GUIDE Project Scope

The GUIDE project studied the accessibility of services delivered through connected televisions and set-top boxes. Its scope included broadcast and broadband applications used at home and the different ways people could operate them. The project focused on older adults and people with age-related changes in vision, hearing, speech, movement or cognition. Archived Scope page (external site)

Why was hybrid TV part of the project?

Hybrid TV brings broadcast channels and internet services onto the same screen. GUIDE examined connected TVs and set-top boxes as a way for users to reach those services on a familiar household device. One platform the team considered was Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV). GUIDE position paper for the W3C Web and TV Workshop (external site)

Which barriers were in scope?

The barriers included reading small labels at a distance, hearing spoken information, operating small remote-control buttons and remembering a sequence of menu steps. A single task can involve several of those barriers. To join a video call, a user might need to see which contact is selected, hear the caller and press the right control before the call times out.

How did the research scope shape the applications?

The research scope led to four reference scenarios covering home automation, video conferencing, media access and remote learning. Each scenario gave the team a different task on which to test the same underlying framework. Media navigation, for example, required choosing and moving between items, while a video call required controlling an ongoing conversation.

The project objectives explain how the team planned to address those barriers. The accessible TV design guide translates the design questions into a practical test sequence.