- From: Cynthia D. Waddell <Cynthia.Waddell@ci.sj.ca.us>
- Date: Tue, 03 Mar 1998 11:45:13 -0800
- To: w3c-wai-pf@w3.org, w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
These comments are in response to the WAI-PF request for input on SMIL for accessibility. My perspective is both from the life experience as a person with a hearing loss and as an Americans with Disabilities Act compliance officer for the City of San Jose, California USA. As a person with hearing loss, captioning is essential for understanding the media being accessed. I am particularly appreciative of descriptions that not only include speech but also the music and environmental sounds like "water running," "explosion," "knocking," "ice cream truck jingle in background," etc. Frequently, these indicators signal significant content "events." For example, I was amazed when I saw the television series "A Woman of Independent Means" and the captioning described the actual musical lyrics being played for background music. I had no idea that the lyrics corresponded and supported the content of the dialogue being expressed. Other examples include television commercials. As more and more television commercials include the captioning of the jingle, the advertisement itself has had more meaning to those of us with hearing loss and I too might then be interested in the product or service being advertised! As a professional who must ensure that people with disabilities have access to all City services, programs and facilities, and who mediates ADA cases for the US Department of Justice Keybridge Mediation Project, I am concerned that multimedia presentations reach the broadest range of people with disabilities. Certain accessible features such as audio-description and textual description allow people who are blind to experience the message of the media environment. As the SMIL Draft acknowledges, there needs to be more information on the ability for the user to control the play process. I would benefit from being able to freeze the captioning so that I can keep up with the text. Same is true for those with cognitive and motor disabilities. A universal design platform that would enable the user to format a playback according to their preferences would be ideal. Although my comments have referred to accessibility for people with disabilities, people in noisy environments might prefer the captioning as well as people whose eyes are busy might prefer audio. Lastly, I see heavy use of SMIL technology in the educational arena since it would enable access to multimedia presentations. It then follows that government would also benefit from incorporating SMIL technology in our outreach and educational programs for neighborhood services. Cynthia D. Waddell ADA Coordinator City of San Jose 801 North First Street, Room 460 San Jose, California 95110-1704 USA (408) 277-4034 (408) 971-0134 TTY (408) 277-3885 FAX
Received on Tuesday, 3 March 1998 14:31:08 UTC