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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
dea5101
"Success Criterion" > "success criterion"
patrickhlauke Sep 13, 2025
b2ba6ab
Merge branch 'main' into patrickhlauke-understanding-audiodescription
patrickhlauke Apr 12, 2026
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111 changes: 27 additions & 84 deletions understanding/20/audio-description-or-media-alternative-prerecorded.html
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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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@bruce-usab bruce-usab Mar 28, 2025

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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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@patrickhlauke patrickhlauke Mar 29, 2025

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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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@patrickhlauke patrickhlauke Mar 29, 2025

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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 important information in the video track is already
conveyed in the audio track, no additional audio description is necessary.


</p>

<p>
1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded),
1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded), and 1.2.8 Media Alternative (Prerecorded)
Expand All @@ -78,61 +71,40 @@ <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 @@ -141,47 +113,18 @@ <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="https://www.w3.org/WAI/media/av/">Making Audio and Video Media Accessible, W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.wgbh.org/foundation/services/ncam/tools-resources/accessible-digital-media-guidelines-guideline-h-multimedia">GBH - Integrate audio descriptions into multimedia presentations using SMIL</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="https://www.w3.org/WAI/media/av/">Making Audio and Video Media Accessible, W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)</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>

{% # Data for associated techniques is defined in understanding/understanding.11tydata.js %}
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116 changes: 29 additions & 87 deletions understanding/20/audio-description-prerecorded.html
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</head>
<body>
<h1>Understanding Audio Description (Prerecorded)</h1>

<section id="brief">
<h2>In brief</h2>
<dl>
<dt>Goal</dt><dd>Videos can be played with audio descriptions.</dd>
<dt>What to do</dt><dd>Provide a synchronized spoken description of the visual content in videos.</dd>
<dt>Why it's important</dt><dd>People who cannot see or understand the visual content can hear about it while playing videos.</dd>
</dl>

</section>

<section id="intent">
<h2>Intent of Audio Description (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. 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.
needed when the video portion is not available. 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. Audio description is added during existing
pauses in the dialogue.
</p>

<div class="note">

<p>This success criterion applies to all video content that contains <q>important visual details that cannot be understood from the main soundtrack alone</q>. Content is not exempted if the original audio offers no pauses in the dialog where audio descriptions can be provided – it fails this success criterion. Similarly, where all pauses in the dialogue contain audio descriptions, yet additional important visual information has not been described, it fails this success criterion.</p>
<p>Despite failing this Success Criterion, authors are encouraged to then fall back to at least satisfying the requirements for Success Criterion 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded). As noted in the [Time-based media guideline](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/time-based-media):</p>
Comment thread
patrickhlauke marked this conversation as resolved.
<blockquote>Sometimes, there is so much dialogue that audio description cannot fit into existing pauses in the dialogue. The option at Level A to provide an alternative for time-based media instead of audio description for synchronized media would allow access to all of the information in the synchronized media. This option also allows access to the visual information in non-visual form when audio description is not provided for some other reason.</blockquote>
<p>Alternatively, authors may consider creating a version of the content with extended audio description – see Success Criterion 1.2.7 Extended Audio Description (Prerecorded) (Level AAA).</p>
</div>

<div class="note">
<p>
For 1.2.3, 1.2.5, and 1.2.7, if all of the important information in the video track is already
conveyed in the audio track, no additional audio description is necessary.


</p>

<p>
1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded),
1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded), and 1.2.8 Media Alternative (Prerecorded)
Expand All @@ -55,102 +54,45 @@ <h2>Intent of Audio Description (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>


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


<ul>

<li>People who are blind or have low vision as well as those with cognitive limitations
who have difficulty interpreting visually what is happening benefit from audio description
of visual information.
</li>

</ul>

</section>

<section id="examples">
<h2>Examples of Audio Description (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>

<dd>
<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="http://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>
</dl>

</section>

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


<ul>

<li>

<a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/media/av/description/">Description of Visual Information</a>, in <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/media/av/">Making Audio and Video Media Accessible</a>, W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.wgbh.org/foundation/services/ncam/tools-resources/accessible-digital-media-guidelines-guideline-h-multimedia">GBH - Integrate audio descriptions into multimedia presentations using SMIL</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="https://www.w3.org/WAI/media/av/description/">Description of Visual Information</a>, in <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/media/av/">Making Audio and Video Media Accessible</a>, W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)</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>

{% # Data for associated techniques is defined in understanding/understanding.11tydata.js %}
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