Here is a report on some issues that we will ultimately have to deal with
in the U.S.
David Andrews
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 1997 21:54:06 +1000
From: Steve Pattison <pattist@JOLT.MPX.COM.AU>
To: Multiple recipients of list BLIND-L <BLIND-L@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU>
Subject: Digital Radio Broadcasting
The following article is taken from the March 1997 issue of NFBCA News.
This is the newsletter of the National Federation of Blind Citizens of
Australia. While the article is written from an Australian perspective I
think it has relevance in other countries as well.
Steve,
Internet: pattist@mpx.com.au
DIGITAL RADIO: UNIVERSAL ACCESS OR INFORMATION BARRIER
John Simpson
Within the mix of new technologies that are fast becoming part of
Australian life, the introduction of Digital Radio Broadcasting (DRB)
within the next five years, has the potential to be of major value to
people who are blind or otherwise "print handicapped".
DRB will deliver a range of voice, data and visual material to
portable, mobile and home receivers, virtually anywhere in Australia.
The signal will not be subject to fading or the interference that
plagues current AM and FM broadcasting. While the sound quality for
music, drama or other live programming will be indistinguishable from
that of a Compact Disk, a digital radio channel can be split to
provide up to six discreet high quality voice programs at any one
time. In this way program providers will be able to deliver a vast
range of material, including services designed to meet the particular
needs of small sectors of the community such as people who are blind
or otherwise print handicapped.
On this basis it is anticipated that Digital Radio Broadcasting may
offer many solutions to the information deprivation experienced by
people who now cannot access the printed word.
On the other hand, there is an inherent danger that the system itself
might incorporate features and functions that deny or limit its
useability by people with a print disability. For example, text and
pictorial information will be transmitted as part of the total digital
signal. Some information may be presented visually so as to free up
airtime for the delivery of additional music, drama, or whatever else
programmers see as essential audio material.
For people with a print disability such a migration of essential
information to a visual presentation could constitute yet another
access barrier. Similarly, it is expected that, as with modern
television receivers and video recorders, much of the operation of the
sophisticated receivers will be dependent on visual cues and menu
choices.
For these reasons NFBCA, in association with the Australian Council
for Radio for the Print Handicapped (RPH Australia), is undertaking a
research project which seeks to ensure that:
* print handicapped consumers and their advocates have an adequate
opportunity to monitor and assess the development of this
important new information delivery system; and
* systems and product developers, and regulators, have the benefit
of appropriate and well articulated information about the access
needs of this sector of the community.
Through this action we hope to create an environment in which the
needs of people who are print handicapped can be addressed as part of
the development and implementation process rather than as costly
afterthoughts. Such a strategy will ensure that we are better placed
to maximise our use of a technology that is particularly suited to
addressing our information needs.
This project is funded through the Office of Disability Research
Grants Program. I am undertaking the project work, supported by a
Project Advisory Committee which comprises: Bill Jolley, as Project
Manager; Stephen Jolley, Chairman of RPH Australia; Glen Mahoney, who
until recently has been Manager Information Services with the
Association for the Blind; Frank Nowlan, Manager Privacy, with Austel;
Peter Simpson, Systems Planning Engineer with the Seven TV Network;
and, David Sice who is a Consultant Broadcast Engineer and a member of
the Digital Radio Advisory Committee.
Monitoring developments toward DRB implementation
During June and July last year I had discussions with many of those
who are central to the development of DRB in Australia. Among these,
meetings with Colin Knowles, General Manager Planning with the
Australian Broadcasting Authority; David Soothill, Director of
Planning and Communications with the Special Broadcasting Service; and
David Sice, from the Community Broadcasting Association; were of
particular value.
These people are members of the Digital Radio Advisory Committee which
was established by the Minister for Communications to develop
recommendations on the policy and practical implications of
introducing Digital Radio to Australia. In September the DRAC released
a discussion paper "Digital Radio Broadcasting in Australia". This
summarises developments toward the introduction of DRB. It explores a
number of implementation models and identifies issues that need
consideration before the Advisory Committee can make recommendations
on a service development and delivery strategy.
Our response to the discussion paper was finalised in October. In this
we identified some of the opportunities and threats that might result
from the introduction of DRB. We reminded the Committee of broader
Government policy and legislative considerations such as the
Disability Discrimination Act and Disability Strategy and pointed out
how these will need to be complied with in order to ensure Universal
Access to DRB. We also addressed a number of the technical issues
raised both from the perspective of print handicapped users and on
behalf of our RPH Services.
Overseas Visits
In association with my attendance at the World Blind Union General
Assembly in Toronto, in August, I was able to meet with key people
involved with Digital Radio and information access in both the UK and
North America.
In the United Kingdom I met with both Technical Research staff and
Service Managers with the Royal National Institute for the Blind. RNIB
staff had assembled a lot of material relating to DRB implementation
by the BBC, and DRB developments under the Euro-DAB project across the
European Community. It was however clear that prior to my contact
neither RNIB's Chief Scientist nor Broadcasting Policy Officer had
explored in detail the potential impact of DRB for blind and print
disabled people. Nonetheless, our meetings were most productive in
exploring potential problems and opportunities and resulted in
agreement to work co- operatively in this area in the future.
Unfortunately, despite our direct approach and supportive contact from
RNIB, it was not possible to meet with those officers within the BBC
who carry policy management responsibility for its DRB implementation
work.
The BBC has been transmitting several program services on a continuing
basis, via a DRB transmitter in the London area, since September 1995.
Work is underway to expand coverage of this "ensemble" of radio
channels, so that within two years they will have coverage for 60% of
the population. The delivery system being introduced is the Eureka 147
System. This is the solution proposed for Australia, although the
British Authorities have allocated frequencies in the VHF band (around
TV channel 12) rather than the L Band frequencies (1452-1492 Mhz)
proposed for this country.
For some years data transmission services have been offered in the UK
(and elsewhere in Europe) in association with FM broadcasting
services. Use of these Radio Data Services (RDS) has centred on
station identification with some limited applications for weather,
traffic and news information. In the main the display facilities built
into radio receivers have been limited to one or two short lines of
LCD characters, often as part of the receiver's status information
display.
While consumer take-up of this information service has not been
strong, it is clear that the BBC is building its DRB data provision
protocols on to those existing for RDS. From our perspective this
approach is concerning as the RDI authoring system that is used is a
proprietary one and does not appear to lend itself to conversion to
standardised interfacing protocols.
Given their advanced state of development, the size of the UK market
for receivers and their proximity to the European equipment
manufacturers, the protocols that are being developed in the UK for
data transmission services, both as discreet channels and associated
with audio broadcasting, will no doubt directly influence European
receiver design and thereby the parameters that are applied in
Australia.
In Canada meetings were held with:
* broadcasting policy officers within Canadian Heritage, the Federal
Department with oversight of radio and television broadcasting
policy;
* representatives from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the
consortium of Commercial Broadcasters with a commitment to DRB;
* the Chairman and senior management from "Voiceprint" the
organisation providing Radio Reading and Descriptive Video
Services across Canada; and
* senior technical and policy staff with the Canadian National
Institute for the Blind.
Canada has been the leading country developing DRB services using the
transmission techniques and broadcast frequencies likely to be adopted
in Australia. It is estimated that Canadian development is eighteen
months ahead of Australia as transition licences are now being issued.
While Government and Broadcasting Industry representatives had not
given thought to the issues addressed by this project, they readily
understood our concerns and were most helpful in suggesting
international avenues for our advocacy on these matters.
Officers from the Canadian Government also provided much written
information on their policy development work. Among the publications
produced for their "Taskforce on the Introduction of Digital Radio",
two will have particular value during later stages of this project:
* Digital Radio's Place in the Information Highway; and
* An Assessment of the Datacasting Market for Radio.
Again when meeting with Disability Sector representatives it was clear
that action had not been taken on issues related to this project,
prior to our contact on the matter. Voiceprint is a new and relatively
small organisation. However, its Chief Executive and other senior
officers are very active in their advocacy on the needs of people with
a disability so were keen to learn details of the project and our
conclusions to date. As a sister organisation to RPH Australia,
Voiceprint is also keen to explore avenues for future co-operation on
this and other policy issues.
Meetings with senior personnel from the Canadian National Institute
for the Blind were also most productive as, while they had not
specifically addressed the issues of this project, the organisation
has an ongoing substantial involvement in matters relating to
information access and has applied its resources to solving
information access problems in the past.
At the time of our meetings, CNIB was hosting the WBU General
Assembly, with the result that the organisation currently has a very
high profile in the Canadian community and with Government. As a
result CNIB's interest and support for our project was well timed,
both in the Canadian context where Senior Officers were able to draw
attention to our project in their discussion with Government
Officials, but also as the World Blind Union meeting provided a forum
for direct contact with blindness advocacy, disability service and
adaptive technology specialists from various parts of the world. These
contacts stimulated much international interest in the project and its
potential impact, with the result that delegates from several
countries have offered their support in disseminating the final report
as an advocacy tool for use at the international level.
The USA situation is however significantly different. While much of
the early experimental work on DRB occurred in the USA, development
there is well behind that of Canada, the UK and several other European
countries. This is largely because of a fundamental difference in
approach between policy makers in USA and elsewhere.
In Canada and European countries where DRB is currently being
implemented or trialled a policy decision has been taken to develop
services on new broadcasting band frequencies so that broadcasters
might simulcast their programs on new DRB channels while maintaining
their existing FM or AM coverage. The Eureka 147 delivery system has
been developed for use in such circumstances and this has now been
accepted as the international standard for such transmissions.
In the USA however, competition from other users of the L Band
frequencies and a desire on the part of existing powerful commercial
broadcasters that they should not loose their competitive advantage,
has meant that an "In-Band" approach has been agreed to. The In-Band
system will provide for the new technology to be superimposed on
current transmissions much in the way that coloured television was
introduced in Australia and elsewhere.
While this approach has certain commercial advantages for those who
already have favourable transmission conditions, US developers have
not yet overcome substantial technical difficulties and so in
practical terms development is well behind that of Canada, the UK and
Australia.
One of the consequences of this situation is that, while datacasting
is technically feasible within the In-Band system matters around the
broadcast of data services have not yet been adequately addressed in
the USA.
Current Project activities
The next phase of this project was the conduct of a DRB focus group
involving a number of NFBCA members. On November 18 & 19 we held an
Information Access Seminar which looked at a number of policy issues
around Information Access. This workshop involved around twenty blind
and vision-impaired people with expertise in technology or knowledge
and experience in information services. As part of this exercise we
provided a detailed briefing on DRB development and sought feedback on
opportunities and threats that might result for blind and other print
handicapped people.
Following this, we have been seeking meetings with members of the
Digital Radio Advisory Committee to formally brief them on our work
and to test their reaction to our research to date.
All of this will then be drawn together into the final project report,
to go to the Office of Disability at the end of March. Once this
report has been cleared for publication our task will be to use this
document as a key tool in an Australian and international advocacy
exercise.
During discussion, both within Australia and in Canada, those involved
with DRB implementation have stressed the significance of this year's
Euro-DAB meeting and the Consumer Trade Shows to be held in Germany.
It is expected that major European electronics product manufacturers
will release their consumer model Digital Radio Receivers at trade
shows to be held in September. In order to meet this deadline
decisions about such things as software protocols for data
transmission and display will need to be agreed to by members of the
Euro-DAB project during the first half of this year. If our project is
to have some influence on these decisions we will need to submit our
final report to Euro-DAB in April.
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