RE: Audio Descriptions for Talking Heads

 

I'm not sure but I think given our existing language we could add something
to the understanding document 1.2.5, that would allow for this exception...
The Definition we have for AD is:

 

            "...important visual details that cannot be understood from the
main soundtrack alone"

 

I think we could clarify 1.2.2 that in the case of a talking head, involving
one speaker, where the background does not change and is not "important" to
the message, that AD would not be required because there is nothing
"important" in the video...

 

Thoughts?

David MacDonald

 

 

 

From: Loretta Guarino Reid [mailto:lorettaguarino@google.com] 
Sent: June-20-11 2:39 PM
To: Gregg Vanderheiden
Cc: David MacDonald; WCAG; Nicholas Reville
Subject: Re: Audio Descriptions for Talking Heads

 

It sure seems to me that this kind of information doesn't need to be
synchronized. And a tool that added it to the beginning of a video would
need to be very careful that it fixed up all the timestamps in any captions
for the video.

Wouldn't it suffice to set the stage in text associated with the video?

Loretta

On Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 10:02 AM, Gregg Vanderheiden <gv@trace.wisc.edu>
wrote:

Hi David,

 

if there is a talking head - then there usually isn't any space for
description anyway.

 

Also - the point is to allow a person who is blind to access key visual
information.

 

On key part IS the front end of the video where they usually have an
identification of the speaker.  OR during the video - where they overlay the
screen with text identifying the speaker. 

 

It would be good to get audio into those places if there is a pause in the
regular audio.

 

I think this is a  GREAT place for an online tool (or free downloadable
tool) that would allow people to add a few short descriptions to a video for
these types of situations.   It would not have to be done by "talent" if non
- commercial.

 

we also should work more on "closed description" mechanism which should be
easy in IP to allow video description to be available on request.

 

This is what GPII is all about  (http://raisingthefloor.org
<http://raisingthefloor.org%20%C2%A0and%20http:/GPII.net>  and
http://GPII.net)

 

I also added Nicholas Reville < npr@pculture.org> to this posting.  Nicholas
and "Universal Subtitles"   (http://www.universalsubtitles.org/en/) is
spearheading this aspect of GPII)

 

 

Gregg

--------------------------------------------------------
Gregg Vanderheiden Ph.D.
Director Trace R&D Center
Professor Industrial & Systems Engineering
and Biomedical Engineering
University of Wisconsin-Madison


Co-Director, Raising the Floor - International
and the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure Project
http://Raisingthefloor.org   ---   http://GPII.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Jun 18, 2011, at 10:01 AM, David MacDonald wrote:





I've been coming across a lot of this lately, and don't really know what to
do about it... we have a requirement for audio descriptions... but 95% of
all video on Government and corporate sites are just talking heads, like a
message from the CEO, or from the marketing manager, or from the Minister,
where he's just talking in front of a non-consequential background.

 

Honestly, it seems extraneous to require these videos to be audio described
which can cost thousands of dollars, and provides almost zero value for a
person who is blind...

 

We could I guess get a voice overdub at the front that says... "the minister
speaking in his office, with a flag in the background" ... but I almost wish
we had some kind of an exception for these videos of talking heads... it
would cost a thousand bucks for that line, (unless there is some kind of
internal production facility).

 

Thoughts?

 

David MacDonald

www.eramp.com

 

 

 

From: w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On Behalf
Of Loretta Guarino Reid
Sent: June-15-11 2:43 PM
To: WCAG
Subject: 16 June 2011 Agenda ==============================

 

Meeting Information
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 1. Status of publication
 2. Miscellaneous Issues and Techniques for 16 June 2011
   Survey: <http://tinyurl.com/3lrxgvs>
 3. Other discussion topics, depending upon who is present?
    * Are Word documents web content?
    * Vivienne's question about hierarchical headings?