ETSI, Sophia Antipolis, France ETSI STQ Conference: Communications for All,
Supporting Diversity and Accessibility through Quality of End-to-end Network Transmission
and Devices in Human-to-human and Human-to-machine Communication
13-14 May 2025
ETSI, Sophia Antipolis France
ETSI Technical Committee Speech and multimedia Transmission Quality (TC STQ) is pleased to announce that the ETSI STQ Conference: Communications for All - Supporting Diversity and Accessibility through Quality of End-to-end Network Transmission and Devices in Human-to-human and Human-to-machine Communication, will take place face-to-face in ETSI Premises, Sophia Antipolis, France on 13-14 May 2025.
The event is free of charge, open to all upon mandatory registration. The agenda is online. Register now!
About the event
This face-to-face conference aims at bringing together communities that have not been well-connected to standards development in speech and multimedia transmission until now. ETSI TC STQ recognizes the need to bring more inclusivity to technical standards on the quality of network transmission and devices on speech and multimedia in human-to-human and human-to-machine communication, to ensure that diverse groups have input into the work of STQ.
Standardization of measurement and evaluation methods for speech and multimedia devices and networks is crucial to ensure that all users receive high quality of service and high quality of experience. Previous work in ETSI TC STQ has focused on human perception of speech and audio, as well as network-enabled services. However, with some exceptions, various aspects of accessibility still need to be addressed.
In order to bridge this gap, this conference will provide a venue for interested advocates and communities to present and discuss issues of relevance, that so far have not been at the centre of technical standards development. The Programme Committee encourages a wide range of inputs and views to help inform and guide future work on diversity and accessibility.
Target Audience
The event is addressed to:
- Affected / relevant user groups,
- Research bodies,
- Regulators,
- Manufacturers,
- Systems Integrators,
- Service providers,
- Network Operators
The agenda is now avalailable.
Additional information to attendees: should you have accessibility needs, please contact us and we will do our best to accommodate them.
Stable agenda of the ETSI STQ Conference. Please note that some timings may be subject to change.
- Day 1: Tuesday 13 May
09:00 - 10:30 SESSION 1: Welcome and Opening Session
Chaired by Scott Isabelle, ETSI STQ ChairSession Objectives: Overview of accessibility topics, relations to and impacts on standards.
- 09:00 Welcome Address
Ultan Mulligan, ETSI Chief Standardization Services Officer (CSO) - 09:05 Overview of ETSI TC STQ (ETSI Technical Committee Speech and multimedia Transmission Quality)
Scott Isabelle, ETSI TC STQ Chair - 09:15 Keynotes Panel Discussion, moderated by Scott Isabelle, featuring:
- Susanna Laurin, International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) / Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict)
- Lidia Best, European Federation of Hard of Hearing People (EFHOH)
- 10:00 Use of Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants in Communication
Matjaž Debevc, University of Maribor - 10:20 Q&A
10:30 - 11:00 Networking Coffee
11:00 - 12:30 - SESSION 2: Accessibility Part 1
Chaired by Jean-Yves Monfort, SC User Chair, AFUTTSession Objectives: Role of User Information Systems (UIS) in improving Quality of Experience (QoE) and accessibility solutions for speech understanding.
- 11:00 UIS as a QoE Accelerator
Scott Cadzow, C3L (Cadzow Communications Consulting Ltd) - 11:20 Multi-modal Transport - Use Case for User Information Systems in Expanding Quality of Experience
Bernard Dupré, ETSI STF679 - 11:40 Healthcare interactions - Use Case for User Information Systems in Expanding Quality of Experience
Mauro Dragoni, ETSI STF679 - 12:00 Usability and Accessibility Solutions to Support Speech Understanding
Matthias Schneider, ETSI TC HF (Human Factors) Vice Chair, Hillebrand Consulting GmbH, - 12:20 Q&A
12:30 - 14:00 Networking Lunch
14:00 - 15:30 SESSION 3: Gender and inclusiveness
Chaired by Jan Reimes, ETSI TC STQ Vice ChairSession Objectives: Exploring gender-related factors in speech transmission and perception, with insights from real-world applications and implications for design of future speech communication systems.
- 14:00 Using the “Nothing Without Us” Approach is Ensuring that No One is Left Behind
Dino Zuppa, Accessibility Standards Canada - 14:20 Gender-related Aspect of Transmitted Speech Quality in Modern Telecommunication Networks
Jan Holub, mesaqin.com Ltd. / FEE CTU Prague - 14:40 Speech, Technology and Gender Aspects - Taking Human Factors to the Next Level?
Yann Kowalczuk, Czech Technical University in Prague - Faculty of Electrical Engineering - 15:00 Gender Effects in Speech Perception: An ETSI TR 103 950-Based Analysis of Listening Quality and Perceptual Dimensions
Wafaa Wardah, Technische Universität Berlin - 15:20 Q&A
15:30 - 16:00 Networking Coffee
16:00 - 17:30 SESSION 4: Accessibility Part 2
Chaired by Jan Holub, mesaqin.com Ltd.Session Objectives: Addressing the needs of individuals with hearing impairments and ensuring compliance with accessibility standards in emergency services and consumer devices.
- 16:00 Listening Needs for Children with Hearing Loss
Min Roh, Sonova Communications AG - 16:20 Requirements and Technologies for Complying with the European Accessibility Act for Accessible Emergency Services
Thor Nielsen, nWise - 16:40 Accessibility Aspects of Audio, Speech, and Video in Consumer Devices
Shadi Abou-Zahra, Amazon Devices and Services - 17:00 Q&A
17:30 - 19:00 Networking Cocktail & End of Day 1
- 09:00 Welcome Address
- Day 2: Wednesday 14 May
09:00 - 10:30 SESSION 5: Quality
Chaired by Ralf Pabst, ETSI TC STQ Mobile ChairSession Objectives: Some measures of quality in communication technologies, with a focus on accessibility.
- 09:00 Voice command for Cars - Trends and Challenges
Francois Fischer, Huawei Technologies R&D - 09:20 ETSI ISG F5G Standards: Services Quality Evaluation, Testing and Monitoring in Fixed Optical Network
Marcus Brunner, ETSI ISG F5G - 09:40 Interoperable Total Conversation - Enables Real-time Communication for All
Gunnar Hellström, ETSI STF 674, GHAccess - 10:00 Simple Assessment of Video Quality for Sign Language and Lip-reading
Gunnar Hellström, ETSI STF 674, GHAccess - 10:20 Q&A
10:30 - 11:00 Networking Coffee
11:00 - 12:30 SESSION 6: Speech Communication Standards
Chaired by Scott Isabelle, ETSI TC STQ ChairSession Objectives: Considering accessibility in methods of evaluating speech communication systems.
- 11:00 How Meaningful are Existing Terminal Testing Standards in Times of AI and Changing User Behavior?
Hans Wilhelm Gierlich, Communication, Speech, Audio - 11:20 An Approach for Synthesizing Lombard Speech
Magnus Schäfer, HEAD acoustics GmbH - 11:40 Comparing Different Prediction Models for Perceived Listening Effort
Jan Reimes, HEAD acoustics GmbH - 12:00 Q&A
12:30 Closing Remarks
Presented by Scott Isabelle, ETSI STQ Chair13:00 End of ETSI STQ Conference
- 09:00 Voice command for Cars - Trends and Challenges
- Scott Isabelle, ETSI TC STQ Chair, Amazon
- Jan Reimes, ETSI TC STQ Vicechair, Head acoustics
- Joachim Pomy, ETSI TC STQ Vicechair, NETCHECK
- Ralf Pabst, ETSI TC STQ Mobile chair, Accenture
- Jean-Yves Monfort, SC User Chair, AFUTT
- Peter Pocta, University of Zilina
- Jan Holub, MESAQIN
- Pawel Trella, Intel
- Andre Schevciw, Qualcomm
- Jens Berger, Rhode-Schwarz
- Antoine Burckart, ETSI TC STQ Technical Officer
Venue:
ETSI Headquarters
650 Route des Lucioles
06560 Valbonne - Sophia Antipolis
FRANCE
Tel: +33 4 92 94 42 00
Information on venue, travel, visa, local accommodation is available at www.etsi.org/events/find-us
Additional information to attendees: should you have accessibility needs, please contact us and we will do our best to accommodate them.