WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: YouTube Live accessibility?

for

From: John Foliot
Date: Jul 14, 2016 10:14AM

Hi Vanessa,

You asked "...is it acceptable...", but that is a very conditional
question. That is more of a legal and compliance question than anything
else, and so the answer to that question likely resides more with your
legal folks. For WCAG compliance however, the answer is found here:

*1.2.4 Captions (Live):* Captions
<https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/#captionsdef> are provided for all live
<https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/#livedef> audio
<https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/#audiodef> content in synchronized media
<https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/#synchronizedmediadef>. (Level AA)

...and so, no, not really.

It is (I would suggest) a risky proposition to presume that captions aren't
needed until requested: not all users who need/want captions are
necessarily going to pre-register and request that. (It sort of reminds me
of the 2nd floor restaurant debating the need for an elevator, as none of
their patrons are in wheelchairs...) Establishing a method to provide
textual alternatives to the audio (and video) streams in advance will
likely also end up being more cost effective over the long run.

I have seen (and been part of) live captioning inside of the Adobe Connect
environment (see:
http://environmentsforhumans.com/2015/accessibility-summit/#.V4e4WLgrKhc),
and as far as I recall, they are using a CART service who are inputting
into the Adobe Connect space, and that 'platform' while not perfect, is
pretty darned good accessibility-wise. (For CART srevices, you might find
this helpful: http://ccacaptioning.org/faqs-cart/)

HTH

JF



On Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 8:41 AM, Preast, Vanessa < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> Does this also apply to live distance instruction, such as using Adobe
> Connect or webinars?
>
> If so, is it acceptable to provide the live captioning only on the
> occasions when a participant registering for the event indicates the need
> for live captions? Otherwise the captions would be added to the recording
> later?
>
> Thanks
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On
> Behalf Of Chaals McCathie Nevile
> Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2016 5:59 AM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] YouTube Live accessibility?
>
> On Thu, 14 Jul 2016 08:53:41 +0200, < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> > Hi all!
> >
> > I just joined, so this is my first post to the forum. :)
> >
> > I've recently been asked at work how accessible YouTube live is. Since
> > it's a live feed I suggested that a live transcript/captioning would
> > be appropriate which they weren't thrilled to hear.
>
> They may not be thrilled, but accessibility of video means captions, and
> for live video that means live captions.
>
> > But I'm still trying to look into the service to see if Google might
> > be doing anything about it (I don't know if Google's auto-captioning
> > works?) or to see what, if any, alternatives there might be.
> >
> > Appreciate any thoughts/advice!
>
> Auto-captioning is generally very useful - the error rate is low enough
> that overall it is a win. But for a corporate client I would VERY STRONGLY
> advise them to put manual verification into the procedure. When a senior
> consultant's title, or an important person's name, is mis-captioned as a
> few four-letter words, it should make the argument clear.
>
> Unfortunately the real-world examples I know of have all been carefully
> buried by the organisations on whose faces the egg landed, so I cannot
> demonstrate live what I mean. But trust me, audiences rarely forget the
> organisation's name years after they watch the clip, even if they forget
> all the details.
>
> cheers
>
> Chaals
>
> --
> Charles McCathie Nevile - web standards - CTO Office, Yandex
> <EMAIL REMOVED> - - - Find more at http://yandex.com
> > > at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> > > > > >



--
John Foliot
Principal Accessibility Strategist
Deque Systems Inc.
<EMAIL REMOVED>

Advancing the mission of digital accessibility and inclusion