Advanced Television (ATV) Closed Captioning
BACKGROUND Advanced Television (ATV), also known as High-Definition Television (HDTV) and Digital Television (DTV), will dramatically change television technology within the coming years. ATV is a re-design of North America's television service. It will be completely digital, and will feature a sharper picture, an aspect ratio resembling that of a wide-screen movie, multiple CD-quality audio channels, and ancillary data services. ATV will also make exciting new caption features possible such as multiple caption streams (enabling viewers to choose between different languages or different reading speeds), a wider range of character sizes, fonts, and colors, and increased flexibility regarding caption placement. ATV may also allow users to customize the appearance of captions on their television sets.
The ATV Closed Captioning Working Group was created to ensure the development of a captioning specification which best serves deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers while also serving the needs of the designers and manufacturers of the coming digital media. The ATVCC Working Group operates under the aegis of and reports regularly to the Television Data Systems Subcommittee of the Electronics Industries Association. It consists of the top three caption service providers (The Caption Center at WGBH, the National Captioning Institute, and Vitac), the major caption hardware and software companies (Avio Systems, EEG Enterprises, Inc., Ultech, Inc., and SoftTouch, Inc.), four major receiver manufacturers (Panasonic, Philips Consumer Electronics, Thomson Consumer Electronics, and Zenith Electronics Corporation) and a leading manufacturer of hardware for Digital TV transport (General Instruments). In October 1993, the U.S. Department of Education awarded a grant (PR/Award # H026R30003) to fund key activities of the Working Group. The grant is administered by the CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media.
One of the Working Group's objectives is to involve users in the design of ATV captioning. Therefore, a key activity was to conduct market research with current and potential caption users. In January 1997, NCAM commissioned the WGBH Research Department to conduct phase two of this market research.
PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH
The purpose of the research was to obtain input from current and potential caption users about features that may become possible with ATV. The information obtained through this research will assist receiver manufacturers in determining how to design their products to best serve caption consumers.
This research was intended to supplement a series of focus groups which were conducted with deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers in February 1995. This research expanded and improved upon the earlier research in several ways:
(1) the "one-on-one" interview format facilitated in-depth discussion and prevented participants being influenced by the comments of others;
(2) the inclusion of hearing people who were not regular caption users enabled us to get feedback from people who were not predisposed to a familiar style of captioning; and
(3) we used actual captioned video (rather than slides, which were used to test most of the features in the focus groups) for the test, in order to make the viewing experience as realistic as possible.
RESEARCH DESIGN
The research consisted of individual interviews with 26 participants. The interviews were conducted in the WGBH TV Viewing Lab, a "living room" style research facility at WGBH in Boston.
The interviews began with a written questionnaire in which participants were asked questions about their use of captions, and what they like and dislike about captioning as it exists today. Upon completing the questionnaire, the participants viewed a 20-minute video tape featuring captioned footage from the NOVA series, "Secrets of Lost Empires." The tape was divided into 21 segments, showing different styles of captioning. The segments were roughly grouped into seven categories based on the features being tested: size, font, spacing, color, window style, character edging and presentation method. After each segment, the tape was stopped and the participants were asked to rate the captions on a scale of one to 10 (with 10 being the highest score) and to comment on what they liked or disliked.
Two different tapes, with the segments in different orders, were used to eliminate order bias. However, all participants viewed the same segment first. This segment featured the "standard" or "default" style of captioning. After viewing this first segment, the participants were asked to rate the overall appearance of the captions on a scale of 1 to 10. They were then asked to focus on each individual feature--size, font, spacing, color, and window--and rate each on the same 1 to 10 scale. For subsequent clips, the participants were instructed to focus on a single feature. [Note: Although participants were asked to focus on a particular feature, it was not always possible to evaluate one feature independently of the others. For example, it is difficult to evaluate spacing independently of the font; likewise, the color of the caption "window" or background, must be considered in relationship to the color of the captions themselves. Participants were able to elaborate in their comments.]
Each session lasted approximately 1 hour. Participants received $20 for their participation. Sign language interpreters and refreshments were provided.
THE PARTICIPANTS
There were 26 participants consisting of approximately equal numbers of men and women and representing a wide range of age groups, different degrees of hearing loss, and varying levels of computer expertise.
Most of the deaf and hard-of-hearing participants were selected randomly from the TTY directory; others were members of the deaf and hearing-impaired community that had previously established contacts with NCAM and/or The Caption Center. The hearing participants were recruited randomly from WGBH member lists.
* 10 were deaf; 6 were hard of hearing; 10 were hearing.
* 16 were women; 10 were men.
* 14 were under 50 years old; 12 were over 50.
HOW THE REPORT IS ORGANIZED
The report begins with a summary of the main findings and suggestions for ATV caption capabilities based on those findings. Next, the pre-viewing questionnaire, in which participants evaluated current captions, is covered. This is followed by a breakdown of each caption feature tested, with the ratings for each features and representative comments. Examples of most features (taken from the videotape) are included.
The numbers in the tables are the average rating for that feature in the demographic group listed along the top. Again, the scale was from one to ten, with ten being the highest score allowed.
For the purpose of analysis, the 26 participants were split into a variety of demographic groups:
All (26 participants)
Deaf (10)
Hard of Hearing (6)
Hearing (10)
Men (10)
Women (16)
Under 50 years old (14)
50 or over (12)
Participants without a personal computer (8) (many of whom were the oldest participants)
The ATV Closed Captioning Working Group was created to ensure the development of a captioning specification which best serves deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers while also serving the needs of the designers and manufacturers of the coming digital media. The ATVCC Working Group operates under the aegis of and reports regularly to the Television Data Systems Subcommittee of the Electronics Industries Association. It consists of the top three caption service providers (The Caption Center at WGBH, the National Captioning Institute, and Vitac), the major caption hardware and software companies (Avio Systems, EEG Enterprises, Inc., Ultech, Inc., and SoftTouch, Inc.), four major receiver manufacturers (Panasonic, Philips Consumer Electronics, Thomson Consumer Electronics, and Zenith Electronics Corporation) and a leading manufacturer of hardware for Digital TV transport (General Instruments). In October 1993, the U.S. Department of Education awarded a grant (PR/Award # H026R30003) to fund key activities of the Working Group. The grant is administered by the CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media.
One of the Working Group's objectives is to involve users in the design of ATV captioning. Therefore, a key activity was to conduct market research with current and potential caption users. In January 1997, NCAM commissioned the WGBH Research Department to conduct phase two of this market research.
PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH
The purpose of the research was to obtain input from current and potential caption users about features that may become possible with ATV. The information obtained through this research will assist receiver manufacturers in determining how to design their products to best serve caption consumers.
This research was intended to supplement a series of focus groups which were conducted with deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers in February 1995. This research expanded and improved upon the earlier research in several ways:
(1) the "one-on-one" interview format facilitated in-depth discussion and prevented participants being influenced by the comments of others;
(2) the inclusion of hearing people who were not regular caption users enabled us to get feedback from people who were not predisposed to a familiar style of captioning; and
(3) we used actual captioned video (rather than slides, which were used to test most of the features in the focus groups) for the test, in order to make the viewing experience as realistic as possible.
RESEARCH DESIGN
The research consisted of individual interviews with 26 participants. The interviews were conducted in the WGBH TV Viewing Lab, a "living room" style research facility at WGBH in Boston.
The interviews began with a written questionnaire in which participants were asked questions about their use of captions, and what they like and dislike about captioning as it exists today. Upon completing the questionnaire, the participants viewed a 20-minute video tape featuring captioned footage from the NOVA series, "Secrets of Lost Empires." The tape was divided into 21 segments, showing different styles of captioning. The segments were roughly grouped into seven categories based on the features being tested: size, font, spacing, color, window style, character edging and presentation method. After each segment, the tape was stopped and the participants were asked to rate the captions on a scale of one to 10 (with 10 being the highest score) and to comment on what they liked or disliked.
Two different tapes, with the segments in different orders, were used to eliminate order bias. However, all participants viewed the same segment first. This segment featured the "standard" or "default" style of captioning. After viewing this first segment, the participants were asked to rate the overall appearance of the captions on a scale of 1 to 10. They were then asked to focus on each individual feature--size, font, spacing, color, and window--and rate each on the same 1 to 10 scale. For subsequent clips, the participants were instructed to focus on a single feature. [Note: Although participants were asked to focus on a particular feature, it was not always possible to evaluate one feature independently of the others. For example, it is difficult to evaluate spacing independently of the font; likewise, the color of the caption "window" or background, must be considered in relationship to the color of the captions themselves. Participants were able to elaborate in their comments.]
Each session lasted approximately 1 hour. Participants received $20 for their participation. Sign language interpreters and refreshments were provided.
THE PARTICIPANTS
There were 26 participants consisting of approximately equal numbers of men and women and representing a wide range of age groups, different degrees of hearing loss, and varying levels of computer expertise.
Most of the deaf and hard-of-hearing participants were selected randomly from the TTY directory; others were members of the deaf and hearing-impaired community that had previously established contacts with NCAM and/or The Caption Center. The hearing participants were recruited randomly from WGBH member lists.
* 10 were deaf; 6 were hard of hearing; 10 were hearing.
* 16 were women; 10 were men.
* 14 were under 50 years old; 12 were over 50.
HOW THE REPORT IS ORGANIZED
The report begins with a summary of the main findings and suggestions for ATV caption capabilities based on those findings. Next, the pre-viewing questionnaire, in which participants evaluated current captions, is covered. This is followed by a breakdown of each caption feature tested, with the ratings for each features and representative comments. Examples of most features (taken from the videotape) are included.
The numbers in the tables are the average rating for that feature in the demographic group listed along the top. Again, the scale was from one to ten, with ten being the highest score allowed.
For the purpose of analysis, the 26 participants were split into a variety of demographic groups:
All (26 participants)
Deaf (10)
Hard of Hearing (6)
Hearing (10)
Men (10)
Women (16)
Under 50 years old (14)
50 or over (12)
Participants without a personal computer (8) (many of whom were the oldest participants)