WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Thread: text equivalent for words in a video?

for

Number of posts in this thread: 8 (In chronological order)

From: Keith Parks
Date: Tue, Sep 23 2008 12:00PM
Subject: text equivalent for words in a video?
No previous message | Next message →

Hi folks.

I have a video that consists of words (text) moving around on the
screen. There are some "swoosh" sound effects, but no dialog. In what
form would I create the equivalent text alternative?

If it was a regular graphic, I'd do it as an alt, or possibly
longdesc. But how to code this for an embedded video? Maybe nested
<embed> tag within the video's <embed> tags?

I could caption it, but do screen readers read the text out of caption
files?

Thanks for any ideas or references,

Keith

******************************
Keith Parks
Graphic Designer/Web Designer
Student Affairs Communications Services
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-7444
(619) 594-1046
mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/communications

http://kparks.deviantart.com/gallery
----------------------------------------------------------

World Peace through Cascading Style Sheets.


From: Moore, Michael
Date: Tue, Sep 23 2008 12:20PM
Subject: Re: text equivalent for words in a video?
← Previous message | Next message →

Audio description as a separate audio track would meet the needs of
blind users. A transcript that included descriptions of what is
happening in the video for people who are deaf/blind. Captions of the
sound effects may add meaning for deaf users.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Keith Parks
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 12:55 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: [WebAIM] text equivalent for words in a video?

Hi folks.

I have a video that consists of words (text) moving around on the
screen. There are some "swoosh" sound effects, but no dialog. In what
form would I create the equivalent text alternative?

If it was a regular graphic, I'd do it as an alt, or possibly
longdesc. But how to code this for an embedded video? Maybe nested
<embed> tag within the video's <embed> tags?

I could caption it, but do screen readers read the text out of caption
files?

Thanks for any ideas or references,

Keith

******************************
Keith Parks
Graphic Designer/Web Designer
Student Affairs Communications Services
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-7444
(619) 594-1046
mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/communications

http://kparks.deviantart.com/gallery
----------------------------------------------------------

World Peace through Cascading Style Sheets.

From: Keith Parks
Date: Tue, Sep 23 2008 1:50PM
Subject: Re: text equivalent for words in a video?
← Previous message | Next message →

A couple of specific follow-ups...

On Sep 23, 2008, at 11:14 AM, Moore, Michael wrote:

> Audio description as a separate audio track would meet the needs of
> blind users.

Is this necessary to meet 508? Or going beyond the letter of the law,
to actually meet the needs of blind users?

Normally one would only be required to create equivalent content in
text. I assume, as with other text, the assistive technology takes
care of turning the text into a form the blind user can access (speech
or braille).

> A transcript that included descriptions of what is
> happening in the video for people who are deaf/blind.

Is there a preferred way to provide a link to a transcript, other than
a simple on-screen text link?

Thanks,

Keith

******************************
Keith Parks
Graphic Designer/Web Designer
Student Affairs Communications Services
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-7444
(619) 594-1046
mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/communications

http://kparks.deviantart.com/gallery
----------------------------------------------------------

A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, served with a side of
slaw.





From: Moore, Michael
Date: Tue, Sep 23 2008 3:00PM
Subject: Re: text equivalent for words in a video?
← Previous message | Next message →

Keith wrote:

A couple of specific follow-ups...

On Sep 23, 2008, at 11:14 AM, Moore, Michael wrote:

> Audio description as a separate audio track would meet the needs of
> blind users.

Is this necessary to meet 508? Or going beyond the letter of the law,
to actually meet the needs of blind users?

Mike:

The specific 508 Standards are these:

§ 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and applications.

(a) A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided (e.g., via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content).

(b) Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall be synchronized with the presentation.

Item (b) would seem to suggest that if necessary to understand the content, then audio description would be required. How else could it be synchronized.

The issue in the video that you have described is whether it is really conveying any information that is important. Words moving across a screen with sound effects may actually qualify as purely decorative. I would need to actually see the animation in the context of the page to render a qualified judgment.

Of course this section will apply if you determine that the video is serving an informational rather than decorative purpose.:

§ 1194.24 Video and multimedia products.

(c) All training and informational video and multimedia productions which support the agency's mission, regardless of format, that contain speech or other audio information necessary for the comprehension of the content, shall be open or closed captioned.

(d) All training and informational video and multimedia productions which support the agency's mission, regardless of format, that contain visual information necessary for the comprehension of the content, shall be audio described.

I do not believe that simply because a video or multimedia presentation is embedded in a web page it is excluded from the requirement.

And finally the functional performance criteria:

§ 1194.31 Functional performance criteria.

(a) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user vision shall be provided, or support for assistive technology used by people who are blind or visually impaired shall be provided.

(b) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require visual acuity greater than 20/70 shall be provided in audio and enlarged print output working together or independently, or support for assistive technology used by people who are visually impaired shall be provided.

(c) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user hearing shall be provided, or support for assistive technology used by people who are deaf or hard of hearing shall be provided.

The functional performance criteria could be met with a transcript.

Keith:

Normally one would only be required to create equivalent content in
text. I assume, as with other text, the assistive technology takes
care of turning the text into a form the blind user can access (speech
or braille).

> A transcript that included descriptions of what is
> happening in the video for people who are deaf/blind.

Is there a preferred way to provide a link to a transcript, other than
a simple on-screen text link?

Mike:

That would be my preferred method, it's easy to implement, find and use.

Regards,

Mike

From: Keith Parks
Date: Tue, Sep 23 2008 3:50PM
Subject: Re: text equivalent for words in a video?
← Previous message | Next message →

Thanks for the replies. :^)

On Sep 23, 2008, at 1:58 PM, Moore, Michael wrote:

> I would need to actually see the animation in the context of the
> page to render a qualified judgment.

Since you asked...

<http://www.mtvu.com/video/?vid=276819>; (Though this is not in the
page context, we will be embedding the video in our own page... maybe.)

******************************
Keith Parks
Graphic Designer/Web Designer
Student Affairs Communications Services
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-7444
(619) 594-1046
mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/communications

http://kparks.deviantart.com/gallery
----------------------------------------------------------

World Peace through Cascading Style Sheets.


From: Keith Parks
Date: Tue, Sep 23 2008 4:30PM
Subject: Re: text equivalent for words in a video?
← Previous message | Next message →

On Sep 23, 2008, at 2:48 PM, Keith Parks wrote:

> <http://www.mtvu.com/video/?vid=276819>; (Though this is not in the
> page context, we will be embedding the video in our own page...
> maybe.)

I meant to add that I find it interesting that their own "text"
version of the video is not a "blow by blow" description ("The words
"I'm Stuck" bounce around the screen as if they are balls on a
handball court, etc..."), but instead it's a conceptual description of
what the video is intended to communicate. Which may be more in the
spirit of the law, and more useful too.

******************************
Keith Parks
Graphic Designer/Web Designer
Student Affairs Communications Services
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-7444
(619) 594-1046
mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/communications

http://kparks.deviantart.com/gallery
----------------------------------------------------------

World Peace through Cascading Style Sheets.


From: Angela French
Date: Wed, Sep 24 2008 5:10PM
Subject: Re: text equivalent for words in a video?
← Previous message | Next message →

I am working on link to transcription right now on my website and was
wondering if there is a best-practice label text (the words).

-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Parks [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ]
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 12:48 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] text equivalent for words in a video?

A couple of specific follow-ups...

On Sep 23, 2008, at 11:14 AM, Moore, Michael wrote:

> Audio description as a separate audio track would meet the needs of
> blind users.

Is this necessary to meet 508? Or going beyond the letter of the law,
to actually meet the needs of blind users?

Normally one would only be required to create equivalent content in
text. I assume, as with other text, the assistive technology takes
care of turning the text into a form the blind user can access (speech
or braille).

> A transcript that included descriptions of what is
> happening in the video for people who are deaf/blind.

Is there a preferred way to provide a link to a transcript, other than
a simple on-screen text link?

Thanks,

Keith

******************************
Keith Parks
Graphic Designer/Web Designer
Student Affairs Communications Services
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-7444
(619) 594-1046
mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/communications

http://kparks.deviantart.com/gallery
----------------------------------------------------------

A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, served with a side of
slaw.






From: Moore, Michael
Date: Thu, Sep 25 2008 7:20AM
Subject: Re: text equivalent for words in a video?
← Previous message | No next message

Just use well structured markup that reflects the structure of the
content. I have seen arguments pro and con about using definition lists
to mark up conversations. This use of definition lists is used as an
example on the W3 site, but is discouraged by some standards purists.
From an accessibility standpoint it does not seem to make much
difference with a screen reader because to my knowledge none of the
readers provide any special navigational support for definition lists.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Angela French
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 6:12 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] text equivalent for words in a video?

I am working on link to transcription right now on my website and was
wondering if there is a best-practice label text (the words).

-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Parks [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ]
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 12:48 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] text equivalent for words in a video?

A couple of specific follow-ups...

On Sep 23, 2008, at 11:14 AM, Moore, Michael wrote:

> Audio description as a separate audio track would meet the needs of
> blind users.

Is this necessary to meet 508? Or going beyond the letter of the law,
to actually meet the needs of blind users?

Normally one would only be required to create equivalent content in
text. I assume, as with other text, the assistive technology takes
care of turning the text into a form the blind user can access (speech
or braille).

> A transcript that included descriptions of what is
> happening in the video for people who are deaf/blind.

Is there a preferred way to provide a link to a transcript, other than
a simple on-screen text link?

Thanks,

Keith

******************************
Keith Parks
Graphic Designer/Web Designer
Student Affairs Communications Services
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-7444
(619) 594-1046
mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/communications

http://kparks.deviantart.com/gallery
----------------------------------------------------------

A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, served with a side of
slaw.