Hi Steve Given the amount of discussion on the various blind related access to mobile phone type forums about the IPlayer in the recent past and the BBC's assertion that I was the first person to contact them about it I would say that the words volume needs to be turned up a bit as it were! Always best to write positively and encouragingly and then get the big guns out if they are being obstructive. Cheers. Paul _____ From: talks-uk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:talks-uk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Steve Spamer Sent: 02 July 2009 11:45 To: talks-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [talks-uk] Re: Access to mobile iplayer Hi Paul, good on you for bringing this point up with them. Actions speak louder than words, so I guess only time will tell whether or not they implament accessibility. I, personally, aren't holding my breath, as a friend of mine actually appeared on Points of View a few weeks ago after writing to them about accessibility of the i Player on the web. Their response was sympathetic, but they said nothing will be done for the foreseeable, cheers Steve. ----- Original Message ----- From: All <mailto:allformats@xxxxxxxxx> formats To: talks-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 10:32 AM Subject: [talks-uk] Access to mobile iplayer Hi Everyone. Firstly: advanced apologies to the moderators if this is felt to be off topic. I believe it is relevant though, which is why I am risking posting it rather than deliberately acting against the rules of the list. I have been in contact recently with the BBC with regards to asking them when they plan making their Iplayer accessible with Talks (in particular as that is what I use). Their response has been fantastic. Given previous discussions here about Iplayer access and people wanting to use the player on a mobile, I would urge those of you who are interested to read the email which I received from the BBC and respond directly to them if you want to influence their thinking and future development on this. They are very genuinely interested and do have humans at the end of their email addresses as you will discover if you write to them. Notably, you will see from the email that they say I am the first blind person who has asked about access to the mobile version of Iplayer... I am absolutely sure I am not the only one who would like this. Anyway, there it is. Please feel free to CC me in on anything you write to them if you wish as it will help me feed back to them.. And I would be more than happy to pass any comments on if people feel they might not be as able to get their point across as they would like.. Advocacy and all that! Best. Paul Hopkins ----original message- Subject: RE: Access to mobile iplayer From: "Mobile" <Mobile@xxxxxxxxx> Date: 30/06/2009 16:17 Hi again Paul We've just had some comments in from the desktop iPlayer team which I thought that I would pass onto you, I hope that you find this useful, particularly about the research and request for feedback: The accessibility of BBC iPlayer, like all of our services, is important to the BBC - as much for blind people as for other users who have different needs. As with all our newly developed products, we are striving for improved functionality and accessibility on an ongoing basis. I hope you will have appreciated the efforts we have gone to, to ensure the online version of iPlayer is as accessible as we can make it for blind users - efforts that have provided keyboard accessible media controls, and will deliver audio-described programmes in the next few months. You may be interested to know that yours is the first time a blind mobile phone user has asked us about the accessibility of our mobile services. However, your timing is good, as we are just embarking on some research into how disabled people use their mobile phones, and what they expect from the BBC mobile site (including mobile iPlayer). As mobile internet accessibility is still in its infancy, we need to gauge the size and nature of the demand from our audiences before knowing how best to use our resources to support their needs. So we would really value any further feedback you have about how you'd like mobile iPlayer to support your needs - please email us at AccessibilityTeam@xxxxxxxxx Best wishes, BBC Mobile <outbind://7/www.bbc.co.uk/mobile> www.bbc.co.uk/mobile Hi Paul Apologies for the delay in replying to you and thank you very much for your feedback. In terms of mobile iPlayer, we are currently looking into the various options for making it accessible for blind users. Apologies that I can't say anything more concrete at the moment. However you can access iPlayer desktop if you use a screen reader, and there's more information about that here: <http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/accessibility/screen_reader_down loads> http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/accessibility/screen_reader_downl oads. Here's the wording from that page: 'You can download programmes direct to your computer so that you can play them when you are not connected to the internet. Screen reader users wishing to download programmes are advised to select Windows Media Player download link from the More downloads section rather than installing the BBC iPlayer desktop. This will allow you to play the programmes on your computer using Windows Media Player.' Also, here is a link to the accessibility statement on iPlayer desktop, and they are also working on a solution to make it accessible: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/install/accessibility_statement> http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/install/accessibility_statement Best wishes, BBC Mobile <outbind://7/www.bbc.co.uk/mobile> www.bbc.co.uk/mobile -----Original Message----- From: pmhopkins@xxxxxxxxxxxx [ <mailto:pmhopkins@xxxxxxxxxxxx> mailto:pmhopkins@xxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: 30 May 2009 18:16 To: Mobile Subject: Access to mobile iplayer Hi there. I would like to know when you are going to make the iplayer accessible to those of us who are blind? The most common ways in which blind people are already accessing mobile phone features and applications are talks and zooms and mobile speak. Perhaps there is already an alternative way that i an not aware of? You have a fantastic track record of making your content available to the widest audience possible for which you are to be applauded. I would be grateful for a response from you as to what your plans are in this regard. Yours. Paul hopkins <http://www.bbc.co.uk/> http://www.bbc.co.uk/ This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may contain personal views which are not the views of the BBC unless specifically stated. If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system. Do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in reliance on it and notify the sender immediately. Please note that the BBC monitors e-mails sent or received. Further communication will signify your consent to this. _____ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.2/2214 - Release Date: 07/02/09 05:54:00