BBC approach to accessibility & how BS8878 enables others to do the same

The BBC‟s approach to accessibilityand how BS8878 enables otherorganisations to embed accessibilityProf Jonathan Hassell (@jonhassell)Director, Hassell Inclusion ltd.Chair, BSI IST/45World Usability Day, User Vision, Edinburgh10th November 2011 ©

1 Why accessibility isimportant – the business case ©

Who are your disabled audiences? 11 million adults (between 12-26% of UK population) “Anyone with a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities” Disability Discrimination Act / Equality Act 2010Sources: Experience and expectations of disabled people (ODI 2008), TGI,Disabled for Life (DWP 2002), BBC Talking Disability Phase 3 research ©

What are they like? • Older – 47% over 65 compared to 20% of general population • Less likely to be working – 43% of working age compared to 74% of general population • Heavy media consumers – Particularly TV and radio • Only half see themselves as „disabled‟ – This made little difference to attitudes to the mediaSources: Experience and expectations of disabled people (ODI 2008), TGI,Disabled for Life (DWP 2002), BBC Talking Disability Phase 3 research ©

Breakdown into groups… breaking stereotypes Learning difficulties Down’s Syndrome - 0.03m Mental health condition Progressive cyclical or fluctuating condition Visual impairment Registered Blind 0.18m Hearing impairment Use sign language – 0.05m Manual dexterity – 2.3m Physical impairment 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Population/millionsSources: ODI (2008), Base: 1,860, RNID, RNIB, DWP research report 173, Downs Syndrome Online.Specific impairment numbers are approximated ©

In the future “they” are “we” ©

And „their‟ numbers are growing rapidly ©

Meet your audiencewith thanks to BBC ©

Why they matter – the legal business case… • if an organisation‟s web product is not accessible to a disabled person, that person might have grounds for making a claim against the organisation under: • the Equality Act 2010 • the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) • yet there is currently very little case law…Equality Act: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2010/pdf/ukpga_20100015_en.pdfDDA: The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995. London: The Stationery Office. ©

The ethical business case… • Ensuring disabled people are not excluded from the benefits of modern digital technologies, see: • DCMS Digital Britain report, 2009 • DCMS eAccessibility Action Plan, 2010 • Also UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People • many international nations have signedDigital Britain report: http://interactive.bis.gov.uk/digitalbritain/final-report/eAccessibility Action Plan: http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/business-sectors/digital-content/e-accessibility-forumUN Convention: http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml ©

The commercial business case: minimisingcomplaints ©

The commercial business case: maximising reach 11m 12m 7m disabled older adults with low- people people literacy levels (of pension age) (<age 11)Source: DFEE ©

OXO Good Grips• Well-known pioneer of Inclusive Design in the USA• Sam Farber‟s wife, a keen cook, suffered from arthritis “Why do ordinary kitchen tools hurt your hands?”• First 15 products launched in 1990• Sales growth over 35% per year from 1991 to 2002• The line has now grown to over 500 products• Over 100 design awards received Centre for Business Innovation “Connected Communities, helping you Do more with Less” - 13 - Engineering Design Centre © 2011 Centre for Business Innovation Ltd

BBC view: what accessibility really should be…• all about disabled people• it‟s not about accessibility… or even usability… it‟s about a great user experience for disabled people• whether they can get the right value out of what we create• exactly like we aim for, for every other audience• so that includes enjoyment and fun BBC MMX

How we do accessibility at the BBC• researching the user needs of disabled and non-disabled people early…• working out how homogeneous they are and feed them into the production process…• using standards (like WCAG 2.0) to do accessible production…• user-testing evolving product iterations to see if they are meeting those needs• making this „the way we work‟ for all products BBC MMX

High level research example: Talking Disability 2008 • Objective: – „to gain a deep understanding of how audiences with disability are using different media, gauge their perceptions of the key media providers, and understand what role media plays in their everyday lives in 2008‟ – commissioned by BBC and Channel4 • Participants/methodology: – Desk research & analysis – Qualitative: • 74 participants • workshops on HI, VI, Mobility/Manual dexterity • in home depths on mental health, web 2.0 use – Quantitative: • 500 person random sample BBC MMX

Example finding:How‟s our current channel (broadcast) doing? BBC MMX

Blind people‟s current user journey on TV Find the programme you Enjoy theBuy the device Watch the want to watch programmeto watch TV on programme ✔ ✗ only a few, ✔ ✔ most digital it‟s TV, this just AD allows you expensive to enjoy without boxes include works digital boxes sight AD include TTS (but only on 12%-20% of progs are) EPGs BBC MMX

Could iPlayer be a gamechanger for thisaudience? BBC MMX

Blind people‟s user journey on iPlayer Find the programme you Watch theBuy the device Enjoy the want to watch programmeto watch TV on programme ✔ ✔most iPlayer ✔ had to work hard ✔most blind people AD allows you devices either but transport already own at to enjoy without include TTS or controls work just least one iPlayer can have it from keyboard sightcompatible device (but only on 12%-20% of installed for free, progs are) so EPG speaks BBC MMX

No simple, or inexpensive task… Tools to Accessible Reliable translate from media player workflows for broadcast to on all iPlayer translation online devices BBC MMX

Use of diary-study research to suggest answers to trickyquestions…• if you were designing a way of navigating through a 30min - 4hour programme, just using two buttons, how would you do it…?• is there a best (simplest and most efficient) way…?• is that the same for everyone…?• does it depend on the programmes the users would want to watch…? BBC MMX

The feedback is good… I have just watched all this weeks episodes with audio description and I am impressed… I find it very accessible and easy to work and I am very pleased with it. Only problem, it has made me start watching Eastenders again! BBC MMX

Resulting benefits• Reach: – enabled us to get more return on existing investment in broadcast audio description• Awards: – won the BIMA for Best Usability & Accessibility 2009 – and the Access-IT@Home award 2009 for „best ICT based project, product or service that advances independent living for people with disabilities or who are elderly in Europe‟• Reputation: – now other UK, EU, global broadcasters further developing their video-on-demand services, aiming for similar levels of accessibility BBC MMX

Strategic research example: Disability Panel 2009-10 • Objective: – „To discover how well we are catering for our disabled audiences across web, mobile, IPTV to inform strategy/prioritisation‟ – What are doing well? – What could we do more of? – What should we stop doing? • Participants: – 28 disabled people – 16 to 60yrs old; 13 male, 15 female – Mild to severe vision, hearing, motor & cognitive impairments • Methodology: – Diary study of media use & review of BBC sites – Focus group discussion of diaries BBC MMX

Example finding: the need for personalisation • findings from the panel & BBC iPlayer disability focus group (2009) • Vision impaired / dyslexic • “I like the black – it‟s cool” • “I hate it – I find it really tiring” • Low literacy • “can it just talk or something?” • Aging / learning difficulties • “it was just too overwhelming” • so different user groups can have conflicting needs • inclusive design doesn‟t handle diversity of needs well at the moment • hence the need for personalisation BBC MMX

Example finding: inclusive design also expects toomuch from many disabled people• the assumption that we can rely on disabled people always having the Assistive Technology they need to help them is often wrong• that expects web users to: a. be aware that an Assistive Technology exists for their need • (even with sites like BBC My Web My Way to point the way) most are not b. are able to afford that technology • most are C2DE so have difficulty affording expensive techs c. are able to work out how to install it • most are not technical d. are able to work out how to use it • most are unconfident e. are able to use it to access online content • thus… many never get this far, even if the site is WCAG AAA BBC MMX

Explains why use of Assistive Technologies is low… 6-8% Of web users use an Assistive Technology (screenreader, adapted mouse or similar) to access the Internet Source: EEDP (2008) BBC MMX

When the benefits should be useful to most users… 57% Of computer users (aged 18-64) are likely or very likely to benefit from the use of Assistive Technology Source: Microsoft/Forrester Research study 2003, USA BBC MMX

Provided the genesis for a new product – MyDisplay • a website tool… • which enables users to get BBC desktop and mobile sites the way they want… • whatever device they want it on… BBC MMX

Three clicks… and the rest of BBC Online & BBC Mobileuses their preferences… BBC MMX

MyDisplay iterative production process: Do initial audience research Research and testing partner: If more Develop improvement minimal, justified, flexible cycle… next version User test to get better audience research BBC MMX

How does BS8878 help?– presents the business-case for accessibility and digital inclusion– gives advice for how to embed accessibility strategically within an organisation– shows a process which identifies the key decisions which are taken in a web product‟s lifecycle which impact accessibility– recommends an informed way of making these decisions…– and a way of documenting all of this to ensure best practice Organizational Web Web Web Product Product Accessibility Accessibility Accessibility Policy Policy Statement ©

The accessibility of your web productsis in all these people‟s hands… Snr Mgrs Finance Legal Marketing Strategy Project Mgrs Product Mgrs Developers Designers Writers Research & Testers ©

Embedding motivation• Need to motivate each group…• Or just use a business Snr Mgrs case for the top level and set policy top to bottom… – check out OneVoice business cases… Finance Legal Marketing Strategy Project Mgrs Product Mgrs Developers Designers Writers Research & Testers ©

Embedding responsibility• Work out whose responsibility accessibility should ultimately be… Snr Mgrs• Make sure they delegate (and monitor results) well• Make sure those delegated to are trained in their Finance Legal Marketing Strategy responsibilities Project Mgrs Product Mgrs Developers Designers Writers Research & Testers ©

Embedding through strategic policies Snr Mgrs Finance Legal Marketing Strategy• create an Organizational Web Accessibility Policy to strategically embed accessibility into the organization‟s business as usual• include where accessibility is embedded in: Project Mgrs Product Mgrs • web procurement policy • web technology policy • marketing guidelines • web production standards Developers Designers (e.g. compliance with WCAG, browser support, AT support) Writers Testers ©

Harmonising accessibilitywith user-centred/inclusive design processes• relating web accessibility to wider human- • and bringing in concepts of centred and inclusive design practices user-personalised approaches… From: ISO/FDIS 9241-210 Human-centred design for interactive systems ©

An informed way of making good decisions • every decision taken could affect whether the product will include or exclude disabled and elderly people • so every decision should be: – recognised as a decision – have all options and implications considered – made based on justifiable reasoning – noted in the Web Product’s Accessibility Policy for transparency • at every step of the process ©

1st stage: 1. Purpose The right 2. Target audiences research & thought 3. Audience needs before you 4. Preferences & restrictions start 5. Relationship 6. User goalsBS8878 Product process- 1st stage: doing the right research & thought before youstart… ©

2nd stage: 7. Degree of UX Making 8. Inclusive cf. personalised strategic choices 9. Delivery platforms based on 10. Target browsers, OSes, ATs that research 11. Create/procure, in-house/contract 12. Web technologiesBS8878 Product process- 2nd stage: making strategic choices based on thatresearch ©

3rd stage: 13. Web guidelines Production, 14. Assuring accessibility launch, update 15. Launch information cycle 16. Post-launch plansBS8878 Product process- 3rd stage: production, launch and maintenance(lifecycle) ©

Summary: in a team/organisation that follows BS8878• you‟ll be expected to take accessibility seriously & strategically• you‟ll have teams where each member knows what accessibility expects from them• you‟ll follow a user-centred design process• you‟ll use real-world user-research to help good decision making• you‟ll be empowered to make decisions re accessibility, as long as you can justify them, and write them down• you‟ll have the freedom to create product variations where users‟ needs diverge• you‟ll have a place to find best practice for accessible web production incl. mobile & IPTV• you‟ll test products for accessibility, alongside usability, to the level the budget will allow (and you‟ll be aware of the limited benefits of cheaper options)• you‟ll be freed from the impossibility of doing everything you could possibly do for v1.0, as long as you tell your audience why and when they‟ll get what they need ©

Get latest news, tools, blogs, training: www.hassellinclusion.com/bs8878/Join the community:www.meetup.com/bs8878-web-accessibility/ ©

You‟ll be in good company…Created by accessibility experts Reviewed publicly worldwide by: Training already delivered to:from: • 328 accessibility experts worldwide • incl: experts in personalisation, aging, mobile accessibility, IPTV, inclusive design, usability, user- research and testing, disability evangelism ©

Standards for the next generation ofaccessibility - BS8878Jonathan HassellChair, BSI IST/45 e: jonathan@hassellinclusion.comHead of Usability & Accessibility, BBC Future MediaBTAT Technical Swapshop t: @jonhassell11th February 2011 w: www.hassellinclusion.com ©

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BBC approach to accessibility & how BS8878 enables others to do the same

by Jonathan Hassell on Dec 08, 2011

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BBC approach to accessibility & how BS8878 enables others to do the same Presentation Transcript