IMPROVING TELEVISION ACCESSIBILITY FOR CANADIANS

A new, open-source set-top box design by Rogers will enhance the TV experience of visually-impaired Canadians.

PROJECT

Accessibility Research, Design

INDUSTRY

TELECOM Case study | PDF

A new, open-source set-top box design by Rogers will enhance the TV experience of visually-impaired Canadians.

This research project - which is part of a widespread initiative to improve accessibility of all of our services - would not have been possible without Akendi's research, testing, and insights.

Vincent Primeau, User Experience Researcher - Rogers

THE CHALLENGE

Today's TV set-top boxes were not designed with accessibility in mind, making them difficult or impossible to use by low-vision and nonsighted Canadians. To ensure that all Canadians have equal access to the same TV content, the Broadcast Accessibility Fund (BAF) gave communications giant Rogers a grant to develop an open source solution that could be used by all Canadian TV providers.

This research project - which is part of a widespread initiative to improve accessibility of all of our services - would not have been possible without Akendi's research, testing, and insights.

Vincent Primeau, User Experience Researcher - Rogers

OUR APPROACH

Rogers partnered with Akendi to help meet the accessibility goals set by the BAF. Through comprehensive user research and journey mapping, Akendi captured and communicated the most common goals and behaviours of low-vision and non-sighted users. Based on Akendi's findings and recommendations, Rogers developed a more accessible screenreading prototype. Akendi then conducted usability tests of the prototype in users' homes to help Rogers further hone the solution.