Accessible Navigation of Rich Media: Exposing Structure, Content and Controls in the Mobile User Interface

As rich media moves further into our daily lives, whether at home, work, or on the go, lack of accessibility in mainstream content and end-user devices remains a challenge. Digital Talking Books are an example of how accessible content that merges text, audio, and structure, can be delivered on specialized portable devices for use by those with print disabilities. Mainstream media formats and standards are evolving that allow structural and meta information to be included in multimedia, yet authors may not utilize such capabilities and playback systems may not expose them even if present. Music playlists, as found on ubiquitous media devices such as MP3 players, offer conceptual similarities to talking book navigation but lack accessibility. With the growing presence of multimedia enabled mobile phones and devices, and increased availability of mobile audio and video, the accessibility of the content and user interface becomes a critical issue.