HBB4ALL Pilots
The HBB4ALL project addresses the possibilities of media accessibility in the new TV broadband hybrid transmission (HbbTV) or Smart TV environment. To transform the accessibility vision into reality, Hbb4All targets all relevant stakeholders and all components of the value chain.
The project will identify improvements to existing access services and ways of addressing the key technical, organisational and legal obstacles to the sustainable take-up of these services throughout Europe. Both quality and quantity metrics will be addressed in a user-centric approach. Being an ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) standard, HbbTV is currently linked with the DVB TV (Digital Video Broadcasting) system family but can, in principle, be used in conjunction with any digital TV service in the world. DVB is widely used throughout all continents. Sooner or later, all countries in the world will have completed their analogue-to-digital switch-over. As a consequence, the results of HBB4ALL will be of worldwide relevance and will, through standardisation bodies such as the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), also be publicised on a worldwide level.
The project will test access services in various pilot implementations (from the definition to the operational phase) and gather implicit and explicit user feedback to assess the acceptance and the achievable quality of service in the various delivery scenarios (broadcasting, hybrid, full IP). Four interlinked sub-pilots will be implemented in HBB4ALL: