Before I start, a a quick word about ODI. How many here have heard of us? Weâre based in DWP but work across government departments and with disabled peopleâs organisations. We have three strands that run through all our work Leadership. The Office for Disability Issues leads the government's vision of achieving equality for disabled people. At the moment our focus in this area is on coordinating the UK report on the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People. Building skills. We guide government departments to find practical ways to involve and engage disabled people to meet departmental strategic objectives. We share our knowledge and experiences, and provide tailored advice. Many of our capability-building tools can be found on our website, www.odi.gov.uk Innovation. We test new policy ideas and new ways of delivering services. The Right to Control is the most high-profile example of this strand at the moment, where disabled people can have better control over the state funding they receive.
One of the things that ODI is keen to address is the removal of barriers within society. If you arenât familiar with the social model of disability, the easiest way to understand this is with the example of using a bus. Someone might be disabled because they are unable to board a bus with their wheelchair. Making the bus accessible by, for instance, offering level access, means that they can board it and, in this instance at least, they are no longer disabled. Iâm sure you can see how this principle applies itself to online activity: itâs the approach that led us to develop our accessible media player
Player is designed as a video hub, rather than something to be embedded: this is because we have been careful to consider people with fine motor control issues, and so reducing the size would compromise this. However, any film or audio file can be linked directly. This is also a complement to YouTube: not a replacement.
Note the labels, and the caption customisations Also note the help button (wireframe)
Back end is as straghtforward as possible and includes guidance for uploaders at every stage. Leads you through. This is customisable from the files.
This is an uploaded video: Iâll take you through each section so you can see the information it has recorded.
The drop-downs are drawn from the FTP. The only thing you need is the standard flv file: if you donât upload the audio description etc it will simply grey out the button. We want to encourage people to add as much as possible though.
Keywords help wih search: this one hasnât had any added, since it draws it from the title and thumbnail text
Simple metrics showing usage. Also note inactive vids, allowing you to check video before it goes live.
You still need to produce the audio description, the ttxml file, the PDF transcript, BSL track, but these neednât be difficult if itâs planned in from the beginning. I handcode the ttxml file from a template and it takes about an hour to do a 10 minute film from start to finish. If youâve got a flash plugin and got the transcription as part of the commissioning brief, itâs a 20 minute job. Accessibility isnât optional. E.g. audio description is an essential requirement of WCAG 2.0 at AA-level (Guideline 1.2.5)
The bit.ly link provides more info on the player, as well as a link to our guidance on commissioning accessible video