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Re: transcription of audio

for

From: Jared Smith
Date: Nov 5, 2018 8:49AM

> I respectfully disagree that audio description should be at Level AAA.

> An alternative that is separate is not an equivalent experience.

Consider someone that is deaf-blind or that requires a text
alternative to multimedia. They currently are provided no alternative
at all under WCAG Level AA. This is hugely impactful to these users.

While most media can be produced to remove the need for audio
description if it is designed to be self-described, the reality is
that due to the cost, effort, and expertise involved, audio
description is nearly non-existent on the web for multimedia that
needs it. On the other hand, if that media is captioned (as required
at Level A), it is trivial to provide a descriptive transcript. WCAG,
however, does not require this until AAA.

I fully realize that my recommendation may come at a cost to users
with visual disabilities encountering multimedia that has visual-only
content. Would the impact on these users needing to access a
transcript be less than the current impact of WCAG AA providing no
accessibility at all for a different, extensive audience? I don't
really know, but I think it's a good question for the W3C to consider.

Of course the best result would be for all media to have captions,
descriptive transcripts, and (if necessary) audio description - and
this is precisely what we recommend.

Jared