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DATE: December 13, 2016
REVISED:
NAME: Defining New Fields to Record Accessibility Content in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format
SOURCE: Canadian Committee on Metadata Exchange (CCM)
SUMMARY: This paper presents options for recording the RDA data element Accessibility Content (7.14) in the MARC 21 Bibliographic format.
KEYWORDS: Accessibility content (BD); Assistive technology (BD); Accessibility (BD); Discovery-enabled (BD); EPUB (BD); Inclusive publishing (BD); Born-accessible (BD)
RELATED:
STATUS/COMMENTS:
12/13/16 – Made available to the MARC community for discussion.
01/22/17 – Results of MARC Advisory Committee discussion: There was general support for defining new fields for accessibility content and an accessibility note. The possibility of defining a fixed field position was withdrawn. Suggestions were made to add subfields $3, $0 and first indicator blank (i.e., #) to the proposed field 341. It was also suggested that the future proposal could survey the historical accessibility data already recorded elsewhere in the format, such as in the 538 field (System Details Note) and the 546 field (Language Note). This will return as a proposal jointly developed with OLAC and possibly the Metadata Standards Committee.
As assistive technologies have evolved, providing alternative access to content in a variety of formats, the ability to accommodate accessibility metadata in MARC 21 has not kept pace. Existing content designation for recording Information on accessibility features is currently dispersed throughout the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format in the following fields: 008 (Fixed-Length Data Elements), Form of item values ‘d’( Large print) and ‘f’ (Braille); 300 (Physical Description); 500 (General Note); 538 (System Details Note); 546 (Language Note); and 650 (Subject Added Entry - Topical Term).
Other metadata encoding schemes such as schema.org are developing vocabularies to describe accessible content on the web. W3C has developed standards for providing accessible content and describing that content. The new EPUB3 standard currently under development includes metadata rating conformance to accessibility standards (http://www.idpf.org/epub/a11y/accessibility.html). It is expected that EPUB3 will replace the DAISY format. This paper has modeled its approach on these standards in an effort to align the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format with these other encoding schemes.
This paper proposes bringing this data together into three fields, a fixed field position for coded data, a 341 field for a vocabulary encoding schema, and a 532 note for details about accessibility information.
Redefining Field 007 (Physical Description Fixed Field) position 2 would provide a place to record machine-readable data that would allow quick sorting of material based on its conformance to accessibility standards. While previously defined in USMARC, it is currently undefined in MARC 21.
We propose defining a new field 341 (Accessibility Content) to indicate accessibility features and/or assistive technology provided for a resource, or parts of a resource, for example, embedded video, audio, text, in an electronic resource. The 34X range is presently used for recording additional technical details.
A new note field, 532 (Accessibility Note), would be used to provide a human-readable summary of the accessibility features or deficiencies of a resource.
Resource Description and Access (RDA) 7.14.1.3 Recording Accessibility Content instructs us to “[r]ecord information about the accessibility content if the information is evident from the resource or is readily available from another source.” Accessibility content is defined at 7.14.1.1 as “An indication of content that provides alternative sensory modes to perceive the primary content of a resource. Accessibility content includes accessible labels, audio description, captioning, image description, sign language, and subtitles. Accessibility content does not include subtitles in a language different from the spoken content.”
Human interaction with the content of information resources, whether physical or electronic, is limited to four “modes” – textual, visual, auditory, and tactile. These modes are utilized by schema.org in their pending accessMode property (https://pending.schema.org/accessMode), and are included in the new EPUB3 specifications (http://www.idpf.org/epub/a11y/techniques/techniques.html#sec-meta-001) which are based on practices developed by W3C for authoring accessible web content. It might be advisable to align some of our vocabulary with schema.org and W3C and these modes do tie-in with Field 336 (Content Type) values, except for those values relating to computers, which should not be an issue as we are focusing on direct human interaction. For resource users who to varying degrees cannot access content via these modes, assistive technologies and other accessibility features have been developed using one or more of the modes to provide alternative access. Alternatives to the textual mode can be provided using the tactile mode (Braille), auditory mode (Described video or audiobooks), visual mode (pictograms) or even the original textual mode (large print, or black and white).
Due to the variety of accessibility issues, accessibility features, and the degree to which features have been implemented in a given resource, we determined that there was no place in the fixed fields to record sufficient data for users to make decisions about the suitability of a resource. For quick sorting, or selection, however, we felt that it would be useful to provide users with information about the presence or absence of accessibility features or embedded assistive technologies. We are suggesting redefining Field 007 position 02 to record basic data about both the accessibility of content and any impediments to using the carrier of the content to access the content. Further granularity can be achieved in combination with the existing Field 006 (Fixed-Length Data Elements - Additional Material Characteristics), Field 007 (Physical Description Fixed Field), and Field 008 (Fixed-Length Data Elements), as they are currently defined.
As a resource may contain content accessed using more than one mode as defined above, we deemed it necessary to add a new repeatable field, 341 (Accessibility Content), that would identify the required mode(s) and record the accessibility feature(s) and the alternative mode(s) used by the feature. Subfield $a would provide a place to record the primary mode required to access content. Subfields ($b-$e) specific to the alternative mode(s) used to provide access would provide a place to record the accessibility feature or assistive technology provided by the resource. An additional subfield ($p) would provide a place to record any devices, equipment, or software required to implement an accessibility feature. We suggest a thesaurus such as the W3C WebSchemas/Accessibility vocabulary be used to provide a controlled vocabulary for subfields $b-$e. The 34X range was chosen as it contains other formatted fields containing technical details.
Finally, we thought it necessary to provide the note field 532 (Accessibility Note) for a human-readable summary of the accessibility features or deficiencies of the resource as well as to record data not available in the prescribed vocabulary for 341 $b-$e.
Specifications for the above changes and additions can be found in section 3. Also included are a few examples illustrating the application of these changes and additions.
3.1. Field 007/2 - Accessibility
Values:
# - Unknown, or not specified
a - Content fully accessible, navigable [optimized]
b - Content fully accessible, not navigable
c - Content partially accessible, navigable
d - Content partially accessible, not navigable
e - Content not accessible, navigable
g - Content not accessible, not navigable
n - Not applicable
| - No attempt to code
3.2. Field 341 - Accessibility Content (R)
Indicators:
First Indicator
Application
0 - Applies to all content of resource
1 - Applies to some content of resourceSecond Indicator
Undefined
# - undefinedSubfields:
$a Mode required to access content (textual, visual, auditory, tactile)
$b Features and adaptations (textual [assistive access to content is textual])
ex. Large type, Closed captioning or SDH
$c Features and adaptations (visual [assistive access to content is visual non-textual])
ex. Picture-in-picture signing
$d Features and adaptations (auditory [assistive access to content is auditory])
ex. Described video
$e Features and adaptations (tactile [assistive access to content is tactile])
ex. Braille
$p Devices, equipment, or software required to implement accessibility feature
ex. Daisy reader
$2 Source
ex. w3cPossible thesaurus for $b-$e vocabulary: https://www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas/Accessibility
3.3. Field 532 - Accessibility Note
Human-readable note for providing more detail or qualifying data in the 341 field.
ex. Menu not navigable.
Requires additional software, mouse.
Example 1: Large print books
Current:
008/23 Form of Item: d=Large type
020 ## $a 9781683240624 (large print : hardcover : alk. paper)
250 ## $a Large print edition.
300 ## $a 499 pages (large print) ; $c 23 cm.
340 ## $n 15 point
650 #0 $a Large type books.Proposed:
007/02 n
008/23 Form of Item: d=Large type
020 ## $a 9781683240624 $q large print : hardcover : alk. paper
250 ## $a Large print edition.
300 ## $a 499 pages ; $c 23 cm.
340 ## $n 15 point
341 ## $a textual $b Large print
650 #0 $a Large type books.
Example 2: Ebooks
Current:
347 ## $a text file $b EPUB3 $2 rda
Proposed:
007/02 a
347 ## $a text file $b EPUB3 $2 rda
341 ## $a textual $d EPUB 3 WCAG AA
532 ## $a This EPUB 3 resource has been optimized to conform to DAISY Consortium specifications for text to speech playback.
Example 3: Ebooks with color content
Current:
300 ## $a 1 online resource (314 pages) : $b colour illustrations
347 ## $a text file $b EPUB3 $2 rdaProposed:
007/02 c
300 ## $a 1 online resource (314 pages) : $b colour illustrations
347 ## $a text file $b EPUB3 $2 rda
341 ## $a textual $d EPUB3 Optimized $2 w3c
532 ## $a Content in colour illustrations inaccessible. Lacking alternative b&w images.
Example 4: DVD recordings
Current:
546 ## $a Close-captioned.
655 #7 $a Video recordings for the hearing impaired $2 lcgftProposed:
007/02 a
341 ## $a auditory $b Close-captioned $2 w3c
655 #7 $a Video recordings for the hearing impaired $2 lcgft
Example 5: DVD recordings - repeatable 341
Current:
500 ## $a Includes picture-in-picture signing.
546 ## $a Described video.
655 #7 $a Video recordings for the hearing impaired $2 lcgft
655 #7 $a Video recordings for people with visual disabilities $2 lcgftProposed:
007/02 b
041 ## $a sgn $a eng
341 ## $a auditory $c Picture-in-picture signing
341 ## $a visual $d audioDescription $2 w3c
655 #7 $a Video recordings for the hearing impaired $2 lcgft
655 #7 $a Video recordings for people with visual disabilities $2 lcgft
BIBFRAME 2.0 includes a single Property for recording content Accessibility:
contentAccessibility
Label: Content accessibility note
Definition: Information that assists those with a sensory impairment
for greater understanding of content, e.g., captions.
Used with: Work or Instance
Expected Value: Literal
Change Notes: 2016-04-21 (New)
http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe.html#p_contentAccessibility
6.1. Should MARC 21 accommodate accessibility information in a distinct element (in MARC terms “content designation”)?
6.2. For free-text “details about accessibility information” should a new 532 note field be created, or is using 500 General Note sufficient?
6.3. It has been twenty years since 007 position 02 was declared undefined. Can this position be re-defined to record accessibility information, taking care not to re-use any values that had been used in the 1980s and 1990s?
6.4. Do you see any conflict with the field 336 (Content Type)?
6.5. Should we create a thesaurus for 341, or should we borrow from other vocabularies such as schema.org?
w3c
https://www.w3.org/wiki/WebSchemas/Accessibility
Schema.org
https://schema.org/accessibilityFeature
https://schema.org/accessibilityHazard
https://pending.schema.org/accessMode
Epub3
http://www.idpf.org/epub/a11y/accessibility.html
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