Accessibility & Captioning

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1 Overview
2 Guidelines
3 Resources

[edit] Overview

Media On Demand is not necessarily limited to web-based distribution, although that is certainly an integral part of the total picture for consumers seeking media regardless of place, time, or device. Satellite and cable TV operations provide on demand content through the ether's electro-magnetic spectrum and over fiber optic infrastructures. Wireless connectivity is often the same as Internet connectivity, although not necessarily for all personal mobile devices.

The use of the Internet for delivery of on-demand content is nevertheless ubiquitous, wired or not. Consequently, when the conversation turns to accessibility and alternative modes of presentation for content targeted to consumers with unique needs (visual, auditory, motor, cognitive), within the context of this Media On Demand wiki, we are referring to web-based or computer network-based distribution channels.

There are many techniques for producing alternative modes of content to satisfy accessibility, especially when referring to text-based documents, PDF documents, image descriptions, and basic and emerging HTML design and delivery methods. Such discussions, in addition to addressing accessibility for rich media forms, are all within the scope of creating and deploying Media On Demand and many references and links are provided in the Resources section of this article.

As well, the National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH has produced a comprehensive set of Design Guidelines for Electronic Publications, Multimedia and the Web. An expanded Table of Contents is available from this URL... http://ncam.wgbh.org/publications/adm/expanded.html . Included is a discussion of the context in which accessibility is applied, educational policies and standards, as well as specific guidelines for producing many types of media with accessibility in mind. This web site is a must read.

From a high level perspective, three components are often discussed when addressing accessibility needs.

Developers who use authoring and evaluation tools to generate content
Content that is implemented with accessibility features
Users who rely on browsers, media players, and sometimes assistive technologies to experience content

All three components interact with each other. When one element is weak, the other two linger. When an element is demanding and proactive, the others usually respond in like manner. There are many rules and laws which have been applied at national and local levels (both in the United States and other countries) in order to encourage (or mandate) improvement and accommodation by Developers, their Content, and the Users and their Agents (browsers, players, assistive technologies). Many techniques abound to make content more accessible. What has been absent is the creation of all-encompassing philosophies and standards, rather than ad-hoc or proprietary techniques. Enter the World Wide Web Consortium, who has been diligently working toward building globally recognized standards for the creation, delivery, and experience of accessible-friendly content.

[edit] Guidelines

Around the world there is currently fragmentation -- conflicting, divergent technical standards -- rather than harmonization of Web accessibility standards. While W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0) is the most broadly adopted Web accessibility standard internationally, many countries have developed or are in the process of developing their own versions of technical guidelines or standards.

Furthermore, there is sometimes one version of a guideline or standard at the national level, different versions at the provincial or state level, and yet different versions adopted by commercial, educational, and non-governmental organizations within the same country. For organizations with audiences spanning different regions or economic sectors, simply keeping track of the different requirements can be a challenge.

Harmonization of Web accessibility standards is key to making an accessible Web, because it creates a unified market for authoring tools that produce conformant content. This unified market in turn drives more rapid development of improved authoring tools. Improved authoring tools make it easier to create accessible Web sites, and to repair previously inaccessible sites; for instance, by prompting for accessibility information such as alternative text for graphics, captions for audio, or summaries for data tables. Widespread availability of improved authoring tools can enable accessible design to become the prevailing design mode even for Web developers only minimally aware of the rationale for Web accessibility, or disinclined to learn guidelines and techniques for accessibility.

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, "Why Standards Harmonization is Essential to Web Accessibility"

http://www.w3.org/WAI/Policy/harmon

In a statement by Cyndi Rowland, Director of the Utah State University WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind) Initiative...

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) will soon release the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version (WCAG) 2.0. The WCAG 1.0 has had enormous positive worldwide impact on accessibility in Web design. The WCAG 2.0 will represent the most anticipated and fundamental shift in Web accessibility since the WAI was formed because of the ways in which access is conceptualized more in terms of overarching principles (i.e., content is to be perceivable, understandable, operable, and robust) rather than in terms of techniques and rules.

Cyndi Rowland, Director of WebAIM, Utah State University

"Overarching principles" are welcome in order to contextualize the entire discussion on accessibility and accommodation, for the laws and mandates associated with this topic are many. In the United States alone, the following govern the recommendations and necessity for providing accessibility:

1. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

http://www.dol.gov/oasam/regs/statutes/sec504.htm

2. The Reauthorized Rehabilitation Act of 1998 included amendments to Section 508

http://www.section508.gov/

*Software, hardware used by the federal government must be accessible

*Information supplied by the federal government to the public (e.g., via the Web) must be accessible

*Many universities, school districts, local governments are adopting Section 508 as an accessibility baseline

*1194.22(b): Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall be synchronized with the presentation.

*1194.24(c): All training and informational video and multimedia productions, either live or taped, which support the agency's mission, regardless of format, that contain speech or other audio information necessary for the comprehension of the content, shall be open or closed captioned.

*1194.24(e): Display or presentation of alternate text presentation or audio descriptions shall be user-selectable unless permanent.

3. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title II and Title III

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm

4. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/Policy/IDEA/index.html

5. Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Section 255)

http://www.access-board.gov/about/laws/telecomm.htm

With regard to Federal Communication Commission mandates for captioning television programs, Geoff Freed of the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) at WGBH (http://ncam.wgbh.org/) has summarized the complex rulings and guidelines in a presentation delivered via the National Educational Telecommunications Association (January 2007). A PDF version of the presentation entitled Introduction to Broadcast and Multimedia Captioning is available from http://www.media.utah.edu/wiki_pdf_docs/NCAM_CaptioningPPT.pdf .

Included here is a text-only version of selected, key slides from Mr. Freed's presentation; these slides rapidly and concisely summarize the specific case of captioning broadcast video and multimedia forms. Appreciation is afforded the National Center for Accessible Media for allowing us to extract this content...

Introduction to Broadcast  and Multimedia Captioning

Geoff Freed
Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH (NCAM)

FCC Captioning Mandates

Nearly 100% of television programs must be captioned, with certain exemptions
January 1, 2006 was final incremental milestone, the last of four which began in 2000
Television delivered to homes via broadcast, cable, satellite

What about promos for news breaks and teases?

If it’s news, caption it
If it is under 10 minutes and is an advertisement, it is exempt
Programming that airs between 2am and 6am is exempt from the rules

What about digital channels and cable-only channels?

Analog, digital and cable-only channels are all covered by the rules
However, “new” networks less than 4 years old are exempt from the rules, as are networks with less than $3,000,000 income

What about programs produced for air by local schools?

Locally produced educational programs produced by stations for use in grades K-12 and post secondary schools are exempt from the rules
The programs must be distributed only to individual educational institutions

What about English-language pre-rule programming?

Pre-rule programming is considered programming that was first published or exhibited before January 1, 1998
As of January 1, 2003, 30% of a provider’s pre-rule programming must be captioned
As of January 1, 2008 and thereafter, 75% must be captioned

What about Spanish programming?

Between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2006 - 900 hours or all new non-exempt Spanish-language programs, whichever is less
Between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2009 – 1,350 hours or all new non-exempt Spanish-language programs, whichever is less
Between January 1, 2010 and thereafter, 100% of all non-exempt Spanish language programs must be captioned

Are the timelines for pre-rule Spanish-language programs the same?

No. The FCC has given distributors more time to address pre-rule Spanish-language programming
Since January 1, 2003, distributors must offer 30% of pre-rule Spanish-language programs with captions
As of January 1, 2008 and thereafter, 75% of pre-rule Spanish-language programs must air with captions

Video Description Mandates – Not in Effect

July, 2000: FCC adopts rules requiring the major commercial broadcast and cable networks to describe four hours of programming per week, and to ensure descriptions reach homes intact. Rules take effect in April, 2002.
Public broadcasters were exempted from the mandates due to their existing voluntary description efforts.
November, 2002: a federal court strikes down the rules
2006: Some distributors continue to insert descriptions (CBS, Nickelodeon, TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies)

And a captioning bonus…

Captioning is increasingly used as metadata for video searches online

What does the FCC say about on-line captioning?

The FCC does not have jurisdiction over video played or streamed on the Internet, so the captioning rules do not apply

Why create captioned multimedia?

Legal mandate – fulfill legal requirements
Social mandate – make content accessible to as many people as possible

Benefits of captioned multimedia

In addition to providing access to deaf and hard-of- hearing users, captions also...
- provide access to audio content for hearing users in noisy environments (gyms, bars, restaurants) or where audio cannot be played (libraries, offices)
- aid those learning English
- provide searchable metadata of the video

What about transcripts?

Transcripts provide a text version of the audio track
- a transcript is useful for creating captions
- a transcript is a by-product of the captioning process
Transcripts should be considered a supplement to, not a replacement for, synchronized captions

Captions can be displayed by all major multimedia players

QuickTime (via SMIL or embedded tracks)
RealPlayer (via SMIL)
Windows Media Player (via SAMI)
Flash (via embedded objects or externally referenced files)

The Web Accessibility In Mind Initiative (WebAIM) from Utah State University offers some valuable on-line tutorials for captioning QuickTime, RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, and Flash Video files...

1. Captioning for QuickTime

http://www.webaim.org/techniques/captions/quicktime/

2. Captioning for Real Player

http://www.webaim.org/techniques/captions/real/

3. Captioning for Windows Media Player

http://www.webaim.org/techniques/captions/windows/

4. Captioning for Flash

http://www.webaim.org/techniques/flash/

WebAIM also provides guidelines and helps for producing accessibility for other media types...

http://www.webaim.org/articles/

As well, NCAM offers a free tool for creating captions and audio descriptions for rich media, called the Media Access Generator (MAGpie v2)...

http://ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/magpie/

NCAM also offers a Flash component that can be used to display captions in a Flash video player, called CC for Flash...

http://ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/ccforflash/index.html

And recently posted through NCAM is a web site devoted to Design Guidelines for Electronic Publications, Multimedia and the Web

http://ncam.wgbh.org/publications/adm/index.html

[edit] Resources

NCAM--Accessible Digital Media-Design Guidelines for Electronic Publications, Multimedia and the Web (start here, a must read): http://ncam.wgbh.org/publications/adm/expanded.html

NCAM--Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) at WGBH: http://ncam.wgbh.org

W3C Essential Components of Web Accessibility (big picture discussion): http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/components

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities): http://www.w3.org/WAI/

W3C Web Content Accessibillity Guidelines,WCAG, Overview (Start here for W3C Review): http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.php

W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG 1.0: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/

W3C Overview of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG 2.0, Documents: http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag20

W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG 2.0, FAQ's: http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/wcag2faq.html

W3C Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines, ATAG, Overview: http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/atag.php

W3C User Agent Accessibility Guidelines, UAAG, Overview (Web browsers, media players, & assistive technologies): http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/uaag.php

W3C Technical Specifications (on which Web Accessibility is based): http://www.w3.org/TR/

WebAIM Articles on Creating Accessible Media (User's Perspective, HTML Accessibility, Rich Media Accessibility, Evaluation-Testing-Tools, Standards & Laws, Policy-Coordination-Training): http://www.webaim.org/articles/

WebAIM Summary of United States Laws Regarding Accessibility Guidelines & Mandates: http://www.webaim.org/articles/laws/usa/

WebAIM Overview of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Sections 504 and 508) (with links to actual laws): http://www.webaim.org/articles/laws/usa/rehab.php

WebAIM Overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (with links to actual laws): http://www.webaim.org/articles/laws/usa/ada.php

WebAIM Overview of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 1997 (with links to actual laws): http://www.webaim.org/articles/laws/usa/idea.php

WebAIM Overview of Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (with links to actual laws): http://www.webaim.org/articles/laws/usa/telecomm.php

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act: http://www.dol.gov/oasam/regs/statutes/sec504.htm

The Reauthorized Rehabilitation Act of 1998 included amendments to Section 508: http://www.section508.gov/

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title II and Title III: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/Policy/IDEA/index.html

Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Section 255): http://www.access-board.gov/about/laws/telecomm.htm

MAGpie Captioning Tool for Rich Media (from NCAM): http://ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/magpie

Adobe Accessibility Resource Center: http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/

Jim Thatcher Accessibility Consulting: http://www.jimthatcher.com/

Caption Central (caption information source): http://www.captioncentral.com/

Hear-It (captions, subtitles, real-time captioning, laws in many countries): http://www.hear-it.org/page.dsp?page=2906

Closed Captioning FAQ: http://www.robson.org/capfaq/

CPC--Computer Prompting and Captioning Company (Windows CaptionMaker; Macintosh MacCaption): http://www.cpcweb.com

CaptionMAX Captioning, Encoding, Subtitling, Audio Description: http://www.captionmax.com/

Softel Captioning Solutions: http://www.softel-usa.com/intro_swift.php3

SoftNI Captioning and Subtitling: http://www.softni.com/

Captionate--Flash Video Captioning Solution: http://www.buraks.com/captionate/

Caption Colorado (service agency for real time, event, offline, foreign language, & internet captioning): http://www.captioncolorado.com

University of Utah Center for Disability Services: http://www.sa.utah.edu/ds/

University of Utah Webmaster Forums (several on Accessibility issues and laws): http://www.utah.edu/uwebresources/forums/index.html

University of Utah Accessibility Links: http://www.utah.edu/uwebresources/reference/index.html#access

Wikipedia Policy on Accessibility: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Accessibility

OTHER UNIVERSITY ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES

Indiana University Accessibility Guidelines: http://visualidentity.iu.edu/media/standards.shtml
The University of Texas at Austin--Web Video Guidelines: http://www.utexas.edu/web/video/captioning.php?e=0
Trace Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison Designing More Usable Web Sites: http://trace.wisc.edu/world/web/
Florida State University Web Style Guide for Accessibility: http://www.fsu.edu/~webguide/accessibility/
University of Washington--Accessible Web Design: http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Technology/universal.design.html
Georgia Tech Accessibility: http://www.gatech.edu/accessibility
Gallaudet University Video Library: http://videolibrary.gallaudet.edu/scripts/WebObjects.dll/tsweb (register for a free account)

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Accessibility & Captioning

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