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Add accessibility considerations regarding real-time text
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Based on discussions with APA Working Group during TPAC https://www.w3.org/2019/09/20-apa-minutes.html#item02 and following discussions
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dontcallmedom committed Oct 16, 2019
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Expand Up @@ -12928,6 +12928,51 @@ <h2>Setting SDP from remote endpoints</h2>
SDP.</p>
</section>
</section>
<section class="informative">
<h2>Accessibility Considerations</h2>
<p>The WebRTC 1.0 specification exposes an API to control protocols
(defined within the IETF) necessary to establish real-time
audio, video and data exchange.</p>

<p>Real-time Text, defined in [[RFC 4103]] on which people
who are deaf or hard of hearing (among others) rely on for their communication needs, utilizes T.140
encapsulated in RTP to enable the transition from TDD/TTY devices to
IP-based communications. Support for RFC 4103 is especially important as it is
being established as the new and more reliable mechanism for text
communications with <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=ada7cebd65433a9e05c35426a2bc76b8&mc=true&node=pt47.3.67&rgn=div5">Public Safety Access Points (PSAP)</a>.</p>

<p>Since Real-time Text requires the ability to send and receive data in near
real time, it can be best supported via the WebRTC 1.0 data channel API. As
defined by the IETF, the data channel protocol utilizes the SCTP/DTLS/UDP
protocol stack, which supports both reliable and unreliable data channels. The
IETF chose to standardize SCTP/DTLS/UDP over proposals for an RTP data channel
which relied on SRTP key management and were focused on unreliable
communications.</p>

<p>Since the IETF chose a different approach than the RTP data channel as part of
the WebRTC suite of protocols, as of the time of this publication there is no
standardized way for the WebRTC APIs to directly support Real-time Text as
defined at IETF and implemented in U.S. (FCC) regulations. The WebRTC working
Group will evaluate whether the developing
IETF protocols in this space warrant direct exposure in the browser APIs
and is looking for input from the relevant user communities on this
potential gap.</p>

Within the <a href="https://tools.ietf.org/wg/mmusic/">IETF MMUSIC Working Group</a>, work is ongoing to enable <a href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-holmberg-mmusic-t140-usage-data-channel">Real-time text to
be sent over the WebRTC data channel</a>, allowing gateways to be deployed
to translate between the SCTP data channel protocol and RFC 4103
Real-time text. This work, once completed, would enable a unified and
interoperable approach for integrating real-time text in WebRTC
user-agents (including browsers) - through a gateway or otherwise.</p>

<p>At the time of this publication, gateways that enable effective RTT
support in WebRTC clients can be developed e.g. through a custom WebRTC
data channel. This is deemed sufficient until such time as future
standardized gateways are enabled via IETF protocols such as the SCTP
data channel protocol and RFC 4103 Real-time text. This will need to be
defined at IETF in conjunction with related work at W3C groups to
effectively and consistently standardise RTT support internationally.</p>
</section>
<section class="appendix">
<h2>Acknowledgements</h2>
<p>The editors wish to thank the Working Group chairs and Team Contact,
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