Copyright © 2020 W3C® (MIT, ERCIM, Keio, Beihang). W3C liability, trademark and permissive document license rules apply.
This document outlines various accessibility related user needs, requirements and scenarios for Real-time communication (RTC). These user needs should drive accessibility requirements in various related specifications and the overall architecture that enables it. It first introduces a definition of RTC as used throughout the document and outlines how RTC accessibility can support the needs of people with disabilities. It defines the term user needs as used throughout the document and then goes on to list a range of these user needs and their related requirements. Following that some quality related scenarios are outlined and finally a data table that maps the user needs contained in this document to related use case requirements found in other technical specifications.
This document is most explicitly not a collection of baseline requirements. It is also important to note that some of the requirements may be implemented at a system or platform level, and some may be authoring requirements.
This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at https://www.w3.org/TR/.
This is a First Public Working Draft of RTC Accessibility User Requirements by the Accessible Platform Architectures Working Group. It is developed by the Research Questions Task Force (RQTF) who work to identify accessibility knowledge gaps and barriers in emerging and future web technologies. The requirements outlined here come from research into user needs that then provide the basis for any technical requirements. This version is published to collect public feedback on the requirements prior to finalization as a Working Group Note.
To comment, file an issue in the W3C APA GitHub repository adding the RAUR label. If this is not feasible, send email to public-apa@w3.org (archives). Comments are requested by 21 April 2020. In-progress updates to the document may be viewed in the publicly visible editors' draft.
This document was published by the Accessible Platform Architectures Working Group as a First Public Working Draft.
Publication as a First Public Working Draft does not imply endorsement by the W3C Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.
This document was produced by a group operating under the W3C Patent Policy. The group does not expect this document to become a W3C Recommendation. W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.
This document is governed by the 1 March 2019 W3C Process Document.
The traditional data exchange model is client to server. Real-time communication (RTC) is game-changing as it is enabled in part by specifications like WebRTC that provides real-time peer to peer audio, video and data exchange directly between supported user agents. This enables instantaneous applications for video and audio calls, text chat, file exchange, screen sharing and gaming, all without the need for browser plugins. However, WebRTC is not the sole specification with responsibility to enable accessible real-time communications, as use cases and requirements are broad - as outlined in the IETF RFC 7478 'Web Real-Time Communication Use Cases and Requirements' document. [ietf-rtc]
RTC has the potential to allow improved accessibility features that will support a broad range of user needs for people with a wide range of disabilities. These needs can be met through improved audio and video quality, audio routing, captioning, improved live transcription, transfer of alternate formats such as sign-language, text-messaging / chat, real time user support and status polling.
Accessible RTC is enabled by a combination of technologies and specifications such as those from the Media Working Group, Web and Networks IG, Second Screen, and Web Audio Working group as well as AGWG and ARIA. APA hopes this document will inform how these groups meet various responsibilities for enabling accessible RTC, as well updating related use cases in various groups. For examples, view the current work on WebRTC Next Version Use Cases First Public Working Draft. [webrtc-use-cases]
This document outlines various accessibility related user needs for Accessible RTC. These user needs should drive accessibility requirements for Accessible RTC and its related architecture.
User needs are presented here with their related requirements; some in a range of scenarios (which can be thought of as similar to user stories). User needs and requirements are being actively reviewing by RQTF/APA.
The following outlines a range of user needs and requirements. The user needs have also been compared to existing use cases for Real-time text (RTT) such as the IETF Framework for Real-time text over IP Using the IETF Session Initiation Protocol RFC 5194 and the European Procurement Standard EN 301 549. [rtt-sip] [EN301-549]
Some braille users will also prefer the RTT model. However, braille users desiring text displayed with standard contracted braille might better be served in the manner users relying on text to speech (TTS) engines are served, by buffering the data to be transmitted until an end of line character is reached.
NOTE: EN 301 549 Section 6, recommends WebRTC applications should support a frame rate of at least 20 frames per second (FPS). More details can be found at Accessible Procurement standard for ICT products and services EN 301 549 (PDF)
Scenario: A hard of hearing user needs better stereo sound to have a quality experience in work calls or meetings with friends or family. Transmission aspects, such as decibel range for audio needs to be of high-quality. For calls, industry allows higher audio resolution but still mostly in mono only.
Scenario: A hard of hearing user needs better stereo sound so they can have a quality experience in watching HD video or having a HD meeting with friends or family. Transmission aspects, such as frames per minute for video quality needs to be of high-quality.
NOTE: EN 301 549 Section 6, recommends for WebRTC enabled conferencing and communication the application shall be able to encode and decode communication with a frequency range with an upper limit of at least 7KHz. More details can be found at Accessible Procurement standard for ICT products and services EN 301 549 (PDF)
NOTE: WebRTC lets applications prioritise bandwidth dedicated to audio / video / data streams; there is also some experimental work in signalling these needs to the network layer as well as support for prioritising frame rate over resolution in case of congestion. [webrtc-priority]
This work is supported by the EC-funded WAI-Guide Project.