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We have three main groups to consider when we wish to make a video accessible:
Before deciding on how we are going to make a video accessible to these groups we have to think about what kind of video we are dealing with.
If it is a video of a person talking while facing the camera then there is minimal information available in the visuals and a blind viewer can simply listen to the audio. For a deaf viewer we can add word for word subtitles so that the sound information can be read from the screen. For a person who is both deaf and blind we can make a text transcript that can be read through a Braille reader.
This type of video is the easiest type to make accessible to all groups.
If we are dealing with a video of a thriller our job gets more complicated. Information now comes from more sources. One obvious one is dialogue between the actors. This can be subtitled as before. However other types of sounds add to the drama. These include distant gunshots, a creaking door or the sound of footsteps slowly ascending the stairs. Usually information about such sounds is conveyed to the deaf through captions which appear at the top of the screen.
The image above is from the video 'How the Kiwi lost his wings' by David Brechin-Smith. The narrator is telling about the Kiwi flying above the treetops, his voice accompanied by a background sound of flapping wings. His voice is conveyed through the subtitles at the bottom of the screen - which were added to the original video. The captions at the top convey that there are background sounds accompanying his voice.
With those two sets of captions the deaf user should be able to more fully experience the atmosphere that underlies the story of Kiwi.
But what about those who have never heard a sound or saw an image? How do we tell them the same story? We can only communicate with them through Braille readers. For this video my only solution has been to create a transcript where the essence of the story is interwoven with the actor's very expressive gestures, the background sounds and the animation sequences.
Let us now look at some of the ways for presenting this video.
Go to topIn this example an extra set of captions was added to the video to convey to the deaf reader some of the other sounds that were used to enhance the telling of the story. Other than the convention to put captions conveying background sounds at the top of the screen, there is no right or wrong way to do this. Not every birdcall was captioned here, just those that I felt critical to the atmosphere. Record every single bird call and you are bombarding the viewer with too much information; record too few and the user may ignore them as irrelevant.
There are two ways of putting captions on a video: using vtt files in HTML or else using a video editing software. The vtt files may not always work while using a video editor is quicker. In this case I used video editing software.
This captioning would be of great benefit to a deaf user as they would be able to experience all of the visual information and most of the audio information. However it would not be of any benefit to a blind user.
Go to topTranscripts that describe either static images or videos are essential for blind users to gain understanding of the topic they are engaging with. Transcripts for videos are not as essential because the users are able to listen to the soundtrack. The same transcripts are essential to those who are deaf and blind because text is the only medium that is accessible to them through the medium of Braille machines.
Producing a verbatim transcript of every word the narrator said was, in my opinion, giving the user an over detailed and sterile version of the dynamic and expressive storytelling that was this video. For this reason I wove together the narrator's gestures, the essence of the story and the extra atmosphere and emotion generated by the background noises and animations. This produced the transcript shown below.
Go to topThe story starts in the mind of a young man imagining himself sailing his waka across the ocean in turn being Tangaroa, Papa, Rangi and finally settling on being Maui who, once he introduces himself by telling us of his deeds including fishing up the North Island, begins to tell the tale of the loss of his wings by the Kiwi. Mentally transforming himself into a bird and sensing the beauty of flight through the air he focuses on a cloak made from the feathers of a Kiwi, a bird who once upon a time was able to fly. With the sound of flapping wings and the call of other birds he glides through the air beneath the sun and the blue sky. Along with him are his friends the Tui who then had no white feathers on his throat, the Pukeko who lived on dry land and the Pipiwharauroa who was obsessed with his nest. In their flight they hear the voice of Tane resonating through the forest and, obeying the call of their ancestor and guardian, they descend to the ground to meet him.
Tane is sad, his forest is being eaten up by insects and he needs the help of his children the birds. Whoever volunteers must stay on the forest floor and eat the insects. Tane first approaches Tui but Tui is afraid in case there are monsters on the forest floor and so he runs away. Disappointed, Tane next approaches Pukeko but Pukeko likes dry land and does not want to live on the wet forest floor with mud oozing between his toes. With a frightened scream he runs away. Tane turns next to Pipiwharauroa but he is too busy with the building and caring of his nest to care about what Tane is asking for, and also runs away.
Finally Tane asks for Kiwi’s help to save the forest. Kiwi looks up at the sky where he loved to fly above the treetops. He looks at the sun that he would never see again and he looks at his friends that he would not ever see either. He is afraid but he knows that the forest must be saved. Sadly he agrees to help Tane keep his forest clean. The air is now filled with tension and the power of magic. Kiwi’s wings get smaller, his legs grow stumpy and stronger and his beak becomes longer. He is now a nocturnal bird destined to spend his nights foraging for insects and thus keeping the forests of Tane clean.
Tane was angry with the other birds. In his anger he gave Tui white feathers on his breast to indicate that he is a coward. He made the Pukeko live in the swamps where he would get mud oozing through his toes and he deprived the Pipiwharauroa of his nest so he would have to lay his eggs in the nests of other birds.
But Tane loved Kiwi who spent his nights keeping his forests clear of insects.
And our storyteller in his Maui persona now tells us that the Kiwi is still the favourite bird of all the people of Aotearoa and then breaks into the beginning of the national anthem after which he impersonates the Kiwi searching for insects in the forest as the video concludes.
Reading the transcript through a Braille machine would be the only means for a deaf blind person to access the video. A blind person, however, might use to same transcript to get another view of the story. They could only do this through a screen reader. This assistive technology cannot do justice to this very emotive story due to the toneless intonation and the synthetic voice. For this reason I provided a recording of the transcript so that more of the emotion of the story could be conveyed.
For the audio only version of the story a verbatim transcript is also available. For further information providing an alternative for audio only follow this link.
Captions have been added to the video to describe the background sounds that may elude an deaf person. (Subtitles have been applied to the original video). For more information, check WCAG's discussion on prerecorded captions.
A transcript was created that combined the essence of the story with the atmosphere created by the narrator's gestures, the background sounds and animation clips. See a further discussion about providing text alternatives for pre recorded video.
Go to topVideos with sound are accessible to blind people as they can hear both the dialogue and the background sounds. It can be improved further by providing an extra soundtrack that provides description of visual information that has no sound such as distant vehicles moving towards the viewer.
For a deaf person all of the information provided by sound, must be provided by subtitles and captions. Generally subtitles convey the dialogue or background commentary, while the captions provide description of relevant background noise.
For both groups a text transcript of the video can be provided.
For those who are both deaf and blind text transcript would allow them to experience the video through a Braille reader.
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