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Thread: YouTube Captioned Video

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Number of posts in this thread: 16 (In chronological order)

From: Janet Sylvia
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 6:36AM
Subject: YouTube Captioned Video
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Greetings,

I would like to ask your opinion of accessible video our organization has uploaded to YouTube.

The video is captioned and there are Text Transcript and Descriptive Text files available with the video.

Could you please share your thoughts about this? Anything to improve? Were you able to access the video and both text files?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_-ZFKTGQfo


Thanks in advance for your help,
Janet


Janet Sylvia
Digital Media Professional
University of Georgia

From: John E Brandt
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 12:15PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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Hi Janet,

Not sure if your message was directed to members of the listserv who are
Assistive Technology (AT) users or the general list.

I am NOT an AT user. However, the video with CC, video descriptions and
transcript looks great to me. I'm curious on how you were able to create and
load the interactive transcript. I have not seen this before and wonder if
it is a new feature in YouTube. It's pretty cool.

The only thing I could suggest is to change the settings (if possible) so
the video does not start to run immediately. If there were some directions
to let users know about the availability of the CC and the transcripts, that
would be helpful. But these suggestions may not be possible to accomplish
with YouTube.

~j

John E. Brandt
www.jebswebs.com
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
207-622-7937
Augusta, Maine, USA


From: Carin Headrick
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 12:39PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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Yeah I was pretty impressed. I have never ever seen a YouTube video
described, and some really need it! *smile*.

Carin

On 20/01/2011 8:19 AM, Janet Sylvia wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> I would like to ask your opinion of accessible video our organization has uploaded to YouTube.
>
> The video is captioned and there are Text Transcript and Descriptive Text files available with the video.
>
> Could you please share your thoughts about this? Anything to improve? Were you able to access the video and both text files?
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_-ZFKTGQfo
>
>
> Thanks in advance for your help,
> Janet
>
>
> Janet Sylvia
> Digital Media Professional
> University of Georgia
>

From: Morin, Gary (NIH/OD) [E]
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 12:48PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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Hi, Sylvia,

My one comment or concern is around the inclusion of 'descriptive text' instead of the video itself being audio described. Doing it your way does avoid the timing issue - working the description into time available between the audio portions as well as a non-sighted viewer being able to read at his or her own pace, regardless of the length of the video. However, not integrating the description into the video for simultaneous viewing/listening, the descriptions have no context to what Manan Sharma is talking about and if the visuals are related. Posting an audio-described version would simply mean posting two versions - one with and one without, both having the option of closed-captions to be played.

I'm assuming that the transcript if for a person - deaf or hearing - who simply wants to read the content without having to view the view. One idea might be to combine the transcript with the 'descriptive text' - distinguishing one from the other, perhaps, either by using bullets (for the piece of transcript) and indented bullets (for the description) or placing the appropriate piece of description in parentheses within the body of the transcript, or some other formatting strategy. Or, an audio podcast of Mr. Sharma could be posted, with the audio description/descriptive text being added in, by a different speaker. Although, this would work fine for those with no vision whatsoever, it might not be useful for those with limited vision who, with the help of AD, are able to make out some of the visuals with partial sight.

Those are my thoughts,
Gary

Gary M. Morin, Program Analyst
NIH Office of the Chief Information Officer
10401 Fernwood Rd, Room 3G-17
Bethesda, MD 20892, Mail Stop: 4833

(301) 402-3924 Voice, 451-9326 TTY/NTS
Videophone (240) 380-3063; (301) 402-4464 Fax

NIH Section 508 Team: mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ?subject=Section 508 Helpor, for Section 508 Guidance, http://www.hhs.gov/web/508/index.html

Looking for Training: AT100 - Section 508 Electronic & IT Training - Phase II: http://training.cit.nih.gov/coursedescription.aspx?courseID=CS0000000000852
Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.

From: Carin Headrick
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 1:03PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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Yeah I did lose all the context by reading it, but I did have to wonder
in this case if the images were just fluff. Sometimes a piece of the
dialog would be mentioned which would bring it together, but yeah it
took longer to read the text than watch the video. *smile*. But I do
love the idea.

Carin

On 20/01/2011 2:44 PM, Morin, Gary (NIH/OD) [E] wrote:
> Hi, Sylvia,
>
> My one comment or concern is around the inclusion of 'descriptive text' instead of the video itself being audio described. Doing it your way does avoid the timing issue - working the description into time available between the audio portions as well as a non-sighted viewer being able to read at his or her own pace, regardless of the length of the video. However, not integrating the description into the video for simultaneous viewing/listening, the descriptions have no context to what Manan Sharma is talking about and if the visuals are related. Posting an audio-described version would simply mean posting two versions - one with and one without, both having the option of closed-captions to be played.
>
> I'm assuming that the transcript if for a person - deaf or hearing - who simply wants to read the content without having to view the view. One idea might be to combine the transcript with the 'descriptive text' - distinguishing one from the other, perhaps, either by using bullets (for the piece of transcript) and indented bullets (for the description) or placing the appropriate piece of description in parentheses within the body of the transcript, or some other formatting strategy. Or, an audio podcast of Mr. Sharma could be posted, with the audio description/descriptive text being added in, by a different speaker. Although, this would work fine for those with no vision whatsoever, it might not be useful for those with limited vision who, with the help of AD, are able to make out some of the visuals with partial sight.
>
> Those are my thoughts,
> Gary
>
> Gary M. Morin, Program Analyst
> NIH Office of the Chief Information Officer
> 10401 Fernwood Rd, Room 3G-17
> Bethesda, MD 20892, Mail Stop: 4833
>
> (301) 402-3924 Voice, 451-9326 TTY/NTS
> Videophone (240) 380-3063; (301) 402-4464 Fax
>
> NIH Section 508 Team: mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ?subject=Section 508 Helpor, for Section 508 Guidance, http://www.hhs.gov/web/508/index.html
>
> Looking for Training: AT100 - Section 508 Electronic& IT Training - Phase II: http://training.cit.nih.gov/coursedescription.aspx?courseID=CS0000000000852
> Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.
>
>

From: Karen Mardahl
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 1:15PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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Hi Janet

Nice idea to add descriptive text, but like others have indicated, I'd
suggest merging it with the actual text as one solution.

To those who didn't know about the interactive transcript, you can
download my slides for the notes of how to do this:
http://www.slideshare.net/kmardahl/technical-communication-and-inclusion-5347819
To read the notes that contain the complete how-to, you must have
JavaScript turned off if reading online - or simply download the file.
I have not gotten the notes to work online, which is disappointing.

regards, Karen Mardahl

On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 2:19 PM, Janet Sylvia < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> I would like to ask your opinion of accessible video our organization has uploaded to YouTube.
>
> The video is captioned and there are Text Transcript and Descriptive Text files available with the video.
>
> Could you please share your thoughts about this?  Anything to improve?  Were you able to access the video and both text files?
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_-ZFKTGQfo
>
>
> Thanks in advance for your help,
> Janet
>
>
> Janet Sylvia
> Digital Media Professional
> University of Georgia

From: Carin Headrick
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 1:21PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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If you click on the date, then a bunch more stuff will appear, and there
was a link for descriptive text of video. It's not necessarily
descriptive audio so much as it is a written description of the video.

On 20/01/2011 3:10 PM, Keith (mteye) wrote:
> Was there descriptive audio? I found the captioning, and thought that it's
> an interesting concept. Not sure how to get to any descriptive stuff though.
> What am I looking for? I'm not a big Youtube visitor, so it's just probably
> my inexperience there.
>
> from
> Keith H
>
>
>
>
>

From: Karen Mardahl
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 1:27PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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Keith

The descriptive text for the video from Janet Sylvia is in the
description area for the video - just below it, and right before the
icon for the interactive transcript.

regards, Karen Mardahl

On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 9:10 PM, Keith (mteye) < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Was there descriptive audio? I found the captioning, and thought that it's
> an interesting concept. Not sure how to get to any descriptive stuff though.
> What am I looking for? I'm not a big Youtube visitor, so it's just probably
> my inexperience there.

>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_-ZFKTGQfo
<snip>

From: Keith (mteye)
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 1:33PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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Was there descriptive audio? I found the captioning, and thought that it's
an interesting concept. Not sure how to get to any descriptive stuff though.
What am I looking for? I'm not a big Youtube visitor, so it's just probably
my inexperience there.

from
Keith H




From: Keith (mteye)
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 1:39PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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OK, I think I have it. The Subtitle area? Definitely accessible. The media
seems largely dialog, and if there was description of visual things. I
didn't catch it. I like the idea of a descriptive voice over in the silent
areas. Possibly a similar to the subtitle captioning that may list the
descriptive text. Or the suggestion of another list responder to use some
type of bullet to indicate a description of a purely video element in the
clip.

from
Keith H



From: Keith (mteye)
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 1:45PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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Ah. I understand. Click the date. For some reason, I'm not seeing it, or I
should say Jaws isn't seeing it. So it's probably one of those things
related to my lack of youtube experience, or youtube itself. <insert dumb
look from me here.>

I do like the addition to the media that was done, more people ought to post
their media this way.

from
Keith H

From: Carin Headrick
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 1:54PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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Yeah if you don't press enter on the date, you get a very very
abbreviated description. Or sometimes you hit enter on the date and then
you see the same teeny description but below you'll see the date again
and then a longer one. I didn't know that trick either until someone
told me.

Carin

On 20/01/2011 3:42 PM, Keith (mteye) wrote:
> Ah. I understand. Click the date. For some reason, I'm not seeing it, or I
> should say Jaws isn't seeing it. So it's probably one of those things
> related to my lack of youtube experience, or youtube itself.<insert dumb
> look from me here.>
>
> I do like the addition to the media that was done, more people ought to post
> their media this way.
>
> from
> Keith H
>
>

From: Mary Stores
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 2:12PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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Hello, Keith,

So where it says Dec. 14 and gives the likes and dislikes, press
spacebar, then down-arrow. You wil then encounter the descriptive text.

Mary
Quoting "Keith (mteye)" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >:

> Ah. I understand. Click the date. For some reason, I'm not seeing it, or I
> should say Jaws isn't seeing it. So it's probably one of those things
> related to my lack of youtube experience, or youtube itself. <insert dumb
> look from me here.>
>
> I do like the addition to the media that was done, more people ought to post
> their media this way.
>
> from
> Keith H
>

From: John E Brandt
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 2:54PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
← Previous message | Next message →

Cool. So the Interactive Transcript is indeed a new free feature of YouTube.


Thanks.

~j

John E. Brandt
www.jebswebs.com
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
207-622-7937
Augusta, Maine, USA

From: Zdenek, Sean
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 3:12PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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Janet,

Thanks for sharing this video. The captions are precisely timed and accurate but I think the overall quality of the captions could be improved. I don't want to nitpick but you did ask for feedback. :) If you created the caption file yourself, then you can address these issues easily.

In some cases, the end of a line or end of a caption is broken at an odd place. Individual lines and captions should be broken logically. That means keeping ideas, grammatical units, and word clusters together (adjectives with their nouns, prepositional phrases, etc.) whenever possible. See WGBH's guideline on creating logical line and caption breaks: http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/mag/services/captioning/faq/sugg-styles-conv-faq.html

See also Captioning Key's section on "line division": http://www.dcmp.org/captioningkey/text.html

For example,

At 0:19
"opportunities out there, even"

I would end the caption at the comma (i.e. the end of the clause), and drop "even" to the next caption.

At 0:28
"There's still food science
jobs out there."

I would include the noun ("jobs") on the same line as its modifiers ("food science").

At 1:04:
"can help make food safer
or help make food more"

I would include the first word from the next caption ("nutritious") in order to complete the thought here - i.e. add the adjective to the end of the caption ("help make food more nutritious").

There are more examples like these in your video but you get the idea. Attending to where lines and captions break is ultimately about how quickly and how well readers comprehend what they're reading.

Thanks,

Sean

From: Keith (mteye)
Date: Thu, Jan 20 2011 4:06PM
Subject: Re: YouTube Captioned Video
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What a sneaky way to hide the descriptive stuff. I finally had the
chance to give it a look. Found the descriptive text. Yeah, it would be nice
if there was a way to sinc a particular description to the point it's
happening in the clip. Just show one phrase, then another when the scene
changes. If that's possible. But first Youtube, or somebody has to do
something to make that descriptive area more prominent, and easier to find.

from
Keith H