After its kick-off meeting last month, the European Commission co-funded HBB4All project has started work to improve the accessibility of multi-platform audiovisual content delivered using the HbbTV standard.
Four pilots
The project will include expert testing of new production workflows, benchmarking of the quality of access services from a user point of view and the delivery of content to PCs, tablets and smartphones. Four interlinked pilots are planned:
1. Multi-platform subtitle workflow chain;
2. Alternative audio production and distribution;
3. Automatic UI adaptation for accessible Smart TV applications;
4. Sign-language translation service.
EBU-TT-D
The HBB4All project will benefit from the EBU's subtitlng format work including the EBU-TT-D delivery specification ( EBU Tech 3380 ) which was published last month. The latter is set to be referenced in the upcoming HbbTV 2.0 and DVB-DASH standards.
The HBB4All project is co-funded by the European Commission under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP). It runs for 36 months and is led by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). EBU Members RBB, IRT, RTP and SRG (SwissTXT) participate in the project.