Publication

Abstract : Multimedia transmission over wide-area networks currently only considers the server and network resource constraints and client device capabilities. It is also essential that the accessibility of the multimedia content for different users with diverse capabilities and disabilities be considered. As a first step in building an adaptation framework we need to automatically predict the accessibility requirements of a user, given the abilities the user possesses to access the multimedia information. In this paper we develop an adaptation technique to present the multimedia content to suit diverse disabled user groups by using an ability based classification approach. Using ability-based prioritization, appropriate alternate modalities and quality levels are chosen, to replace the inaccessible modalities. The adaptation process allows for refinements to cater to specific types and degrees of impairments. Our performance results illustrate the benefits of the ability-based adaptation approach.