Accessibility

The BBC Merlin website was created to support the BBC One drama series. Like the TV programme, the Merlin website is targeted at young families; translating the magical themes of each episode into an immersive online experience with games, a gallery and clips from the show.

The decision was taken to use Adobe Flash 9, in order to pilot new technologies and find ways to fully engage users with innovative, immersive web sites which are designed to enhance the audiences' experience of TV shows.

However, the use of Adobe Flash 9 on the BBC Merlin website means that users need to download and install the plug-in before they can fully view the site.

The BBC is committed to making its online services as accessible as possible and this pilot is considered a valuable opportunity to discover and implement solutions to help us do this. In order to learn more about making sites accessible to blind audiences, including children who may be too young to use screen readers the following solutions are being piloted to see how well they work with Flash 9:

• Accessibility preferences: On entering the website, users are presented with preferences allowing them to: turn on audio description, turn off background sound, and turn off movement.

• Audio description: The site has a self-voicing option built into it, to support visually impaired users and children when navigating the site. The audio, which is provided by Richard Wilson who plays Gaius in the show, is connected to the tabbing order of the site.

• Optional sound and movement: Users are given the option of switching off the movement and sound on the website. If users wish to navigate with the aid of the audio description, they may wish to turn of the background music of the site. Similarly, the site has movement within the interface and transitions between screens that may be a distraction or hindrance for some users.

• Tab/Switch Navigation: The website's core navigation areas are grouped to allow users who cannot use a mouse to move around the entire site using only the keyboard arrow keys, enter and the space bar.

• Subtitled video clips: For hearing impaired users, we have provided subtitles for most of the video content featured on the site. We are working to improve the amount of subtitled video on the site..

This pilot, will help us measure the success of these new technologies in providing value for our audiences, while giving us better understanding of the challenges of providing that value.

The BBC Usability & Accessibility team and Merlin website production team are working together to significantly improve the accessibility of the site with a view to potentially releasing further iterations to its accessibility.

If you would like to share your views with the BBC about the Merlin site, please do not hesitate to contact the BBC Usability and Accessibility Team.