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Canadian Network for Inclusive Cultural Exchange


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Executive Summary

These discussion documents have been prepared as part of the Canadian Network for Inclusive Cultural Exchange (CNICE) project.

The package includes a single “core” document followed by four “companion documents,” each devoted to closer examination of particular areas:

  1. Online Enhanced Captioning
  2. Online Video Description
  3. Remote Real-time ASL Interpretation
  4. Representations of Visual Geo-spatial Information.

The core document, General Guidelines for Inclusive New Media Cultural Content, is organized into six main sections:

Section 1.1 is the introduction to the core document and outlines its. This section also includes definition of terms used in the document as well as a brief discussion of disability culture.

Section 1.2 is an overview of existing accessibility principles, of which, developers of cultural content should be aware.

Section 1.3 lays out a number of challenges faced by developers of accessible online cultural content. These include a discussion about the right to artistic expression and accessibility, as well discussions of the aesthetics, entertainment value, perspective and interpretation of cultural works as related to accessibility.

Section 1.4 introduces the concept of modality translations. Aspects of the translation of art are discussed such as emotion, perspectives, presentation, cultural differences and workflow.

Sections 1.5 and 1.6 details the possible modality transformations and begin the discussion of how translation of cultural content from one modality to another might be carried out.

Section 1.7 is the conclusion of the core document.

The four companion documents follow in the next four chapters. The first companion document, chapter 2, looks at online captioning and details captioning in flash as well as introduces the CapScribe tool for caption and video description that was developed as part of the CNICE project.

Chapter 3 details Online video description. This discussion extends a discussion that is started in chapter 2 and provides guidance and principles for this modality translation.

Chapter 4 studies in great detail the challenge of creating remote real-time ASL interpretations for cultural events. Along with comprehensive guidelines, the chapter provides first-hand viewpoints and an overview of relevant technologies.

The final companion document, chapter 5, discusses the special case of representing visual geospatial information in alternative modalities. The authors discuss solutions that use SVG as well as VRML. The authors close with guidelines for creating inclusive navigation and way-finding content for the web.




We acknowledge the financial support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Program

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