RE: Conformance of Synchronised Lecture recording transcripts

Hi, it sounds like you are asking if a synchronized transcript would count as synchronized captions.   My personal thought is that it could if it met all of the requirements.


  1.  Synchronized and accurate
  2.  Is a true transcript - that is - it includes sounds, speaker identification, and other non-visual items included in captions
  3.  The location of the synchronized portions are in proximity of the video to allow users to view them side by side in different environments including PC and mobile.
     *   I think this might be the biggest challenge for mobile and smaller screens and for users with low vision who are also hard of hearing.
  4.  Other captioning requirements that may be applicable

Given that you have the synchronized transcript it seems like it would be no issue to create the captions as well though and have both and that way the user could use what works best for them.

Jonathan

From: Digges, Rod <r.digges@ucl.ac.uk>
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 9:08 AM
To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: Conformance of Synchronised Lecture recording transcripts

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I wonder if anyone can help.

At UCL we're keen to follow WCAG 2.1 guidelines regarding access for pre-recorded video. We, like many other educational institutions, are now generating thousands of lecture recordings every year.
Our Lecture recording provider facilitate transcriptions (first pass using an automatic transcription engine the output of which can be subsequently corrected in an online editor).
The output of the transcription is a .vtt file containing timing information and the interface provided allows the transcript to be viewed alongside the video. The transcript scrolls automatically, highlights the section being spoken and also allows text searches of the entire lecture. The transcript also allows navigation of the video as clicking on any text in it synchronises the associated video to that point. It would seem to have some distinct advantages over captions.

I've been searching the guidelines (the closest I've found is - https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/#captions-prerecorded)  for something that would allow me to be confident that this kind of facility complies with WCAG2.1 guidelines and also to understand what level (A, AA, AAA) could be ascribed to it but can't seem to find a mention of synchronised transcripts - Should I be looking elsewhere ? - any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Regards

Rod Digges
Digital Education
University College London