From: iaoc-rps(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
Subject: Accessibility of IETF Remote Participation Services
For more than a decade, the IETF has tried to make it easier for remote
attendees to participate in regular and interim face-to-face meetings. The
current tools that the IETF has been using, as well as the state of remote
participation services in the IETF was summarized by the IETF Chair in a
message to the IETF-Announce list on 5 February 2013:
http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/ietf/current/msg77020.html
Section 1 summarizes the current remote participation system:
The IETF's current remote participation system ("RPS") consists of a
outbound real-time audio stream for each session carried to remote
attendees over HTTP, textual multi-user chat carried over XMPP
(commonly called Jabber), and posting of slides prior to the WG
session so that they can be downloaded from the IETF web site.
WebEx and Meetecho are experimentally supported, offering outbound
real-time audio stream synchronized to the slides for the remote
participant. Meetecho displays the Jabber Room on the screen with
slides, and it can also be used to replay the audio and slides from
a recording.
As noted in Section 4 of the IETF Chair message, the IETF is currently
soliciting
suggestions for improvements in its RPS capabilities. As part of that, the
IETF
would like to solicit feedback on the accessibility and usability of remote
participation
services by IETF participants with disabilities. If you would like to comment
on
the accessibility and usability of IETF RPS services, please send email by July
26, 2013 to
iaoc-rps at ietf.org, Subject: RPS Accessibility, and CC:
ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org.
Bernard Aboba
Chair, IETF Remote Participation Services Committee