Accessibility Standardization

Masahito Kawamori

Project Professor
Graduate School of Media and Governance
Keio University

1. Introduction
It is finally less than two years until the Tokyo Olympics andParalympics begin in 2020. The Olympics and Paralympics also
bring increased attention on measures supporting persons withdisabilities (PwDs) and specific needs.
ITU-T works with external organizations such as the World
Health Organization (WHO) and the World Federation ofthe Deaf (WFD) to create ICT standards promoting healthand security in society. This article gives an overview ofstandardization toward creating a barrier-free society, for theOlympics and Paralympics and beyond, for example supporting
the daily activities of elderly and PwD as well as communication intimes of emergency.
Accessibility is a general term for technologies, policies andmeasures designed to make various information more accessible
to PwDs, elderly, or others who have specific needs. ITU-T SG16
deals with standardization of technologies that make multimedia
information, in particular, more accessible.
The increasing importance of accessibility is manifest in
the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons withDisabilities (UN-CRPD). This convention was adopted by theUN General Assembly on December 13, 2006, and it came into
effect in 2007. It imposes a duty on signatory countries to preserve
the right of persons with disabilities to be treated equally withpersons without disabilities. UN-CRPD was ratified by Japan inJanuary 2014 and has been in force since February that year. A
result has been the “Act for Eliminating Discrimination against
Persons with Disabilities”, which was enacted in April 2016.
Articles 3, 9, and 21 of UN-CRPD in particular are provisions
directly related to maintaining access to information. The gist ofthese articles is as follows:• Article 3: General Principle: Respect for inherent dignity,
individual autonomy including the freedom to make one’s
own choices, and independence of persons ”• Article 9: “Abilit y to use facilities and ser vices(Accessibility)”: to ensure to persons with disabilities accessto information and communications, including informationand communications technologies and systems• Article 21: “Freedom of expression and opinion, and accessto information”
Article 9 in particular states: “States Parties shall also
take appropriate measures to promote access for persons withdisabilities to new information and communications technologies
and systems, including the Internet,” stipulating that the UN
and each country must endeavor to promote participation in theinformation society by PwDs.
These developments show that accessibility has become an
important issue, especially at the ITU, which is the organization
governing information and communications at the UN, andparticularly the ITU-T, which recommends and promotes
standardization of accessibility.
This standardization work is done mainly in ITU-T Q26/16.
Below is a summary of the work items discussed in Q26/16.

2. H.702 “Accessibility profiles for IPTVsystems” and related documents
This Recommendation was officially adopted on November
28, 2015, and it defines the basic accessibility functions for IPTV.
Since then, further revisions have been made.
H.702 describes profiles of requirements on terminal devices
for closed captioning, audio description (or descriptive audio), anddisplay of sign language interpretation. It defines Basic Profile,
Enhanced Profile, and Main Profile. It is hoped that ultimately,
all televisions will implement Main Profile.
The Recommendation is the first ever international technicalstandard on IPTV accessibility and was initiated with a liaison
statement from the Japan Federation of the Deaf and the All
Japan Association of Hard of Hearing and Late-Deafened People(Zennancho), requesting ITU-T to standardize such profiles
to meet their immediate needs. Contributions were created andproposed through industry-academic cooperation involving
Waseda University, Keio University, Oki Electric Co. Ltd.,ASTEM, and others.
Implementation according to this Recommendation
has already been done in Japan, already recognized by thegovernment as well as among PwDs both in Japan and overseas,and wider deployment is anticipated. Currently, work has also
begun to adopt it for cable TV and regular broadcasts throughorganizations such as the European Broadcasting Union. InJapan, the Telecommunication Technology Committee (TTC)
took global leadership in issuing the TTC standard JT.H702,“Accessibility Profiles for IPTV Systems” in 2016, making it aJapanese standard.
Accompanying H.702, Technical Paper HSTP.CONF-H702“Conformance testing specification for ITU-T H.702” hasalso been approved, describing tests for conformance to therequirements of H.702. Conformance testing for H.702 has also
been done according to this document, and the Eye-dragon 4,
an IPTV set-top-box from ASTEM Co. Ltd., has passed thisconformance testing.

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■ Figure 1: Outline of the experiment of guaranteeing information accessibility for the disabled indigital terrestrial broadcasts using H.702

The technical paper, HSTP.ACC-UC “Use cases for inclusive
media access services”, is also currently being drafted, describing
use-cases of H.702 implementations. This document describes
examples of how systems implementing H.702 will be used,and how they provide accessibility, making it a reference forimplementations. It describes the results of a joint experimentcurrently done with television broadcasters in Japan that provides
information accessibility (specifically, signing video and closedcaptions) by using IPTV to complement digital terrestrial
broadcasts (see Figure 1).
H.702 has become widely known among PwDs as an ITU
international standard. As a result, it has also been adopted asa national standard by governments in several countries due todemand from PwDs. Besides Japan, Mongolia is planning toadopt H.702, and translation of the documents to Mongolian iscurrently in progress. Adoption in the legal system is expected
within FY2018.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) isconducting the “Project for Promoting Social Participation ofPersons with Disabilities in Ulaanbaatar City,” in Ulaanbaatar,
the capital of Mongolia, and H.702 is expected to be a powerfultool for the project. A group of PwDs in Mongolia have obtained abroadcasting license, are preparing a broadcasting service, and areexpecting to start a local pilot service using H.702 during 2018.
Interest in H.702 is also increasing in the United Nations.
December 3 has been designated International Day of Persons
with Disabilities (IDPD) by the UN to commemorate adoption

14New Breeze Spring 2018of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons
on December 3, 1982, with various events held around the world
each year. In 2017, the United Nations Headquarters held an
IDPD event on December 1, where a panel was held to discussand promote the importance of the H.702 standard for access to
information for PwDs, accompanied by an H.702 demo session.
Events to promote H.702 are also planned at general meetingsof other organizations including the UN, the World Federation ofthe Deaf, the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People,
and the European Federation of Hard of Hearing People.
■ Figure 2: A TV screen in Mongolia implementing H.702

3. ITU-T Rec. F.921 “Audio-based network
navigation system for persons with visionimpairment”
This Recommendation was approved in May 2017. This work
item was based on a proposal from the WayFindr organizationin the UK. It specifies a framework for providing audio-basednavigation directions for persons with visual impairments.
The Recommendation is intended for use, not outdoors, but inspaces like large buildings and underground train stations, whereGPS signals do not reach. It describes requirements for methods
such as installing beacons and other devices that are able to give
appropriate audible guidance to persons with visual disabilities.
■ Figure 3: A video of the experiment taken place inLondon

F.921 is a Recommendation regarding a framework and describes
requirements. Detailed descriptions and compliance are describedin “Compliance Protocol and Indicators for Audio-Based Network
Navigation System for Persons with Vision Impairment” (FSTP.
ANS-Checklist). F.921 and the WayFindr framework on which it
is based are already being used in the London Underground, anddemonstrations are about to begin in areas including Los Angelesand Sydney.
Demonstrations are also planned in Asia, including Japan,
the Philippines, and Mongolia. It is anticipated that further
technical Recommendations and conformance test documents willbe created in the future, mainly by WayFindr, and will become
international standards for audio guidance. An accessibility
advisor to the President of the US has also shown interest in
adopting it as a standard in the USA, as it is attracting attention
from many governments as a global standard. Also related tothis, the Zero Project decided to recognize F.921 as an excellent
technology policy providing audio guidance to persons with visualdisabilities at the 2018 Zero Project Conference. The Zero Projectis an effort, headquartered in Vienna, to find and introduce
the most advanced initiatives, from around the world that will
improve the lives of PwDs, through collaboration with over 3,000
experts on issues of PwDs from around the world.
In Japan, the TTC plans to begin efforts toward localizing thestandard quickly.
This Recommendation is very significant for ensuring safe
freedom-of-mobility for persons with visual impairment, andthe Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, in particular, is a good
opportunity for it to be deployed widely.

■ Figure 4: Mechanism of telephone relay services

Sign language
communication

Persons withhearing impairment

Voice language
communication

Telephone relay
service provider

Listener

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4. F.Relay Telecommunication Relay Services
Telephone relay services are a mechanism for Deaf and hardof-hearing people to use the telephone. They provide support
for real-time two-way communication between hearing andnon-hearing persons by having a Communication Assistant (CA)mediating between spoken voice language and sign language ortext.
Deaf and hard-of-hearing people cannot make use of audioonly telephone services. This presents various obstacles that limit
freedom in daily life for Deaf and hard-of-hearing people. One
particular issue is the inability to make emergency calls (like 911
in the USA) in the event of disasters or crime.
During the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, Japan expectsto receive many PwDs from foreign countries, and the questionof how to provide emergency services to these guests will be an
extremely important one.
Telephone relay services can support such circumstancesby enabling telephone conversation between persons with andwithout hearing disabilities.
In a telephone relay service, the service provider puts a person
as a Communication Assistant between the callers, as shown inFigure 4. The Communication Assistant converts spoken words tosign language or text, and sign language or text to spoken words sothe two parties can understand each other.
Telephone relay services have already been in operation in
many countries. However, since there has been no standard,
policies and technologies in each country are different and theresulting lack of interoperability has posed a great inconvenience
for users, particularly with current advances in globalization.
This applies especially during international events such as theOlympics.
This draft Recommendation is expected to change thesituation by specifying a framework for such telephone relay
services. It has been progressing based on proposals from
Gallaudet University in the USA, which is well known foreducation for the Deaf and hard of hearing, and companies likeSprint, who are actually offering telephone relay services.
For these and other reasons, this draft Recommendation ismuch anticipated by Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities,
receiving active contribution from them.
The draft Recommendation is expected to be completedand to enter the approval process during 2018. A telephone relay

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New Breeze Spring 2018service utilizing IPTV is also described in an appendix.
In parallel with F.Relay, a service similar to, but different
from, telephone relay services are dealt with in the draft
Recommendation in the next section, regarding accessibility topublic services.

5. F.ACC-TCPS: Total Conversation System for
Public Services
Recently, more and more companies are providing customer
service to PwDs using telephone relay services or remote video
sign-language interpretation (VRI). For example, Barclays
Bank in the UK are providing reception services in British Sign
Language (BSL) to BarclayCard customers.
Reception services like this, using remote video, are technicallyquite similar to video telephone relay services (VRS), but differ
in that they do not connect the person with hearing disability to
any customer, but only to the reception of the party providing theservice. These services are currently provided according to theneeds of each enterprise.
However, unlike services by private enterprises, services by the
public sector, such as fire brigade and policing, should be madeavailable equally to all citizens, so the public sector has a duty tomake their services accessible to all, including PwDs.
In light of this, F.ACC-TCPS describes technical backgroundand requirements for public service reception guidance.
At international events like the Tokyo Olympics andParalympics, where many PwDs are expected to attend, handlingof emergency information is extremely important, so it is desirable
that this draft Recommendation be approved and disseminatedquickly.

6. H.ACC-MMSIGN: “Abstract language formultimedia signing”
This draft Recommendation was originally a work item
arising from a proposal by Tunisia University in 2014, but there
were no contributions after that. The work has now been restarted,because topics related to sign language have begun to be treated aspart of natural language translation.
In the past, there have been many proposals for languages
that describe sign language to be used for computer graphics(CG), but none of them were really able to describe it adequately.
A language for describing sign language is needed not just forgenerating sign language using CG and animation; use with
captured video as well as for machine learning databases for
sign-language recognition is also important. As such, a standard
language for encoding sign language is needed.
This draft Recommendation uses the term “MultimediaSign”. While it does not provide a clear definition for this term,
simply put, it refers broadly to “sign language expressed using
multimedia,” which includes sign language using a CG avatar, butalso captured video.
There are many conf licting opinions on whether realcommunication is possible using sign language generated withCG avatars, but since Deaf people that have real experience withCG in particular have expressed strong concerns and opposition,
this draft Recommendation avoids any mention of CG as much as
possible.

7. F.WAAD: “Safety requirements for wearable
audio augmenting devices”
Recently, devices generally referred to as Personal Sound
Amplifier Products (PSAPs), which are different from hearing
aids used for medical purposes, are becoming widely available on
the market. Prices are not high, in the range from 10 to 1,000 US
dollars, and they can be purchased on Amazon and other Web
sites, so they are rather easy to use.
PSAPs are intended to be used to help people with healthy
hearing hear better, but it has recently been found that theseproducts are actually often promoted and purchased as aninexpensive alternative to hearing aids (See Figure 5). Theproblem with this situation is that since these products are notintended to be used as hearing aids, they do not provide functions
that hearing aids are required to have, such as mechanisms tosuppress feedback and limit volume. If they are used by people
with poor hearing, there is a danger that they could cause further■ Figure 5: Exampleof PSAP

hearing damage.
This draft Recommendation describes safety requirements for
PSAP devices based on proposals for the EU by members of theEuropean Association of Hearing Aid Professionals.

8. HSTP.AEHH: Audio enhancement for thehard-of-hearing
This Technical Paper describes various technologies forhelping people who are hard of hearing to hear better. It wascreated based on a proposal originally from Japan Broadcasting
Corporation (NHK). It describes technologies that make hearing
easier for those that are hard of hearing, using methods thataugment sound without increasing the volume, or change thespeed of sound playback.

9. FSTP-RCSO: Overview of remote captioning
services
Remote captioning services use a remote operator to provide
caption text for, for example, a meeting as it progresses. Thissort of services is extremely useful for Deaf and hard-of-hearing
persons and also for foreigners, and offering it remotely helps toimprove efficiency. This document gives a technical overview
and requirements for these sorts of remote captioning services.
This work is being done by the European Federation of theHard-of-Hearing People and includes quite practical content
such as educational methods and operations. It also refers to an
important type of captioning service, which uses automatic speech
recognition technology.
As captioning services are expected to be needed in many
situations at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, this document
should be a valuable reference providing guidance for services thatprovide captions remotely.

10. Conclusion
This article has described the standardization work on
accessibility at ITU-T Q26/16. This standardization ofaccessibility in cooperation with other UN related organizations is
becoming a mainstream activity around the world, and standards
that have been made into Recommendations are already being
adopted in many countries. We hope that they will also comeinto general use in Japan as the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics
approach.

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