Helping Visually Impaired People to watch TV
Added: (Thu Feb 02 2006)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
Helping Visually Impaired People to watch TV
Whilst people who are visually impaired do watch television, they have generally had to accept that it is mainly a medium of the visual world. The advent of digital television has brought wider choice and new facilities, but its complexity may sometimes make life even more difficult for blind and partially sighted users.
This situation has been resolved by the introduction of an innovative Digital Media Centre - the DMC - from Portset Systems of Southampton. The specially designed unit provides all the Freeview television and radio programs, whilst also being able to read out any of the on-screen text information, menus or instructions, in a clear, human-sounding voice.
Using a high-quality speech synthesiser, the DMC converts any written information that a sighted viewer sees on the TV screen into human sounding speech. The unit can thus speak out the channel name information, the Now and Next programme details including the synopsis, and even a complete seven-day Electronic Programme Guide. By providing speech feedback and information about the programmes to the user, the Portset Digital Media Centre offers a wide range of features which are not possible from conventional set-top boxes.
Programs broadcast with the Audio Description facility mix the descriptive narrative automatically into the TV audio, and the DMC allows the level of the audio descriptions to be adjusted to suit the listener and the type of TV programme.
The Portset Digital Media Centre is far more than a Freeview receiver, as it also incorporates a CD player which can play both audio CDs and the Daisy Talking Book discs, which provide audio readings of both books and newspapers for visually impaired people.
Since the DMC includes a CD/DVD Recorder and a hard disk, it will also be possible to record TV and radio programmes on to disc at the touch of a button.
The inclusion of a computer-type hard disk has given the DMC the ability to pause live broadcasts, so that users can respond to the door bell or take a telephone call and then resume their listening exactly where they left off - a tremendous convenience, especially for those who may find it difficult to quickly get to the door.
The first Portset Digital Media Centres were delivered at the end of last year to customers who had placed their orders several months earlier when the product was first demonstrated at the Sight Village 2005 exhibition and highlighted on BBC Radio 4s In Touch programme.
CEO of Portset Systems, Graham Thomas said.
Having heard of the governments plans to close down the analogue television service in the next few years, users of our of analogue television sound receivers and Talking Teletext have been asking for a digital replacement. Since the Freeview platform has become secure we decided to design an innovative solution which would provide a total digital experience for the blind and visually impaired.
It has been a significant challenge to produce a product which can extract the visual display information and provide it in a speech format.
We were able to demonstrate some of the accessibility problems we have had to resolve to a recent meeting with the DTV Group.
He added; Broadcasters use very visual design concepts of text based services of which there is no common standard applied. As each broadcaster applies different and changing methods it is difficult to provide an accessible teletext solution.
Notes to Editors:
1.
Information on Portset Systems:
Portset Systems Ltd a major UK designer, manufacturer and supplier of product for the visually impaired (VI) for 20 years. Operating from Bishops Waltham near Southampton it provides a range of equipment to provide independent living to VIs. Document reading and writing, Internet and email access solutions are offered in easy to use products which provides technology benefits without the need for the user to need technical knowledge. Portset pioneered the uses of human type reproduction of open Text to Speech for use by VI users who found computer speech unacceptable. Introduced the first low cost solution to convert printed text to speech. Created Talking Teletext a stand-alone unit which accesses all teletext pages providing speech output. Produced a unique Analog television receiver without screen providing broadcast program audio.
Portset were consortium members of the EU project, AUDETEL (1992-95), the first open broadcast solution to provide audio description in analog television by the BBC and ITV. Acting as partners and project managers of the DTI TCALL (1996-98), project to bring access of mobile phones for the hearing impaired.
2.
Portset Digital Media Centre product details: www.portset.co.uk/pdmc.htm
3.
Address: Portset Systems Ltd. Brook Street, Bishops Waltham. Southampton,
SO32 1AX Tel: 01489 893919 Email: admin@portset.co.uk