Re: Roll-up captions in WebVTT

> IMHO that's horrible compared to normal captions. It is always moving,
> which means you can't read it as fast as normal captions, plus it's
> continually distracting from the image.
>
> Good captions should be so low-overheard for the viewer that the viewer
> can entirely forget that he's reading captions in the first place. You
> simply can't get that effect with rollup captions.

Ian: I am talking as a person who needs captions to get access to
video. For me these are not an option that can be turned on or off
according to aesthetic preferences. What I am saying is that certain
types of captions are not readable with the normal pop-up procedures.
For me the question is not whether I am consciously reading captions,
but whether I can get the content of the video. I realize that not
everyone has the same preferences, but there are good reasons for
displaying the captions this way for 30+ years. Roll-up captions are a
conscious usability trade-off, not a mistake.

As far as live captions are concerned, the law in the USA stipulates
that TV content shown on the web, including real-time or near
real-time, has to be captioned, just as it must be on the TV
broadcast. So, there is definitely a need for live captions on the
web. If WebVTT won't support this use scenario, this means that a
large part of the reason why captions are needed on the web is just
disregarded. Which leaves us ... with what?

Best regards
Christian
-- 
Christian Vogler, PhD
Director, Technology Access Program
Department of Communication Studies
SLCC 1116
Gallaudet University
http://tap.gallaudet.edu/
VP: 202-250-2795

Received on Thursday, 1 December 2011 09:21:14 UTC