitles can be a viable alternative to signing and is easier to achieve. While less expensive than adding signing to webcasts, transcribing and synchronising subtitles with video do require considerable resources.
Translation into Multiple Languages
Foreign Affairs Canada/Affaires trangres Canada, for example produced the "Expert Interviews on Security" webcasts in both English and French.
Signing
A New Zealand Webcasting Service Provider R2 created a webcast of the NZ Sign Language Bill 1st Reading in 2004.
In 2004, Groovy Gecko produced a live webcast with fully synchronised subtitles and British Sign Language for the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) findings of DRC investigation into website accessibility.
UK company EyeGaze provide a variety of technologies and services including a "video interpretation relay centre" that increase access for deaf people.
Webcast signing tips:
- make sure the accessbility project involves people from the group for whom you are trying to increase accessiblity
- Picture-in-Picture ("PIP") can be used for signing (as in this RealPlayer example rtsp://real.newcastle.gov.uk/adss/webcast5.rm?start=00:35:00) but a separate stream produces better results
- a successful webcast in sign language requires bradband as jerky picture quality can make signing very difficult to read
The Joe Clark Media Access Sign-language video page addresses a number of the issues associated with sign language video.
Further Resources
The eGovernment for Development Transparency Definitions Page details the purpose, players, and practitioners of transparency (openness of decisions and actions) in the public sector.
The Tactical Technology Collective promotes social technology movements and networks in developing and transition countries. Webcasting is not yet a big topic, but the organization develops and disseminates technology guides.
Alliance for Community Media (US) works with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Congress, state legislatures, state regulatory agencies, and coalition partners to ensure that all people regardless of race, age, gender, disability, religion or economic status have access to technology.
The Accessibility Wiki (UK) This is a Wiki for Computer Software related Accessibility Issues.