RE: Audio Descriptions for Talking Heads

Hi Nicholas

 

Nice to hear from you... I'm a former audio recording musician, so I have
quite a bit of experience in commercial multi track audio recording
environments...

 

yes I think we need an easy cheap way to put audio descriptions into a
video, that would be great... just load up the video into the recorder, plug
a mike into the computer, the recorder will auto detect the input source,
and user hits the record button and talks, and stops, and pauses...I think
for these simple talking heads, the idea of just reading in real time
against the video, and exporting with the existing audio is probably the
easiest ... then there are no DFXP type timing codes or SMIL and all that...

 

The recorder just lets you try to speak in the cracks,  just like a real
time multi track audio recorder like Cubase or Audacity does, 

 

The user can just delete and rerecord as necessary until its right, or they
can nudge around their AD track in the recorder, then export the AD  version
of the movie once it's right ... it could be posted on the server as an
alternative video to the original, and then the player could have an AD
button on it... and when the AD button is pressed, the video is swapped out
for the version with AD....

 

Cheers

David MacDonald

 

 

From: Nicholas Reville [mailto:reville@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Nicholas
Reville
Sent: June-19-11 3:19 PM
To: Gregg Vanderheiden
Cc: David MacDonald; WCAG; aleli alcala; Dean Jansen
Subject: Re: Audio Descriptions for Talking Heads

 

Hi David,

 

As Gregg mentioned, Universal Subtitles, which has a very flexible system
for aligned text, will be adding support for time-aligned audio sometime in
the near future. 

 

I'd love to chat sometime so that I could better understand what your needs
and requirements are for this kind of stuff, I think there's a lot of
options, at least on the tech side, that could make things simpler for you.

 

nicholas

 

 

 

On Jun 18, 2011, at 1:02 PM, Gregg Vanderheiden 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%20and%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://Raisingthefloor.org/>    ---
http://GPII.net <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 <http://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?