RE: Audio description (was: New rewrite of Guideline 1.1 [action item])

> It is true that "audio description is not a text alternative." 

It is not *any* kind of "alternative." It is not a *substitute* for 
something else. You cannot *swap in* audio description the way you can 
swap in alt text.

> The "text alternative" is one type of "equivalent alternative." Audio
> description is an "equivalent alternative" for the video portion of
> multimedia content.

No, it is not.

> And people who are blind do indeed enjoy films and
> television shows and theatrical performances relying exclusively on
> audio description as an equivalent alternative.

That is false. Listeners of audio description *also hear the main audio*.

John, please, give it up. I've listened to hundreds of hours of described
television and film, I've written description scripts, and I've sat in on,
and actually coproduced, audio-descriptionrecording sessions. Audio
descriptions, like captions, are *additions* and not *alternatives*.

-- 

    Joe Clark | joeclark@joeclark.org
    Accessibility <http://joeclark.org/access/>
    Expect criticism if you top-post

Received on Tuesday, 22 June 2004 13:08:10 UTC