BBC Unveils Revamped Red-Button Interactive TV Service for Children's Channel, CBeebies

In a posting on the BBC Red Button team's Press Red blog last week, Damian Vicary, interactive TV producer for BBC Children's, announced the launch of a revamped red-button interactive TV service for CBeebies, the BBC's digital channel for children six and under. Among other things, the new version of the service (which is accessed by pressing red while watching CBeebies) features:

• A new look that highlights the channel's various characters. "We realize that for most viewers, the characters are the most loved thing on the channel, so we've put them at the heart of the service," Vicary wrote. "No longer are all the characters squeezed onto one page, or written down in a boring list--we now have a big, bold and bright menu linking you straight into games, services like 'CBeebies Karaoke,' 'Birthdays' and 'Star of the Week' messages."
• A range of new games, based on the channel's shows, as well as on its signature "bug" characters. "Games are one of the most popular services for the CBeebies audience, but for a long time the games we've offered on the red button have felt a little bit tired and out of date," Vicary wrote. "The new service brings with it brand new games for some of the most popular shows on CBeebies. Who doesn't love 'In the Night Garden'? Well now you can play along with Makka Pakka, Upsy Daisy and Igglepiggle whenever you want. 'The Green Balloon Club' opens kids' eyes to nature. Whether they live in the countryside or the middle of town, the gameplay has been designed to get children really involved. The CBeebies bugs feature heavily on the CBeebies channel all day every day, The CBeebies bug games have children catching or rearranging these bugs across loads of fun levels." Gameplay is slightly different on Sky, Virgin and Freeview (note: the CBeebies red button service is not available on the UK's Freesat platform), in order to take into account the capabilities and limitations of each platform.
• A range of information for parents and other caregivers, that is accessed by pressing the green button from within the interactive TV service. "The red button service not only caters for the 0-6 years olds, it also has something to offer the grown-ups (often the person pressing the red button in the first place!)," Vicary wrote. "If you want to know what games will be available and when, what last night's bedtime story was, how to send in a birthday message or when CBeebies karaoke is available--pressing the green button when in the service will tell you. It will also give you the low down on what hot topics are being talked about on the BBC Online 'messageboards' and give you some great ideas for educational games you can play with your kids."
• Viewers on the Sky satellite platform can now access highlights, including stories and songs, from the previous week's broadcasts of CBeebies radio. The service can be turned off by pressing the yellow button from within the application.

In other BBC news: The corporation last week launched audio-described programming on its online catch-up service, BBC iPlayer. It says that approximately 25 hours of audio-described programs will now be available on the service each week, including dramas such as "Doctor Who," "Being Human" and "EastEnders"; comedy such as "Little Britain" and "Jam and Jerusalem"; and children's programs such as "Tracy Beaker" and "The Sarah Jane Adventures." The BBC also says it plans to provide more of its weekly audio-described programs on the iPlayer in the future. In order to access the iPlayer's new audio description service--which uses the gaps between dialogue on programs to explain to sight-impaired people what is happening on-screen--users first go to the "Audio Described" category in the BBC iPlayer, and then select the program they would like to watch from a list of audio-described programs available from the past seven days. "The BBC is committed to high standards of accessibility across all of its sites and services, especially popular new services like BBC iPlayer which aim to deliver the benefits of emerging technologies to all our audiences," Jonathan Hassell, BBC Future Media head of audience experience and usability, said in a prepared statement. "We're therefore delighted that the BBC is the first broadcaster in the world to include audio-described TV programs for our blind and visually impaired audiences in its video-on-demand service." Added Lesley-Anne Alexander, chief executive of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB): "RNIB welcomes the launch of audio description on the BBC iPlayer and recognizes this as a major breakthrough and great leap forward in access for blind and partially sighted people in the UK which will hopefully reverberate around the world."