<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16788" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=boacosta@pacbell.net href="mailto:boacosta@pacbell.net">Bob Acosta</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=boacosta@pacbell.net
href="mailto:boacosta@pacbell.net">Bob Acosta</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, January 20, 2009 9:16 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Why Accessible digital radio</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>
<H1>Why Accessible
Radio Standards Matter</H1><I></I>
<P>by David Noble, 01.14.2009</P><BR><!--<b><div style='font-family:Arial; font-size:10pt;'>IAAIS Develops Guidelines for Building Radios for Blind, Low-Vision Users</b></div><br/>-->
<DIV id=ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_ContentBlock1>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width=75 align=right border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top>
<TABLE borderColor=#666666 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"
bgColor=#ffffff border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left><IMG
src="http://www.rwonline.com/uploadedImages/Radio_World/Views/Guest_Commentaries/rw-guest-noble.jpg">
</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left><FONT
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=1><EM>David Noble
</EM></FONT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Many
broadcasters are aware of the excellent work done in their cities by members of
IAAIS, the International Association of Audio Information Services. IAAIS member
stations are information access services using FM analog subcarrier
transmissions to deliver daily readings of local newspapers, grocery and other
shopping news, books, magazines and civic notices. <BR><BR>Highly dependent on
volunteers, this non-profit industry has a 30-year history of service to people
who live with vision-impairments, are blind, or who can not hold a book or turn
pages.<BR><BR>IAAIS and its HD Radio Taskforce have issued the IAAIS Standards
for Accessible HD Radios. I have been asked to offer an introduction to those
standards and the StAR Project, which stands for Standards for Accessible
Radios. A short history is therefore in order.<BR><BR>A basic tenet of the IAAIS
stance on the nation's radio conversion to digital is that IAAIS gets out of the
special receiver business. For all of its history, the system of reading aloud
over FM analog subcarrier required the use of expensive, pre-tuned SCA
receivers. <BR><BR>Many of these SCA tuners are lost in nursing homes, thrown
away by relatives when clearing the estate of a recently deceased listener to
the reading service, or given to local thrift shops with the other household
electronics. The inventory loss is staggering.<BR><BR>The IAAIS wants HD Radios
available to the public to also have the ability to receive radio reading
services; however that goal has a
wrinkle.<BR><BR><B>Point-to-point</B><BR><BR>Reading services on SCA are
considered a point-to-point transmission under commission rules. This enables
the analog SCA reading service to read aloud from books and magazines that
contain words unutterable on open channel. <BR><BR>This is important, in that
the listener has no other access to the material, and has the same right as his
or her peers to read a bestseller or magazine without a censor. To avoid
complications, reading services needed to be kept "private" on the HD Radio
receiver. Thanks to the diligent work of NDS, iBiquity Digital and IAAIS, this
was accomplished with the inclusion of a conditional access system in the HD
Radio circuitry.<BR><BR>This means that the consumer of the future will be
purchasing an HD Radio that will be capable of tuning in the local reading
service, and no additional equipment would be required. It also means that the
radio must be operable by people who cannot see the LCD or other displayed
information. The radio has to be accessible.<BR><BR>The majority of the StAR
project team were blind consumers who are professionals in the radio reading
industry and experts at figuring out consumer electronic and broadcast
electronic devices by experimentation, trial and error and sometimes
luck.<BR><BR>The goal of the team was to make all HD Radios easy to sell to
people living with vision loss. As a pleasant byproduct, the units that meet the
standards will also appeal to the general public and the standards can be
applied to other consumer electronic devices. <BR><BR>The team worked through
many permutations of the standards and developed a non-technical, easy-to-read
document that discusses the controls, features, documentation and displays on an
HD Radio that will make it possible for IAAIS to recommend that unit to members
for purchase by the stations and consumers. A copy of the standards is at the
IAAIS Web site, <A href="http://www.iaais.org/" target=_blank><FONT
color=#0051a7>www.iaais.org</FONT></A>.<BR><BR>The key to the unit's
accessibility is that it must speak. When the unit is powered on, it must recite
what is on the display as well as which functions it is performing. The buttons,
knobs and other controls must be tactile — discernible by touch. The
documentation must be accessible as well.<BR><BR><B>Promising
prototype</B><BR><BR>Costs to create such a unit are not high; in fact, as the
HD Radio Taskforce finalized its work, members reviewed a promising prototype
that spoke when powered up and had nearly all of the required characteristics.
The manufacturer projects that it expects to be able to offer the unit for under
$100, where it is currently priced. This bodes well for sales to both disabled
and able consumers.<BR><BR>The standards do not stop with the minimum
requirements. We codified additional, preferred characteristics that would add
value to a unit, such as improved speech controls that enable users to change
the speed of the synthetic speech. <BR><BR>Another preferred characteristic is
an onboard "tutor" button that changes the controls from an operating mode to an
explanatory mode. Imagine the radio saying "seek up" or "seek down" when the
button is pressed and you've got the idea of tutorial mode. <BR><BR>We also took
time to stipulate clearly the characteristics of a radio that would make the
unit ineligible for acceptance by IAAIS. Touch screens are at the top of that
list because they are not static. You can make a change and not see the change.
<BR><BR>Manufacturers who digest the document and apply these universal design
principals will open up a huge market for these units; a market that is
disinterested in currently available off-the-shelf devices. According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, there are more than 195 million Americans between age 16 and
64 who have some type of disability. <BR><BR><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>