D2.3 Interim Report on Pilot Services - the School of Engineering ...

4 What has been done to date4.1 Broadcasters and the mature access services evaluated4.1.1 DRAD evaluationThis is mentioned in section 3.1.1. A round of consultations was completed, leading tothe conclusion that there is interest in increasing the proportion of programming forwhich there are access services for the visually impaired, even if this means introducingaudio subtitles at the expense of AD, if this would lead to an increase in servicecoverage.Live-subtitlingWork until the end of March 2009 has concentrated on the following:1) Putting together the sample user group with the aid of a partner with thenecessary audiometric background data in order to assure that the sample isrepresentative of Danish users with hearing impairments2) Developing and validating a holistic tool to conduct user tests.3) Developing and validating the test procedures.4) Selecting personnel to carry out the audience research on live subtitles.5) Improving the statistics for access services in Europe6) Linking this work with dissemination activities to ensure a multiplier effectacross Europe.As of early April 2009, the following was completed:Re. (1) the framework for selecting the sample user group of 30 viewers was completedwith the aid of Oticon, a leading manufacturer of high-end hearing aids based inDenmark. The aim is to enlist their support to DR by asking a sub-set of their userpanel whose hearing impairments are known to take part in the DR study. By thedeadline, this commitment was still not in place.Re. (2) after consultations with the DTV4All Project Manager, it was agreed inFebruary to use some of DR’s resources to produce an open-source evaluation tool forthis and other access services. The tool was adapted from existing software for videoediting and the first version was complete during this period. What remains to be doneis to validate the tool and its reporting facilities.Re. (3) the proposed evaluation procedures have been submitted to the head of DRAudience Research Lars Thunøe and have been approved in general terms. The detailsof the procedures are being vetted by Sofie Scheutz, head of qualitative research at DRRe. (4) two graduate researchers with experience in usability testing (Anni Randers,Marguerite Johnsen) have been selected to deal with the implementation of the tests.Marguerite has the additional advantage in that she has a hearing impediment in bothears and is a regular user of audio link when watching television.Re. (5) and (6) a meeting was held with Frans de Jong and Edward Wilson of the EBUon 12 March 2009 to discuss DTV4All and links to ongoing standardisation anddissemination work in the field of access services. Detailed minutes of this meeting areavailable.Page 15