[Missouri-l] [VICUG-L] new accessible devices from CES!

[peter altschul]

show in Las Vegas, NV.  One of the technologies blind consumers 
have been wishing for is an accessible digital TV set top box.  
Through the work of a firm
called Ocean Blue Software, such a device may soon be a reality.
Ocean Blue,
along with
ST Micro Electronics,
makers of chipsets for digital boxes, is exhibiting here in 
Vegas.  The group of us attending CES on the NFB's behalf were 
able to see a private demo.
Using pre-recorded BBC content, the box seemed to work well.  As 
channels were changed, the box read out the new program to which 
it was being tuned.  The
speech was clear and human sounding.  Information about the 
program's duration, and special attributes like subtitles or 
audio description were also announced.
If one wished, one could enter the set top box's configuration 
menus to change preferences like toggling the DVS track on and 
off.  The electronic programming
guide (epg) was also able to be read.
I am intrigued and fascinated by Ocean Blue's work on this set 
top box.  You can see a demo at
http://www.oceanbluesoftware.co.uk/talkingtv-video-form.shtml
 The company hopes to roll the software out in the US once they 
find a broadcast partner to include it in their set top box.  We 
in the NFB are working
with the firm to help this become a reality.


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