Even in the poorest countries and societies, media has great importance because it provides the channels, networks,formats, and languages through which much of life takes place and finds meaning. So, it is of real concern that people with functional limitations may not have access to either the media or the information provided through specific channels (TV, movies, newspapers, magazines, the Internet and more). Ensuring a barrier-free life for people with disabilities and enabling access to the media and content for All, is crucially important in today’s EU society with more than 80 million Europeans with disabilities. In this regard, the inclusion of people with disabilities is a key objective in any program of social and economic measures to create a real Information Society for all, where each citizen has the same opportunities to develop to its maximum potential his/her personal, professional and social aptitudes. This is a crucial milestone to achieve an inclusive digital society in which people with disabilities have access to online services and information on an equal footing to people without disabilities; this is a right enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities UN CRPD.
Based on this idea, the prime motivation of EasyTV is the necessity of equal access to television and audio-visual services so to ensure that all users, especially persons with various degrees disabilities including sight and hearing, the growing ageing population of Europe, and users with special needs could derive maximum benefit in terms of choice and quality of media content and services. For doing so, the specific objectives of EasyTV are threefold:
1. Well-proven access services are to be adapted and improved in new media delivery mechanisms (broadcast and broadband, fixed or mobile) including the access, interaction and production side.
2. Enhance the interaction following a multi-language approach. Such multilingual approach is needed in order to overcome the language barrier in people with disabilities, e.g. in sign language, which varies from one country to the other, or the use of personalised subtitles.
3. EasyTV will guarantee a user-centred approach: end users will be at the centre of the development, innovation and adaptation of technologies to facilitate a more cohesive and integrated media content. The project works in line with the proposed EC Single Digital Market. The different partners (both academic and industrial) and user groups will establish a close cooperation by exchanging experiences during the user testing phase, in order to enhance the whole evaluation process.
