Accessible Telecollaboration and Web

Conferencing in the Workplace

Christian Vogler, Paula Tucker, Norman Williams, Judith Harkins

Technology Access Program

Gallaudet University

TDI 19th Biennial International ConferenceAustin, TX

June 3, 2011

OverviewWe present ongoing work by the Rehabilitation

Engineering Research Center on Telecommunications Access (RERC-TA):

1. Introduction: What and Why?

2.Gathering information on and solving accessibility problems1. Focus Groups2. Online accessibility forum3. R&D on prototype solutions

3.Summary

Introduction: What is telecollaboration?

Using telecommunication and Internet technologies To interact in real time with others who are not in

the same physical location, and working to produce or create something

together.

[show demo video]

Telecollaboration is not VRS

We don’t just have a chat together, like in a conference call.

Rather, we collaborate through multiple channels of information, such as: Video Text Presentations Movies Documents

However: Some systems allow calling into a phone number to talk to other participants via audio/video.

How widely used?$83.3 million industry in 2007

projected $3.2 billion industry by 2014

Where Used?Used in business for meetings, seminars,

trainingUsed in education for on-line courses, distance

learning, collaboration with colleaguesBecoming more popular as it becomes more

expensive and cumbersome to travel.

Telecollaboration Accessibility

As always with new communication technologies:There are new opportunities for people with

disabilities.And new barriers.

Accessibility cannot be an afterthought – telecollaboration systems need to be designed from the ground up with it in mind.

Gathering Information on Accessibility

First we have to know what the accessibility barriers are, before we can fix them.

Our research comprises three stages of gathering information and involving the community:1. Focus groups – tell us what kinds of things to pay

attention to

2. Web conferencing accessibility forum: Exchanges between consumers and industry online – lets us investigate issues in more depth, and work with industry on solutions

3. R&D and testing accessible technology prototypes – test what concrete solutions work, and make it easy for industry to adopt them

1. Focus Groups

What is a Focus Group?A focus group is:

an opportunity to gather and document the experiences and relevant issues of a small group of people with a common interest.

an opportunity to ask questions in an interactive setting where participants are encouraged to comment on what other participants have said.

A focus group is not:

a generalization of the experiences of everyone within a particular group.

Requirements for Participation

Participated in at least 2 teleconferences and/or webinars in the past year.

Age 18 or older.

Have access to a telephone line/videophone to call in to the focus group conference call.

Have a computer and broadband connection active during the call.

Be available for 2 hours of discussion.

Who Participated?Blind: Users who access their computers via

screen readers or Braille.

Low Vision: Users who access their computers via screen readers or magnified/enlarged text.

Deaf: Users who participate in teleconferences via ASL (using VRS or on-site interpreters)

Hard of hearing: Users who participate in teleconferences using speech and text (e.g., CART, CapTel, etc.)

Set-UpFor each focus group, participants were given

A toll-free call-in numberA link to access either WebEx or Accessible Event

to see focus group PowerPoint with questionsA link to see live captions

WebEx: Software that allows collaboration for online meetings, including sharing documents, PowerPoints, etc.

Accessible Event: Same idea as WebEx, but designed for blind and low vision users.

Preliminary Results: Benefits of Telecollaboration (a few)

Common to all: Comfort of participating from home or office with

no need to worry about difficulty or expense of travel.

Ability to review printed material using computer and software that you are comfortable using.

Blind/low visionLevels the playing field on an audio only call – they

can’t see participants’ body language and facial expressions, but neither can anyone else.

Common Barriers:Getting the Floor

Deaf and hard of hearing usersAlways slightly behind because of translation delay

and/or captioning delayBy the time they get the floor, topic may have

changed and don’t want to feel embarrassed by being off-topic

Blind and low vision usersMay not be able to access software tools like “hand

raising” so don’t know when to jump in

Barriers: Speaker Identification

Common problem for all groups as participants often fail to identify themselves before speaking, even when reminded.

Deaf and hard of hearing: Interpreter/captioner is unfamiliar with participants and can’t identify who is speaking.

Blind/low vision: In a video conference, they can’t see who is speaking. May become confused when a deaf person changes voice interpreters, especially when it is a new interpreter of a different gender!

Barriers: Not accommodating user needs

Deaf/hard of hearingUnwillingness of organizer to provide interpreters

and/or CART.

Blind/low visionNot providing printed materials in advanceChoosing color schemes that do not provide

enough contrastSelecting web conferencing software that can’t be

used with screen reader/magnification software.

Barriers: Technical Issues Common: Too many “bells and whistles” make system too

complex to use easily.

Deaf and hard of hearing Many software programs do not include captioning support. Video quality is fine for a talking head, but not good enough for

sign language.

Blind/low vision Software not compatible with user’s screen

reader/Braille/magnification software. Unable to read inaccessible PowerPoints, pdfs, diagrams, graphs,

etc. Unable to change features such as color contrast to meet their

individual needs. Impossible to use programs that require a mouse for

maneuvering through the program.

Barriers: Being misunderstood/misinterpretedDeaf/hard of hearing

Problems pop up when the interpreter is not familiar with the subject matter, especially if it is something technical.

When relying on VRS, a change of interpreters means a new interpreter jumping in mid-discussion and not knowing the topic, speakers, vocabulary that had been introduced already, etc.

Errors in captioning lead to inappropriate responses to questions

Result of barriers?All participants said they sometimes try to avoid

web conferences where the access issues are too difficult to overcome.

Some give up part-way through because they can’t follow what’s going on. They hope they’ll be able to review the materials later, and a colleague will catch them up.

Losing participants because of access issues means a loss to the group of their knowledge and their experience.

2. Webconferencing Accessibility Forum

What is this Forum?We are launching a new web site open to

anyone:

WebConfAccess is a place to find, review, and discuss web conferencing tools and accessibility issues for people with disabilities

https://webconfaccess.gallaudet.edu/

WebConfAccess GoalsRecall: Focus groups tell us what some of the issues

are, but we cannot generalize them to all people

The WebConfAccess forum lets us start with the focus group results as a basis, and solicit more input from a wider community

It provides a mechanism for community and industry to learn about accessibility issues, and to engage with each other

It also serves as a database for concrete information on accessibility features of specific products

Goals (continued)The overarching goal:

Get detailed information on specific barriers and guide R&D on what can be done to resolve them

WebConfAccess featuresContent is generated collaboratively by the

community

Submit experience reports by telecollaboration product, disability, feature, and role

Respond to and comment on other reports

Review and develop guidelines and best practices

Search for specific features and products

[Show hands-on demo]

3. R&D and prototype accessibility solutions

Development of prototypes

Some prototypes will arise out of the results of the focus groups and the online forum.

Others are being developed and tested concurrently, such as the following examples.

R&D – CaptioningDeaf/hard of hearing

CART integrated into conferencing system

Ability to control position of captions

Ability to change size and color of captions

Crowdsourced CART error correction

Ability of group participants to correct errors (technical terms, names, etc.) of CART text

Deaf group participants – didn’t like the idea. Thought participants should be involved in the conference, not busy correcting errors.

Hard of hearing participants – Thought it was an interesting idea, but didn’t see how it could really be implemented.

R&D – Automatic speaker identification

Everyone wanted this!

Deaf/hard of hearingHighlight speaker’s name on captionsColored or flashing box around video box of

speaker

Blind/low vision Announce name of person when selected by

moderator

R&D – Preference profileAbility to customize interface of the system

Deaf/hard of hearingAdd box for remote interpreterAbility to integrate captions

Blind/low visionAbility to change screen color/contrast/font type

and size

SummaryTelecollaboration is growing rapidly; e.g. many

workplaces and universities are implementing such systems; online webinars and conferences are widely offered

We need to identify accessibility problems and pursue solutions now, before it is too late; the work by RERC-TA focuses on this.

Summary: Wish ListInvolve users with access issues in software

development and design. Much harder to solve accessibility issues later.

TEST TEST TEST with users to identify problems and then fix them!

AcknowledgmentsThe contents of this presentation were

developed with funding from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education, grant number H133E090001 (RERC on Telecommunications Access). However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

Questions?Contact:

christian.vogler@gallaudet.edu(202) 250-2795http://tap.gallaudet.edu/

Web conferencing and telecollaboration accessibility site: http://webconfaccess.gallaudet.edu/