Re: FW: Synthesized-speech auditory descriptions

> My questions concern the use of SMIL for developing auditory descriptions
> for multimedia presentations.
>
> The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 1.0 of W3C/WAI
> indicates the possibility of using speech synthesis for providing auditory
> descriptions for multimedia presentations. Specifically, checkpoint 1.3 of
> WCAG 1.0 reads:
>
> "1.3 Until user agents can automatically read aloud the text equivalent of
a
> visual track, provide an auditory description of the important information
> of the visual track of a multimedia presentation. [Priority 1]
> Synchronize the auditory description with the audio track as per
checkpoint
> 1.4. Refer to checkpoint 1.1 for information about textual equivalents for
> visual information." (WCAG 1.0, checkpoint 1.3).
>
> In the same document in the definition of "Equivalent", we read:
>
> "One example of a non-text equivalent is an auditory description of the
key
> visual elements of a presentation. The description is either a prerecorded
> human voice or a synthesized voice (recorded or generated on the fly). The
> auditory description is synchronized with the audio track of the
> presentation, usually during natural pauses in the audio track. Auditory
> descriptions include information about actions, body language, graphics,
and
> scene changes."
>
> My questions are as follows:
>
> 1. Does SMIL 2.0 support the development of synthesized speech auditory
> descriptions?
>
> 2. If the answer to question #1 is "Yes", then briefly describe the
support
> that is provided.
>
> 3. If the answer to question #1 is "No", then please describe any plans
for
> providing such support in the future.
>
> Thanks very much for your consideration.
>
> - Eric G. Hansen
> Development Scientist
> Educational Testing Service (ETS)
> Princeton, NJ 08541
> ehansen@ets.org
> Co-Editor, W3C/WAI User Agent Accessibility Guidelines
>

Received on Wednesday, 25 October 2000 18:12:33 UTC