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Re: Audio description in gapless movie

for

From: Robert Fentress
Date: Jun 18, 2015 2:47PM

Hi, Lynn.

The Understanding WCAG section dealing with this standard (
http://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/media-equiv-audio-desc-only.html)
says
"audio description provides information about actions, characters, scene
changes, and on-screen text *that are important* [emphasis mine] and are
not described or spoken in the main sound track." So I guess I'd ask, "Are
they important?"

The folks at the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) provide some
additional guidance with their Description Tip Sheet (
https://www.dcmp.org/public_content/ai/227/) about what to describe and how.

Are you familiar with YouDescribe (http://youdescribe.org/)? That site
allows you to easily add extended (or regular) audio descriptions to
YouTube videos. If you are concerned that the descriptions could be
distracting, then could you make two versions available, one with audio
descriptions using YouDescribe's custom player and then the original one on
YouTube itself? Is YouTube an option for you?

If YouTube is not possible as a permanent means of delivering the video,
you could also use it temporarily just to add the descriptions in
YouDescribe. Then, you could do a screencast of the video with the audio
descriptions enabled and make that video available in the player of your
choice. Of course, that could result in a degradation in quality and you
could just add the descriptions in a video editing program if you have that
skill set. YouDescribe does make it really easy to add the descriptions,
though.

The downside of using the YouDescribe player is that, since it is
Flash-based, it leaves out the iOS users, which is why two separate videos,
one with the descriptions embedded in the video itself seems like the most
accessible option to me. The last time I checked, it didn't seem like
there was any web-based video player that worked on iOS that supported a
separate track for the descriptions that could be enabled and disabled--at
least not one that used an HTML5 video player that could work on other
platforms.

Its been a while since I last checked though. Perhaps things have
changed. I'd be interested in what other folks are doing.

Best,
Rob


On Thu, Jun 18, 2015 at 9:41 AM, Lynn Holdsworth < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I'm auditing an hour-long Flash movie comprising scores of very old
> movies and interviews. The scene changes every minute or so. Mostly
> the scene isn't important - it's often no more than a generic image to
> accompany some audio. There's a couple of wartime vignetts with
> exploding bombs and casualties and that type of thing. In those, the
> tone of the interview sets the scene, and audio description here,
> although definitely a nice-to-have, doesn't seem essential.
>
> There are very few gaps in the audio track where descriptions could be
> slotted in.
>
> Do I need to fail this under 1.2.5 (Audio description is provided for
> all pre-recorded video content in synchronized media.)?
>
> I suppose it's technically a fail, since there's no description track.
>
> The audio could be paused and the descriptions slotted in, but as a
> user I think I'd find this intensely annoying, and anyhow it would be
> a triple A rather than double A requirement.
>
> I'm wondering if SMIL could be used to write the descriptions in text
> on a specific control on the movie stage. Perhaps the control could
> serve as a pause button so users could pause the track and read the
> description only if they chose to. Is this overkill? Is it too much of
> an ask?
>
> Would really appreciate your thoughts on this.
>
> Cheers, Lynn
> > > > >



--
Robert Fentress
Senior Accessibility Solutions Designer
540.231.1255

Technology-enhanced Learning & Online Strategies
Assistive Technologies
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