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Tweak understanding for 1.2.3 and 1.2.5 #1790

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92fe9f2
Tweak understanding for 1.2.3 and 1.2.5
patrickhlauke May 10, 2021
0b9920b
Expand audio description note to mention lowering of bg music/sounds
patrickhlauke May 10, 2021
42999ac
Change "will also" to "may"
patrickhlauke Jun 28, 2023
f91c843
Update guidelines/terms/20/audio-description.html
patrickhlauke Apr 29, 2024
dbe5c72
Revert change to AD definition
patrickhlauke Jun 10, 2024
6fea6ac
Remove suggestion to "duck" less-important audio/dialogue
patrickhlauke Jun 10, 2024
aef783b
Add new para about using media alternative when no gaps in dialog
patrickhlauke Jun 10, 2024
0a9a274
Update understanding/20/audio-description-or-media-alternative-prerec…
mbgower Jun 24, 2024
c428203
Update understanding/20/audio-description-prerecorded.html
mbgower Jul 10, 2024
8fed83f
Update understanding/20/audio-description-prerecorded.html
mbgower Jul 10, 2024
33420d3
Merge branch 'main' into patrickhlauke-understanding-audiodescription
patrickhlauke Jul 26, 2024
3c1c453
Markup cleanup
patrickhlauke Jul 26, 2024
86adef7
Further language tweaks
patrickhlauke Jul 26, 2024
28d3c0b
Merge branch 'main' into patrickhlauke-understanding-audiodescription
patrickhlauke Mar 29, 2025
424ba20
Add reference to 1.2.7
patrickhlauke Apr 11, 2025
529e14e
Merge branch 'main' into patrickhlauke-understanding-audiodescription
kfranqueiro May 2, 2025
7d16fb6
Merge branch 'main' into patrickhlauke-understanding-audiodescription
patrickhlauke May 23, 2025
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237 changes: 43 additions & 194 deletions understanding/20/audio-description-or-media-alternative-prerecorded.html
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -7,33 +7,29 @@
</head>
<body>
<h1>Understanding Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</h1>

<section id="brief">
<h2>In brief</h2>
<dl>
<dt>Goal</dt><dd>Prerecorded videos can be understood by more people.</dd>
<dt>What to do</dt><dd>Provide a description of the visual content in videos.</dd>
<dt>Why it's important</dt><dd>People who are blind or who cannot understand the visual content can have it described.</dd>
</dl>

</section>

<section id="intent">
<h2>Intent of Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</h2>


<p>The intent of this success criterion is to provide people who are blind or visually
impaired access to the visual information in a synchronized media presentation in the same <a>human language</a> as the video or page on which it appears. This
success criterion describes two approaches, either of which can be used.
</p>

<p>One approach is to provide audio description of the video content. The audio description
augments the audio portion of the presentation with the information needed when the
video portion is not available. During existing pauses in dialogue, audio description
provides information about actions, characters, scene changes, and on-screen text
that are important and are not described or spoken in the main sound track.
video portion is not available. Audio description provides information about actions,
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@mbgower mbgower Apr 8, 2025 •
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I feel like even this inversion of the existing information is something we should be cautious about.
In the existing text, the starting point is "During existing pauses in dialog...". It emphasizes that someone attempting to provide context for missing important visual information has to assess what openings/opportunities are available. This reflects the reality of how audio descriptions tend to be done, in my experience. The location and duration of pauses in the dialog is the constraint under which AA level remediation (which tackles what can be done in synchronized video) takes place.

There is a slightly different feel when we invert the paragraph, IMO.

characters, scene changes, and on-screen text that is important and not described
or spoken in the main sound track. Audio description is added during existing
pauses in the dialogue.
</p>

<p>The second approach involves providing all of the information in the synchronized
media (both visual and auditory) in text form. An alternative for time-based media
provides a running description of all that is going on in the synchronized media content.
Expand All @@ -48,21 +44,18 @@ <h2>Intent of Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</h2>
more complete representation of the synchronized media content than audio description
alone.
</p>

<p>If the original audio does not have sufficient pauses in the dialogue, authors need to provide
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I am (still) strongly of the opinion that this paragraph (lines 47-49) goes beyond the SC.

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and that's probably where we fundamentally disagree. if there's no pauses, how can the video claim to pass the SC that requires audio description (or be not applicable)?

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@patrickhlauke patrickhlauke Mar 29, 2025 •
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i still maintain that if a video with both dialog and important visual information has no gaps in the dialog to even add some form of AD, and the existing dialog does not mention/explain the visual information already (i.e. if somebody can't see the visual part of the video, they will simply NOT get that information), it must use some alternative at least to convey that visual information.

happy to say that on paper (based on the definition of what AD is, and that it's extra description that is added in gaps) the video itself may nominally "pass" 1.2.3 if there are no gaps, but the end result would still otherwise be that a blind/low vision user will simply not get an equivalent for that visual information. alternatively, would that then be a failure of 1.1.1 instead?

basically, i'm willing to concede that 1.2.3 could "pass" (on paper), but there must be some other way then to fail the fact that there's visual information that is not conveyed.

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also, keeping in mind that these lines here are in the "AD or media alternative" SC. I don't think it's "beyond the SC" to say that if you can't do AD here, you then have to go the media alternative route?

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I think Patrick's point is valid here; the existing wording in the 1.2 Guideline text already hints at 1.2.3 having a role to backfill missing important visual information that cannot be fit in the synchronized media.
I do worry about a bit of a Pandora's box situation, in that what constitutes "important visual information" is so subjective that we're unlikely to achieve good inter-rater reliability. I don't have an answer to this, but if we are going to add in a requirement for more work done to meet 1.2.3, I think we need to provide a bit more guidance on this consideration.

The other thought I have is that all this focus re-confirms something I think we knew: the 1.2 SCs are not really cumulative in the sense of most of SCs, where one achieves A, and then does a bit more and achieves AA, etc. Here, its a messy whole, and achieving any one SC is not necessarily a baseline for higher level SCs.

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@patrickhlauke patrickhlauke Apr 11, 2025 •
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I do worry about a bit of a Pandora's box situation, in that what constitutes "important visual information" is so subjective that we're unlikely to achieve good inter-rater reliability

We have this sort of subjectivity in other places as well, even all the way back to 1.1.1 and what kind of text alternative would provide "equivalent purpose".

EDIT: ah, i seem to have made that point elsewhere here already

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wondering if adding a note that acknowledges the subjectivity here might be helpful? we can't guarantee that authors/auditors will 100% agree, but at least we can foreshadow that there is sometimes a difference of opinion, but that generally AD tries to be succinct

an appropriate alternative instead in order to pass this criterion.
</p>
<p>If there is any interaction as part of the synchronized media presentation (e.g.,
"press now to answer the question") then the alternative for time-based media would
provide hyperlinks or whatever is needed to provide the same functionality.
</p>

<div class="note">

<p>
For 1.2.3, 1.2.5, and 1.2.7, if all of the information in the video track is already
provided in the audio track, no audio description is necessary.


provided in the audio track, no audio description is necessary.
</p>

<p>
1.2.3, 1.2.5, and 1.2.8 overlap somewhat with each other. This is to give the author
some choice at the minimum conformance level, and to provide additional requirements
Expand All @@ -76,61 +69,40 @@ <h2>Intent of Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</h2>
however, by providing a text description, and the 1.2.5 requirement for an audio description
was met, then 1.2.8 does not add new requirements.
</p>

</div>

<p>See also
<a href="audio-description-prerecorded">1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded)</a>,
<a href="extended-audio-description-prerecorded">1.2.7 Extended Audio Description (Prerecorded)</a> and
<a href="media-alternative-prerecorded">1.2.8 Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</a>.
</p>


</section>

<section id="benefits">
<h2>Benefits of Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</h2>



<ul>

<li>This success criterion may help some people who have difficulty watching video or
other synchronized media content, including people who have difficulty perceiving
or understanding moving images.
</li>

</ul>

</section>

<section id="examples">
<h2>Examples of Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</h2>

<dl>
<dt>A movie with audio description</dt>
<dd>
<p>
<strong>Describer: </strong>A title, "Teaching Evolution Case Studies. Bonnie Chen." A teacher shows photographs
of birds with long, thin beaks.
</p>

<p>
<strong>Bonnie Chen: </strong>"These photos were all taken at the Everglades."
</p>

<p>
<strong>Describer: </strong>The teacher hands each student two flat, thin wooden sticks.
</p>

<p>
<strong>Bonnie Chen: </strong>"Today you will pretend to be a species of wading bird that has a beak like this."
</p>

<p>
<strong>Describer: </strong>The teacher holds two of the sticks to her mouth making the shape of a beak.
</p>

<blockquote>
<p><strong>Describer: </strong>A title, "Teaching Evolution Case Studies. Bonnie Chen." A teacher shows photographs of birds with long, thin beaks.</p>
<p><strong>Bonnie Chen: </strong>"These photos were all taken at the Everglades."</p>
<p><strong>Describer: </strong>The teacher hands each student two flat, thin wooden sticks.</p>
<p><strong>Bonnie Chen: </strong>"Today you will pretend to be a species of wading bird that has a beak like this."</p>
<p><strong>Describer: </strong>The teacher holds two of the sticks to her mouth making the shape of a beak.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Transcript of audio based on the first few minutes of "<a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/educators/teachstuds/tvideos.html">Teaching Evolution Case Studies, Bonnie Chen</a>" (copyright WGBH and Clear Blue Sky Productions, Inc.)</p>
</dd>
</dd>
<dt>An alternative for time-based media for a training video</dt>
<dd>A company purchases a Training video for use by its employees and puts it on the companies
intranet. The video involves explaining use of a new technology and has a person talking
Expand All @@ -139,189 +111,66 @@ <h2>Examples of Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</h2>
for time-based media that all employees, including those who cannot see the demonstrations,
can use to better understand what is being presented.</dd>
</dl>

</section>

<section id="resources">
<h2>Resources for Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</h2>


<ul>

<li>

<a href="http://ncam.wgbh.org/invent_build/web_multimedia/accessible-digital-media-guide/guideline-h-multimedia#techH12">NCAM Rich Media Accessibility, Accessible SMIL Templates</a>

</li>

<li>

<a href="http://joeclark.org/access/description/ad-principles.html">Standard Techniques in Audio Description</a>

</li>

<li>

<a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/REC-smil/">Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) 1.0</a>

</li>

<li>

<a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/SMIL/">Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL 2.0)</a>

</li>

<li>

<a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/SMIL-access/">Accessibility Features of SMIL</a>

</li>

<li><a href="http://ncam.wgbh.org/invent_build/web_multimedia/accessible-digital-media-guide/guideline-h-multimedia#techH12">NCAM Rich Media Accessibility, Accessible SMIL Templates</a></li>
<li><a href="http://joeclark.org/access/description/ad-principles.html">Standard Techniques in Audio Description</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/REC-smil/">Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) 1.0</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/SMIL/">Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL 2.0)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/SMIL-access/">Accessibility Features of SMIL</a></li>
</ul>

</section>

<section id="techniques">
<h2>Techniques for Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</h2>


<section id="sufficient">
<h3>Sufficient Techniques for Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</h3>


<ul>

<li>

<p>

<a href="../Techniques/general/G69" class="general">Providing an alternative for time-based media including any interaction</a> using one of the following techniques
</p>

<p><a href="../Techniques/general/G69" class="general">Providing an alternative for time-based media including any interaction</a> using one of the following techniques</p>
<ul>

<li>

<a href="../Techniques/general/G58" class="general">Placing a link to the transcript immediately next to the non-text content</a>

</li>

<li><a href="../Techniques/general/G58" class="general">Placing a link to the transcript immediately next to the non-text content</a></li>
</ul>

</li>

<li>

<p>Linking to the alternative for time-based media using one of the following techniques

</p>

<li><p>Linking to the alternative for time-based media using one of the following techniques</p>
<ul>

<li>

<a href="../Techniques/html/H53" class="html">Using the body of the object element</a>

</li>

<li><a href="../Techniques/html/H53" class="html">Using the body of the object element</a></li>
</ul>

</li>

<li><a href="../Techniques/general/G78" class="general">G78: Providing a second, user-selectable, audio track that includes audio descriptions</a></li>
<li>

<a href="../Techniques/general/G78" class="general">G78: Providing a second, user-selectable, audio track that includes audio descriptions</a>

</li>

<li>

<p>

<a href="../Techniques/general/G173" class="general">Providing a version of a movie with audio descriptions</a> using one of the following:
</p>

<p><a href="../Techniques/general/G173" class="general">Providing a version of a movie with audio descriptions</a> using one of the following:</p>
<ul>

<li>

<a href="../Techniques/smil/SM6" class="smil">Providing audio description in SMIL 1.0</a>

</li>

<li>

<a href="../Techniques/smil/SM7" class="smil">Providing audio description in SMIL 2.0</a>

</li>

<li><a href="../Techniques/smil/SM6" class="smil">Providing audio description in SMIL 1.0</a></li>
<li><a href="../Techniques/smil/SM7" class="smil">Providing audio description in SMIL 2.0</a></li>
<li>Using any player that supports audio and video</li>

</ul>

</li>

<li>

<p>

<a href="../Techniques/general/G8" class="general">Providing a movie with extended audio descriptions</a> using one of the following:
</p>

<p><a href="../Techniques/general/G8" class="general">Providing a movie with extended audio descriptions</a> using one of the following:</p>
<ul>

<li>

<a href="../Techniques/smil/SM1" class="smil">Adding extended audio description in SMIL 1.0</a>

</li>

<li>

<a href="../Techniques/smil/SM2" class="smil">Adding extended audio description in SMIL 2.0</a>

</li>

<li><a href="../Techniques/smil/SM1" class="smil">Adding extended audio description in SMIL 1.0</a></li>
<li><a href="../Techniques/smil/SM2" class="smil">Adding extended audio description in SMIL 2.0</a></li>
<li>Using any player that supports audio and video</li>

</ul>

</li>

<li>

<a href="../Techniques/general/G203" class="general"></a>

</li>

<li><a href="../Techniques/general/G203" class="general"></a></li>
</ul>

</section>

<section id="advisory">
<h3>Additional Techniques (Advisory) for Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</h3>


<ul>

<li>

<a href="../Techniques/html/H96" class="html"></a>

</li>

<li><a href="../Techniques/html/H96" class="html"></a></li>
</ul>

</section>

<section id="failure">
<h3>Failures for Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</h3>


</section>

</section>

</body>
</html>
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