Meeting audio description through narration #4327
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mbgower
commented
Apr 7, 2025
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mbgower
commented
- Added the word "additional" to note 1 of Understanding documents for 1.2.3 and 1.2.5 (This makes it match note 3 in the audio description definition, which reads "Where all of the video information is already provided in existing audio, no additional audio description is necessary.")
- Added a new technique "Providing audio descriptions by incorporating narration into the soundtrack"
- Added the word "additional" to note 1 - Added a new technique "Providing audio descriptions by incorporating narration into the existing soundtrack"
Changed the preposition from "into" to "to"
Updated the ID, and made editorial changes to improve the new technique
Removed the references to a slide presentation
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I agree that the following is problematic:
For 1.2.3 and 1.2.5, if all of the important information in the video track is already conveyed in the audio track, no audio description is necessary.
But I don't like adding additional as the adjective to audio description. Maybe:
...if all of the important information in the video track is already conveyed in the audio track, no additional narration is necessary.
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@bruce-usab "no additional narration or audio description is necessary." is perhaps better/more to the point? |
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Discussed on backlog call 4/11. Raw GitHack preview for new G226 is available. |
We have to be cautious here. All I'm doing with existing guidance in this PR is matching the existing wording of note 3 of the audio description by adding the word "additional". I feel that by also swapping out "audio description" for "narration" that we are being a bit more intrusive to the existing language of the definition. It also potentially causes some churn. I think it's good to add in a technique that talks about modifying/adding narration as a way to meet audio descriptions, and provides a bunch of examples of what narration means within the context of the technique. I'm less comfortable altering a note that spans multiple SCs by removing the defined term in favour of an undefined one (even if it is used in the definition!). It just seems to be more likely to invite negative responses. |
Based on comments stripped out the adjective so it just covers narration added to the soundtrack
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Discussed and approved on Backlog call 4/25. |
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@mbgower maybe a bit late in the day, but: since the word "existing" was removed as a result of the discussion with @shawna-slh #4327 (review) ... should we also remove the word "existing" from the new technique? (in various placeS) |
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I'll have a look |
mbgower
changed the title
This was already done 2 weeks ago, based on Shawn's feedback. See 898215d Maybe you were referring to the PR itself? I've renamed it there, just now. I've reviewed the file in its current form. The technique lists a number of methods, including adding new narration or relying on existing narration. I think it is good to go. Any concerns, let me know. Mike |
The proposed new technique still has 4 uses of "existing" https://github.com/w3c/wcag/pull/4327/files#diff-72e48601bceb0186872d2463d975bba11c1a576d7b54764f7f73b351e552cfc8 |
| </section><section id="description"><h2>Description</h2> | ||
| <p>The objective of this technique is to provide audio descriptions through narrative incorporated into the soundtrack of the synchronized video, so that people who cannot see are able to understand important visual material.</p> | ||
| <p>Since most user agents today cannot merge multiple sound tracks, this technique adds additional context by revising the draft or pre-existing soundtrack so that the narrative includes audio description via a single audio track. This additional information may address actions, characters, scene changes, and on-screen text (not captions) that are important to understanding the content.</p> | ||
| <p>The existing narrative is either revised or new narrative is added during pauses in existing dialogue (which potentially limits the amount of supplementary narration that can be added).</p> |
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"narrative" should be "narration", as they mean different things?
| <p>The objective of this technique is to provide audio descriptions through narrative incorporated into the soundtrack of the synchronized video, so that people who cannot see are able to understand important visual material.</p> | ||
| <p>Since most user agents today cannot merge multiple sound tracks, this technique adds additional context by revising the draft or pre-existing soundtrack so that the narrative includes audio description via a single audio track. This additional information may address actions, characters, scene changes, and on-screen text (not captions) that are important to understanding the content.</p> | ||
| <p>The existing narrative is either revised or new narrative is added during pauses in existing dialogue (which potentially limits the amount of supplementary narration that can be added).</p> | ||
| <p>This technique is most appropriate in instructional, marketing, and other videos where the narrative is intended to be informational. In such cases, a soundtrack which reinforces the visual "takeaways" in the video will be vital to blind people and people with low vision, and may be of use to many users, including some users with cognitive disabilities.</p> |
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ditto ... "narrative" is not a synonym for "narration"
| <!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en" xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>Providing audio descriptions by incorporating narration in the soundtrack</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../css/sources.css" class="remove"/></head><body><h1>Providing audio descriptions by incorporating narration in the soundtrack</h1><section class="meta"><p class="id">ID: G226</p><p class="technology">Technology: general</p><p class="type">Type: Technique</p></section><section id="applicability"><h2>When to Use</h2> | ||
| <p>Any technology that supports audio and video.</p> | ||
| </section><section id="description"><h2>Description</h2> | ||
| <p>The objective of this technique is to provide audio descriptions through narrative incorporated into the soundtrack of the synchronized video, so that people who cannot see are able to understand important visual material.</p> |
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| <p>The objective of this technique is to provide audio descriptions through narrative incorporated into the soundtrack of the synchronized video, so that people who cannot see are able to understand important visual material.</p> | |
| <p>The objective of this technique is to provide audio descriptions through narration incorporated into the soundtrack of the synchronized video, so that people who cannot see are able to understand important visual material.</p> |
| <p>Any technology that supports audio and video.</p> | ||
| </section><section id="description"><h2>Description</h2> | ||
| <p>The objective of this technique is to provide audio descriptions through narrative incorporated into the soundtrack of the synchronized video, so that people who cannot see are able to understand important visual material.</p> | ||
| <p>Since most user agents today cannot merge multiple sound tracks, this technique adds additional context by revising the draft or pre-existing soundtrack so that the narrative includes audio description via a single audio track. This additional information may address actions, characters, scene changes, and on-screen text (not captions) that are important to understanding the content.</p> |
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| <p>Since most user agents today cannot merge multiple sound tracks, this technique adds additional context by revising the draft or pre-existing soundtrack so that the narrative includes audio description via a single audio track. This additional information may address actions, characters, scene changes, and on-screen text (not captions) that are important to understanding the content.</p> | |
| <p>Since most user agents today cannot merge multiple sound tracks, this technique adds additional context by revising the soundtrack so that the narration includes audio description via a single audio track. This additional information may address actions, characters, scene changes, and on-screen text (not captions) that are important to understanding the content.</p> |
| </section><section id="description"><h2>Description</h2> | ||
| <p>The objective of this technique is to provide audio descriptions through narrative incorporated into the soundtrack of the synchronized video, so that people who cannot see are able to understand important visual material.</p> | ||
| <p>Since most user agents today cannot merge multiple sound tracks, this technique adds additional context by revising the draft or pre-existing soundtrack so that the narrative includes audio description via a single audio track. This additional information may address actions, characters, scene changes, and on-screen text (not captions) that are important to understanding the content.</p> | ||
| <p>The existing narrative is either revised or new narrative is added during pauses in existing dialogue (which potentially limits the amount of supplementary narration that can be added).</p> |
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| <p>The existing narrative is either revised or new narrative is added during pauses in existing dialogue (which potentially limits the amount of supplementary narration that can be added).</p> | |
| <p>The narration is either revised or new narration is added during pauses in dialogue (which potentially limits the amount of supplementary narration that can be added).</p> |
| <p>The objective of this technique is to provide audio descriptions through narrative incorporated into the soundtrack of the synchronized video, so that people who cannot see are able to understand important visual material.</p> | ||
| <p>Since most user agents today cannot merge multiple sound tracks, this technique adds additional context by revising the draft or pre-existing soundtrack so that the narrative includes audio description via a single audio track. This additional information may address actions, characters, scene changes, and on-screen text (not captions) that are important to understanding the content.</p> | ||
| <p>The existing narrative is either revised or new narrative is added during pauses in existing dialogue (which potentially limits the amount of supplementary narration that can be added).</p> | ||
| <p>This technique is most appropriate in instructional, marketing, and other videos where the narrative is intended to be informational. In such cases, a soundtrack which reinforces the visual "takeaways" in the video will be vital to blind people and people with low vision, and may be of use to many users, including some users with cognitive disabilities.</p> |
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| <p>This technique is most appropriate in instructional, marketing, and other videos where the narrative is intended to be informational. In such cases, a soundtrack which reinforces the visual "takeaways" in the video will be vital to blind people and people with low vision, and may be of use to many users, including some users with cognitive disabilities.</p> | |
| <p>This technique is most appropriate in instructional, marketing, and other videos where the narration is intended to be informational. In such cases, a soundtrack which reinforces the visual "takeaways" in the video will be vital to blind people and people with low vision, and may be of use to many users, including some users with cognitive disabilities.</p> |
| <p>When a dialog or page appears, read out its title. For a new page, also describe its purpose or any distinguishing characteristics. Practice a natural storytelling style that does not simply read the text on the screen.</p> | ||
| <h4>When using a mouse to show something (such as to hover, select, scroll, or open), say what you are doing</h4> | ||
| <p>When performing complex interactions, especially by mouse, it is sometimes helpful to announce what you plan to do before doing it, then narrate while you are interacting with it, and finally summarize what you just did.</p> | ||
| <h3>Additional narration is added to gaps in the existing soundtrack</h3> |
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| <h3>Additional narration is added to gaps in the existing soundtrack</h3> | |
| <h3>Additional narration is added to gaps in the soundtrack</h3> |
