D202.4. Toolbox for knowledge-base population

for people with Disabilities and for All D202.4. Toolbox for knowledge-base population Project Acronym Cloud4all Grant Agreement Number FP7-289016 Deliverable No. D202.4 Work package No. WP202 Work package Title Generation & Maintenance of Metadata for content and solutions Authors FDCGO, CERTH Status Final Dissemination Level Public Delivery Date 07/04/2014 Number of Pages 20

Keyword List Metadata, Vocabulary of technical details, Semantic description Version History Table 1. Version history Revision Date Author Organization Description 1 21/02/2014 Valerio Gower FDCGO First draft 2 10/03/2014 Valerio Gower FDCGO Advanced draft Nikolaos Kaklanis, Konstantinos Votis 3 31/03/2014 Tzovaras Dimitrios CERTH Improvements to the tool Kilintzis Vasileios Stavropoulos Georgios Valerio Gower, 4 07/04/2014 Nikolaos Kaklanis, FDCGO, CERTH For Peer Review Konstantinos Votis 5 16/04/2014 Valerio Gower FDCGO Revised after reviewers comments 6 27/05/2014 Valerio Gower FDCGO Final version after PC and TC review Statement of originality This deliverable contains original unpublished work except where clearly indicated otherwise. Acknowledgement of previously published material and of the work of others has been made through appropriate citation, quotation or both. ii

Table of contents Executive Summary... 1 1 Introduction... 2 1.1 Objectives of this document... 2 1.2 Innovation beyond the state of the art... 2 1.3 Relationship with other WPs and Activities... 2 1.4 Structure of the document... 2 2 Background... 3 2.1 The EASTIN Taxonomy... 3 3 Toolbox for metadata management... 5 3.1 Purpose of the toolbox... 5 3.2 Functionalities of the toolbox... 6 3.3 Implementation of the toolbox... 6 3.3.1 Procedures to propose new items to the metadata vocabulary... 7 3.3.2 Functionalities for managing the proposals... 10 4 Usage of the metadata vocabulary... 11 5 Conclusions... 12 6 References... 13 Annex 1 The vocabulary of the EASTIN taxonomy... 14 iii

List of Tables Table 1. Version history... ii Table 2. List of abbreviations...i Table 3. Example of relations between taxonomy items and ISO divisions... 4 iv

List of Figures Figure 1. Interface for advanced search of AT products in EASTIN... 5 Figure 2. The interface for proposing a new typology to be added to the metadata vocabulary.... 7 Figure 3. The interface for proposing a new item for the metadata vocabulary to be added to an existing group of items.... 8 Figure 4. The tool proposing terms similar to the one entered... 9 Figure 5. The interface for proposing a new group of items for the metadata vocabulary.... 10 Figure 6. The page where administrators can manage the proposals... 10 Figure 7. Form for editing and approving/rejecting of a proposal... 11 v

List of abbreviations Table 2. List of abbreviations Abbreviation AT SAT EASTIN ETNA GPII API WS UL Definition Assistive Technology Semantic Alignment Tool European Assistive Technology Information Network European Thematic Network on Assistive Information Technologies Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure Application Programming Interface Web Service Unified Listing i

Executive Summary Purpose and scope: This deliverable describes the toolbox of functions for metadata management, that is aimed at allowing manufacturers of AT to appropriately describe their products and solutions. Through these tools, manufacturers can propose improvements to the metadata vocabulary that is used to semantically characterize AT solutions. Methodology: A set of functions has been developed that provide a toolbox of tools for metadata management. To make things easier to find and use, such functionalities have been developed as extensions to the Semantic Alignment Tool, which the developers will already be using to attach metadata to the records for their products. Results: The tools developed allow manufacturers (or vendors) of AT products to propose new items to be added to the metadata vocabulary that is used to semantically characterize AT solutions. Proposed items are analyzed by the metadata administrators that can decide to accept, accept with modification, or reject the proposals. Conclusion: If widely used by manufacturers and developers of AT, the toolbox for metadata management will allow the metadata vocabulary to be continuously updated to reflect the latest technological development. Recommendations: The tool should be used by manufacturers and vendors to semantically characterize their solutions and make them available to the CLOUD4All/GPII infrastructure. 1

1 Introduction 1.1 Objectives of this document This deliverable is the output of activity A202.4: Toolbox for professional and vendor entry and maintenance of Metadata, included in WP202: Generation & Maintenance of Metadata for content and solutions and part of Sub-Project 2: Identifying solutions of Cloud4all. The main objectives of this activity are: OO.5.3: To develop processes and supports to most effectively use limited human resources to author, edit and update metadata OO.5.4: To determine how metrics and feedback from use of resource components can be used to refine and enrich metadata 1.2 Innovation beyond the state of the art The main innovation of the toolbox for metadata management is the approach and methods for involving manufacturers, developers, as well as other Assistive Technology professionals, in the definition of the metadata vocabulary for the semantic characterization of AT products. Instead of relying on an existing fixed vocabulary, by using this toolbox, manufacturers can propose new terms for the appropriate description of their products, thus contributing to the improvement of the ontology for the semantic characterization of AT solutions. 1.3 Relationship with other WPs and Activities The results of this deliverable are connected with the activities related to the Semantic Framework for contents and Solutions that is developed in WP 201, and the other tools for Generation and Maintenance of Metadata that are developed in WP 202. 1.4 Structure of the document In the first part of the document, a description of the structure of the metadata vocabulary, integrated in the SAT tool, is given. The vocabulary is based on the taxonomy developed within the EASTIN network (the European Assistive Technology Information Network). In the paragraphs that follow, a detailed description of the toolbox for metadata management is given. The purpose and main functionalities of the toolbox are described, the technical implementation, as an add-on of the SAT tool, is depicted, and the detailed procedures to be followed to propose new items to the metadata vocabulary are given. The functionalities available to the metadata administrator that can decide on the submitted proposals are also described. 2

2 Background In order to appropriately describe Assistive Technology products a dataset is needed including both basic information (e.g. name, manufacturer, typology, etc.) and detailed technical features. Since 2004 the partners of the EASTIN association (Andrich, 2011) have worked together to harmonize their databases and create a common dataset for describing AT products. More recently, within the European funded project ETNA (European Thematic Network on Assistive Information Technologies) (ETNA project, n.d.) (Andrich, Gower, & Vincenti, 2012), and in collaboration with the ATIS4All thematic network (ATIS4all Project, n.d.), the EASTIN data structure has been improved and structured into a Taxonomy 1 for the description of AT resources (Gower, Andrich, & Lyhne, 2013). A detailed description of the EASTIN taxonomy is available in D203.1 Mechanism for repositories federation. In the following, a brief description of the taxonomy is given. 2.1 The EASTIN Taxonomy The EASTIN taxonomy describes the following three categories of resources: Assistive Products Organizations, that include Companies (manufacturer, suppliers or resellers of AT products), Service Providers, and Projects Information materials, that include Articles, Case Descriptions, Ideas, FAQs, Forums, News, and Regulations. In particular, for what concerns Assistive Products, the EASTIN taxonomy defines a basic dataset and a vocabulary for Technical Details. The basic dataset represents the minimum set of information needed to uniquely identify a resource, understand what kind of resource it is and what it is about, and make the resource retrievable by the EASTIN search engine. Basic dataset includes: the product name, manufacturer information, the typology, information on update dates (when the record has been added to the database and when it was last updated), a free text description, an image, links to further information (e.g. brochure, user manual, etc.), and the name of the database where the information comes from. For the description of technical details of the product, a vocabulary has been created based on a two-level hierarchy made up of Clusters (also referred to as Groups) and Features. Homogeneous Features are grouped together in the same Cluster. For example, the Features Windows, Mac OS, Linux, etc... are all grouped in the Cluster Operating System, while Printer, Visual display, Tactile display, etc... 1 Within the scope of this deliverable, the term taxonomy means a structure for identifying and naming concepts and arranging them into classifications 3

are grouped in the Cluster Output devices. Features can be of two types: Measures, that can have a numeric value or an interval specified (e.g. weight, length,...), and Attributes, that do not have a specified value (i.e. are Boolean features). Currently the vocabulary consists of 18 Clusters and 237 features. The current version of the complete vocabulary is attached in Annex 1. As part of the EASTIN Taxonomy, a list of product typologies has also been identified. Those typologies are intended to be a refinement of some of the divisions included in the ISO 9999 standard (ISO, 2011). The items of the vocabulary have also been put in relation with the divisions (i.e. the product typologies) identified by the ISO 9999 standard. A matrix has been created to indicate for which product typologies a specific item of the vocabulary is relevant, and what the level of relevance is (on a 0-100% scale). For instance, the item Linux (Operating Systems) has 70% relevance for the ISO division 22.36.03 Keyboards and 100% relevance for the ISO division 22.36.18 Input software (see Table 3). Table 3. Example of relations between taxonomy items and ISO divisions Taxonomy items ISO divisions 22.36.03 Keyboards 22.36.18 Input Software 22.39.12 Special output software Width (Overall dimensions) Linux (Operating Systems) Accelerometers (Input devices) 100% 0% 0% 70% 100% 100% 60% 60% 0%... This relevance ranking of ISO divisions can be used to present, in data entry forms, the vocabulary items ordered by relevance with respect to the specific product category. For example when data of an on-screen keyboard (that belongs to the ISO division 22.36.18 Input software) are entered into a database, the items related to the supported operating systems are presented before the items related to the input devices, while the items related to the dimensions are not presented. The same relevance ranking is also used in the Advanced Search functionality of the EASTIN system to refine searches, within a specific product typology, by specifying desired features: after having selected an ISO division, a form with the features that most often apply to that product category is presented (Figure 1). 4

Figure 1. Interface for advanced search of AT products in EASTIN 3 Toolbox for metadata management The EASTIN taxonomy has been integrated in the Semantic Alignment Tool 2 (SAT) where it is used for describing the solutions to be integrated in the CLOUD4All/GPII infrastructure. In particular, the metadata vocabulary of the SAT tool has been built on the basis of the EASTIN vocabulary of technical details. 3.1 Purpose of the toolbox The metadata vocabulary of the SAT tool is intended to be a dynamically changing vocabulary. As the market of AT evolves, new items will in fact be needed for appropriately describing the new products. For instance, a new Operating System appearing on the market will require that a new item is introduced in the Cluster operating system in order to describe products compliant with it; likewise, a new innovative product may not fit in any of the current typologies, thus a new typology should be created. 2 For detailed information on the Semantic Alingment Tool please refer to deliverable D202.1 5

Within this context, the purpose of the toolbox is to provide a way for manufacturer (or vendors) of AT products to propose new items to be added to the metadata vocabulary, in order to appropriately describe their product. 3.2 Functionalities of the toolbox In line with the purpose specified above, the toolbox for metadata entry includes the following functionalities or Tools: Manufacturers (or Vendors) of AT product can propose a new item to be added to the metadata vocabulary. Manufacturers can propose: o a new product Typology, in case they believe that their product does not fit in any of the existing categories; o a new Feature, in case they believe that an important functionality or characteristic of their product cannot be represented with the existing items of the vocabulary; o a new Cluster of features, in case they believe that an entire group of features is missing in the vocabulary. Administrators of the metadata vocabulary can see the proposals made by manufacturers and use the tool to: o accept the proposal; o modify the proposal and then accept it; or o reject the proposal; o provide a feedback on the decision to the proposer including the rationale in case of rejection. 3.3 Implementation of the toolbox The Toolbox has been implemented as an add-on of the SAT tool. The main reason for this approach is to avoid duplications of tools that manufacturers have to access to enter data about their product and to suggest improvements to the metadata vocabulary used to semantically characterize the solutions. Manufacturers (or vendors) are given the opportunity to propose new items for the metadata vocabulary while they are entering data about their products in the SAT tool. Administrators of the metadata vocabulary are then able to see the proposals and decide to accept or reject them. 6

3.3.1 Procedures to propose new items to the metadata vocabulary 3.3.1.1 Submitting a proposal for a new product typology In order to propose a new product typology, the manufacturer accesses the SAT tool and goes to the section that allows entering a new product. There they will find a text box where they can enter the typology of the product they wish to enter. A lexicographic analysis of the text entered is made by the tool and a list of possible relevant typologies (selected among the ones available in the metadata vocabulary) is suggested. At this stage, the manufacturer can select one of the typologies suggested or decide to submit a proposal for a new typology if they believe that their product does not fit in any of the suggested typologies. Figure 2. The interface for proposing a new typology to be added to the metadata vocabulary. To submit a proposal for new product typology, the manufacturer has to enter the name of the typology and a short description (see Figure 2). The user can also select the division of the ISO 9999 standard where they believe the proposed typology fits (or leave the field blank in case they believe none of the ISO divisions included is relevant). The user can also select a proposal already submitted (but yet to be analyzed by the administrator) from a drop down list. This is to avoid the user having to re-enter the proposal for each product belonging to the same typology they want to add. The manufacturer can then continue inserting data on their product by clicking on the next button. 3.3.1.2 Submitting a proposal for a new term of the metadata vocabulary To propose a new term to be added to the metadata vocabulary, the manufacturer accesses the SAT tool, goes to the section that allows entering a new product, and 7

(after having entered the product typology) goes to the section for entering product details. In this step the manufacturer can describe their product by selecting appropriate items of the metadata vocabulary. If they believe that a relevant feature of their product cannot be described with the existing terms, the manufacturer can propose new terms to be added to the vocabulary. Figure 3. The interface for proposing a new item for the metadata vocabulary to be added to an existing group of items. Within each Group of features, a form is available to submit a proposal of a new item to be added to the metadata vocabulary. The form requires entering the name of the feature, a short description, and the type of item (i.e. measure or attribute) (Figure 3). Proposals already submitted (but yet to be analyzed by the administrator) are also presented on a dropdown list to avoid requiring the manufacturer to re-enter the same proposal for every product they wish to add that needs the same feature. When the user clicks the submit proposal button, a lexicographic analysis of the name is made and similar items available in the metadata vocabulary are presented. The user can then select one of the proposed terms or continue to submit the proposal (Figure 4). If the user selects one of the similar items proposed by the system, the corresponding feature is automatically added for the product that is being entered. 8

Figure 4. The tool proposing terms similar to the one entered The user can then continue inserting data and click on next when done. 3.3.1.3 Submitting a proposal for a new group of terms for the metadata vocabulary The manufacturer can also add a proposal for an entire new Group of items. In order to do so, the manufacturer has to access the page for entering product details and fill out the form that appears when the button propose a new group of item (available in the lower part of the page, just after the list of existing groups of items) is pressed. To propose a new group of items, the manufacturer has to enter the name and a short description of the group, and the details (name and short description) of the items belonging to the proposed group (see Figure 5). When a new group is proposed, at least 1 item must be entered within the group. 9

Figure 5. The interface for proposing a new group of items for the metadata vocabulary. 3.3.2 Functionalities for managing the proposals Taxonomy administrators then access a page where they will find all the proposals that have been submitted (Figure 6). By clicking the action button, an administrator can decide to accept, modify and accept, or reject the corresponding proposal (Figure 7). Figure 6. The page where administrators can manage the proposals 10

Figure 7. Form for editing and approving/rejecting of a proposal When a proposal is accepted the tool automatically sends an email to the proponent to inform them about the approval. If the proposal is instead rejected, the tool activates a functionality that allows the administrator to send feedback to the proposer (through email service) in order to inform them of the decision and provide the rationale (e.g. your proposal for the term xyz has not been accepted because the term is already included in the vocabulary. It can be found under the group xyz ).. This feedback functionality facilitates the process of training the manufacturers in appropriately using of the metadata vocabulary. Terms proposed by manufacturers that are not accepted are taken into consideration for populating a synonyms list (i.e. a list of aliases for the items of the vocabulary). Note: for term that are in the Common Terms Registry/Compendium, the review and approval process are slightly different, since they must be reviewed by the CTR/C committee which uses a separate process. For all the other terms in the Ontology however, the review and response is done directly from the SAT. 4 Usage of the metadata vocabulary After AT manufacturers have started using the SAT and metadata toolbox intensively (and therefore many of the ICT AT products available on the market will have been semantically characterized trough the metadata vocabulary), periodic analyses of the usage of the metadata vocabulary will be performed aimed at refining and enriching both the user interface of the toolbox and the metadata vocabulary itself. The analysis will include calculations regarding how often each of the items of the vocabulary is used by manufacturers to semantically characterize their products. The analysis will be done both for the overall list of products and for each specific typology (i.e. for screen readers, on screen keyboards, etc.). The number of products (both the absolute number and the percentage) for which a taxonomy item has been used will be calculated. This will give an overview of how the different features are represented within the products. A deeper analysis will be done for the items of the vocabulary that are not used (or only used few times), in order to understand the motivations for that (e.g. the item is not needed, the item is not clear, the list of product is not complete, etc.). This will help refining the vocabulary of metadata and the interface of the metadata toolbox and SAT. All the proposals submitted by manufacturers (both accepted and rejected proposals) will also be kept and periodically analyzed. This information will also help in the tuning of the vocabulary and the interfaces. 11

5 Conclusions If widely used by AT manufacturers, suppliers and developers, the toolbox for metadata management described in this deliverable can contribute to keep the metadata vocabulary continuously updated to the latest technological developments and products available on the market. This will help sharing the effort needed to providing an appropriate ontological framework for the description of AT products. 12

6 References Andrich, R. (2011). Towards a global information network: the European Assistive Technology Information Network and the World Alliance of AT Information Providers. In G. J. Gelderblom, M. Soede, L. Adriaens, & K. Miesenberger, Everyday technology for independence and care (pp. 190-197). Amsterdam: IosPress. Andrich, R., Gower, V., & Vincenti, S. (2012). Information Needs Related to ICT-Based Assistive Solutions. In K. Miesenberger, A. Karshmer, P. Penaz, & W. Zagler (Eds.), Computers Helping People with Special Needs (Vol. 7382, pp. 207-214). Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. Gower, V., Andrich, R., & Lyhne, T. (2013). A Taxonomy for Describing ICT-based Assistive Technologies. In R. A. Cooper (Ed.), Assistive Technology: from research to practice (pp. 254-260). Amsterdam: IOS press. ISO. (2011). ISO 9999:2011. Assisitive products for person with disability Classification and terminology. Geneve: International Organization for Standardization. ATIS4all Project. (n.d.). Retrieved 2012 йил 18-September from http://www.atis4all.eu/ ETNA project. (n.d.). Retrieved 2012 йил 18-September from http://www.etnaproject.eu/ 13

Annex 1 The vocabulary of the EASTIN taxonomy Please find the vocabulary of the EASIN taxonomy in Cloud4all/GPII s wiki. 14