RE: Clarification of SC 1.2.3

Ø  [Katie wrote] So for an animation it should have alternativve text that says “cartoon of dog running”. Time-based media is both single and multimedia according to 2.1.

Let’s consider a likely and more complex example.  Say we have an animation of how to put together a backyard BBQ.  In this case it has no audio.

SC 1.2.1 Video only says “either an alternative for time-based media or an audio track is provided that presents equivalent information for prerecorded video-only content.”

So in this case I could provide an audio track as a media alternative to the video and WCAG A/AA does not require that I provide text equivalent – notice above it said “or text equivalent”.  So this leaves out people who are deaf blind but sets a standard in the current WCAG A/AA for video that an audio equivalent is ok.  Under SC 1.1.1 an audio equivalent would not be sufficient.  I agree that we’d need some text description but it would only need to say animation of how to build a backyard BBQ.

Let’s consider the same how-to build a backyard BBQ also had audio in addition to the animation of building the BBQ.  In this case I have to provide captions –according to SC 1.2.2.  But WCAG doesn’t require that captions be text – captions could be visual such as thought bubbles in the animation

The definition of captions says “synchronized visual and/or text alternative for both speech and non-speech audio information needed to understand the media content.”  So this allows for purely visual captions that are not actual text – assuming we also can argue SC 1.4.5 to use images of text.  Many captions are text or if they are text are not rendered in such as way that they can be accessed by people who are deafblind.  But in the current WCAG A/AA this is allowed to have visual captions that are not text – at least that is my read.

Jonathan

Jonathan Avila
Chief Accessibility Officer
SSB BART Group
jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com<mailto:jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com>
703.637.8957 (Office)

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From: Katie Haritos-Shea GMAIL [mailto:ryladog@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 3:40 PM
To: Jonathan Avila; 'WCAG WG'
Subject: RE: Clarification of SC 1.2.3

Jon,

The SC section on Time-based media says “text alternatives at least provide descriptive identification”. The full text of that bullet is below…

Time-Based Media: If non-text content is time-based media, then text alternatives at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content. (Refer to Guideline 1.2<https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/#media-equiv> for additional requirements for media.)”

​​​​​So for an animation it should have alternativve text that says “cartoon of dog running”. Time-based media is both single and multimedia according to 2.1.



* katie *

Katie Haritos-Shea
Principal ICT Accessibility Architect (WCAG/Section 508/ADA/AODA)

Cell: 703-371-5545 | ryladog@gmail.com<mailto:ryladog@gmail.com> | Oakton, VA | LinkedIn Profile<http://www.linkedin.com/in/katieharitosshea/> | Office: 703-371-5545 | @ryladog<https://twitter.com/Ryladog>

From: Jonathan Avila [mailto:jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 3:32 PM
To: 'WCAG WG' <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org<mailto:w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>>
Subject: RE: Clarification of SC 1.2.3


>  text alternatives at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content

Yes, text identification is required but not a text equivalent as far as I can tell.  Also if an animation is made up of 5 different images does it make sense to identify each image since you are not providing equivalents in text but the animation as a whole is identified.  Yes, SC 1.2 requirements apply – so it would  need captions, audio description, etc. but from what I can tell wouldn’t require text equivalent.

So I could have an animation without text equivalents but only a text description as long as it had audio description, captions, etc.

Jonathan

Jonathan Avila
Chief Accessibility Officer
SSB BART Group
jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com<mailto:jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com>
703.637.8957 (Office)
Visit us online: Website<http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/SSBBARTGroup> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/ssbbartgroup> | Linkedin<https://www.linkedin.com/company/355266?trk=tyah> | Blog<http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/blog/>
Check out our Digital Accessibility Webinars!<http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/webinars/>

From: Katie Haritos-Shea GMAIL [mailto:ryladog@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 3:15 PM
To: Jonathan Avila; 'WCAG WG'
Subject: RE: Clarification of SC 1.2.3

Jon,

You said: And the deafblind person is a good example as SC 1.2 only requires alternatives for time-based content and NOT text equivalents.  Time-based media is not covered under SC 1.1.1.

Did you mean that when you wrote “Time-based media is not covered under SC 1.1.1”?

Because it certainly is, time-based media requires “text alternatives at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content.”, plus the additional requirements (Success Criteria) that fall under Guideline 2.

1.1.1’s first bullet is….

Time-Based Media: If non-text content is time-based media, then text alternatives at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content. (Refer to Guideline 1.2<https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/#media-equiv> for additional requirements for media.)

​​​​​



* katie *

Katie Haritos-Shea
Principal ICT Accessibility Architect (WCAG/Section 508/ADA/AODA)

Cell: 703-371-5545 | ryladog@gmail.com<mailto:ryladog@gmail.com> | Oakton, VA | LinkedIn Profile<http://www.linkedin.com/in/katieharitosshea/> | Office: 703-371-5545 | @ryladog<https://twitter.com/Ryladog>

From: Jonathan Avila [mailto:jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 2:24 PM
To: WCAG WG <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org<mailto:w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>>
Subject: RE: Clarification of SC 1.2.3


>  Thanks, Jonathan, that makes sense. Synchronization would be meaningful in most cases (perhaps not as important for someone who is both deaf and blind, but certainly for others).

And the deafblind person is a good example as SC 1.2 only requires alternatives for time-based content and NOT text equivalents.  Time-based media is not covered under SC 1.1.1.

I recently saw an animated training that didn’t have alternative text for graphics but the person argued that it was timed based media and therefore text based equivalents were not required because they provided an audio track.  Animated training videos that aren’t quite like movies but are time-based chunks fall into a unclear area where you’d like to see text equivalents that were screen reader accessible but the audio seems to meet the requirements.

Jonathan

Jonathan Avila
Chief Accessibility Officer
SSB BART Group
jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com<mailto:jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com>
703.637.8957 (Office)
Visit us online: Website<http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/SSBBARTGroup> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/ssbbartgroup> | Linkedin<https://www.linkedin.com/company/355266?trk=tyah> | Blog<http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/blog/>
Check out our Digital Accessibility Webinars!<http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/webinars/>

From: Mike Elledge [mailto:melledge@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 2:12 PM
To: Jonathan Avila; WCAG WG
Subject: Re: Clarification of SC 1.2.3

Thanks, Jonathan, that makes sense. Synchronization would be meaningful in most cases (perhaps not as important for someone who is both deaf and blind, but certainly for others).

Mike

On Wednesday, August 10, 2016 1:50 PM, Jonathan Avila <jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com<mailto:jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com>> wrote:

>  It seems to me that a transcript would be preferable to audio descriptions,
Ask yourself if you’d say the same thing for captions, would a transcript be preferable to captions?  You almost certainly say no – so it’s the same way for audio description.  Having a synchronized experience is very important for movies, Tv, and other video and provides an equivalent experience.

I do think there are situations such as videos that demonstrate coding or entering data where a transcript would be better – but I think these are the exception and not the rule.

As for why audio description was level 2 – that’s because it is harder to create after the fact and requires pauses during the video and if you don’t want a separate video you would need a player that supports audio an description track.

Jonathan

Jonathan Avila
Chief Accessibility Officer
SSB BART Group
jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com<mailto:jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com>
703.637.8957 (Office)
Visit us online: Website<http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/SSBBARTGroup> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/ssbbartgroup> | Linkedin<https://www.linkedin.com/company/355266?trk=tyah> | Blog<http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/blog/>
Check out our Digital Accessibility Webinars!<http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/webinars/>

From: Mike Elledge [mailto:melledge@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 1:22 PM
To: WCAG WG
Subject: Clarification of SC 1.2.3

Hi Everyone--

We were discussing SC 1.2.3 (Audio Description or Media Alternative) and were puzzled by the A and AA requirements. I wonder if anyone has had a similar reaction.

In terms of accessibility, wouldn't it be better to require a transcript than an audio description? As I understand it, a transcript would provide a more complete rendering of a video since it would include both audio and visual content, whereas an audio description only includes visual content not contained in the audio track. A transcript would also be more accessible to persons using a Braille reader.

Was the decision to make audio descriptions a Level AA requirement based on how few players could provide them, i.e., the assumption that providing a transcript was easier, therefore more reasonable to meet Level A? Or was a synchronized presentation using audio descriptions considered to be more comparable to a sighted experience than an asynchronous transcript?

It seems to me that a transcript would be preferable to audio descriptions, therefore optional for Level A but required for Level AA, but perhaps I'm missing something.

Thanks!

Mike