Web Audio API and HTML 5 Media Accessibility

I've started to look at the API --- Haven't gotten very far yet, but ...

It's already clear to me that this API could be very important to
meeting several accessibility requirements for HTML 5 media. HTML 5 has
controls for some audio parameters (like .volume), but significant ones
are missing from the a11y perspective, parameters such as directing a
particular audio/video to some particular device, even potentially some
particular device connected via local LAN. Seems this could be done, but
would require API to map to OS provided controls.

It seems to us such control would be generally valuable in the context
of home media servers (or educational institution media servers, etc).
But, with the price of USB audio devices under $10, it seems time to
think plural and intentional for output selection.

The HTML 5 Accessibility User Requirements are at:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/HTML/wiki/Media_Accessibility_Requirements

Particularly relevant sections are Sec. 4.5 through 4.8, and especially
4.8:

http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/HTML/wiki/Media_Accessibility_Requirements#Requirements_on_the_parallel_use_of_alternat e_content_on_potentially_multiple_devices_in_parallel


Janina


jussi.kalliokoski@gmail.com writes:
> As far as I understand it's very much possible to do such a thing, javascript enables very flexible sound processing possibilities. You can check out a modular synth project that I've been working on (written for FireFox 4 audio api, but the architecture is very much based on web audio api), it uses an unfinished spec I'm working on (jst) and some common js libraries I've created. http://niiden.com/jstmodular
> 
> Jussi
> 
> Sent from my HTC
> 
> ----- Reply message -----
> From: "Colin Robertson" <slushprodukt@yahoo.co.uk>
> To: "public-xg-audio@w3.org" <public-xg-audio@w3.org>
> Subject: Web Audio API and extensibility
> Date: Wed, Dec 1, 2010 5:03 am
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I posted this in the Chromium list (someone else had asked a similar question there) before realising it was inappropriate, so I'm re-posting here.
> 
> Will it be possible to write custom effects (eg. a unique distortion) and custom synthesisers (eg. a unique pipe organ) for the API? I'm thinking of the way people can create VSTs that do particular things, and those plugins can be used in any sequencer and shared freely with other people.
> 
> The beauty of VST is that a "developer" can draw upon a vast reservoir of tools other people have made (KVR-VST lists 183 different reverbs, for example). An equivalent of this for the Web Audio API would be extremely useful. IMHO, it would make the API itself much more popular than it would be without this ability.
> 
> From reading the spec it seems this kind of thing would be done by integrating custom JS functions, but am I wrong?
> 
> Thanks,
> Colin.
> 
> PS. I'm very excited about the Web Audio API and can't wait to try it.
> 
> 
>       
> 
> 

-- 

Janina Sajka,	Phone:	+1.443.300.2200
		sip:janina@asterisk.rednote.net

Chair, Open Accessibility	janina@a11y.org	
Linux Foundation		http://a11y.org

Chair, Protocols & Formats
Web Accessibility Initiative	http://www.w3.org/wai/pf
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

Received on Friday, 3 December 2010 15:48:55 UTC