SWISS TXT as an implementation partner for Innosuisse IICT

The Swiss Innovation Agency (Innosuisse) has approved a major four-year project entitled "Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies" (IICT) as part of its new Flagship Initiative. SWISS TXT is involved as an implementation partner. We asked Gion Linder two questions about this project.

Regarding accessibility, this project focuses on five applications: text simplification, sign language translation, sign language verification, audio description and spoken subtitles. The Flagship's approach is a participatory one. People with disabilities are involved in all stages of the research and development cycle. The project is led by the Department of Computational Linguistics at the University of Zurich. The total budget is CHF 12.4 million and SWISS TXT takes part in the project as an implementation partner.

Gion Linder, the head of Accessibility Services, answers two questions about the IICT Innosuisse project

What is the aim of the project and what added value does it offer to the end user?
The main aim is to find solutions in the area of accessibility services for audiovisual content. We are deliberately not selecting conventional production methods and trying new approaches instead based on artificial intelligence. Thanks to our collaboration with Swiss universities, we have access to this know-how. The benefit for the end user is a broader offer.

What are the biggest challenges?
First, we had to convince the universities of our ideas. For me, showing concrete solutions in the end and not just developing basic scientific material was the main goal. It was not easy, but I feel that we developed a common understanding with the universities.