the impact of recent lawsuits on video accessibility requirements
TRANSCRIPT
The Impact of Recent Lawsuits on Video Accessibility Requirements
Owen EdwardsSenior Accessibility ConsultantSSB BART [email protected]
www.3playmedia.comtwitter: @3playmedialive tweet: #a11y
Type questions in the control panel during the presentation This presentation is being recorded and will be available for replay To view live captions, please follow the link in the chat window
Lily BondDirector of Marketing3Play [email protected]
Agenda‣ Introduction to Captions & Description
‣ Benefits of Accessible Video
‣ Accessibility Laws
‣ Closed Captioning Lawsuits
‣ Blind/Low Vision Lawsuits
‣ Caption Quality Requirements + Creation
‣ Description Quality Requirements + Creation
‣ Q&A
What Are Captions?‣ Text that has been time synchronized
with the media
‣ Convey all spoken text & sound effects
‣ Originated in the early 1980s for broadcast television
‣ Captions vs. transcripts
‣ Captions vs. subtitles
‣ Closed vs. open captions
What Is Audio Description?Narration added to the soundtrack to describe important
visual details that cannot be understood from the main soundtrack alone
‣ Also know as: Video Description
Narrative Description
Description
‣ Similar to “Directors Commentary” on DVDs
‣ Increasingly available on TV (via “SAP”), and now on some online services
“What Is Description?” - DCMP
Benefits of Captioning‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing
‣ Better comprehension
‣ Flexibility to view in sound-sensitive environments
‣ Interactive video search
‣ SEO
‣ Reusability
‣ Translation
‣ May be required by law
80%of people who use captions aren’t
deaf or hard of hearing
48 MillionAmericans with hearing loss
Benefits of Description‣ Accessibility for blind & low-
vision users
‣ Advantages for people with cognitive / learning disabilities
‣ Flexibility to “view” in eyes-free or eyes-busy environments
‣ May be required by law
21 MillionAmericans with vision loss
Accessibility Laws: Rehabilitation ActRehabilitation Act: Sections 508, 504‣ Covers federal agencies and orgs with federal funding‣ Assistive Technology Act‣ Section 508 refresh likely coming in October
Accessibility Laws: ADARehabilitation Act: Sections 508, 504‣ Covers federal agencies and orgs with federal funding‣ Assistive Technology Act‣ Section 508 refresh likely coming in October
ADA: Titles II, III‣ Covers public and commercial entities‣ Lawsuits: What is a “place of public accommodation”?
Accessibility Laws: CVAARehabilitation Act: Sections 508, 504‣ Covers federal agencies and orgs with federal funding‣ Assistive Technology Act‣ Section 508 refresh likely coming in October
ADA: Titles II, III‣ Covers public and commercial entities‣ Lawsuits: What is a “place of public accommodation”?
CVAA ‣ Covers Internet content that aired on TV‣ Includes video clips
Accessibility Laws: WCAG 2.0Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0)‣ International guidelines with “Success Criteria”‣ Covers web content, mobile apps (iPhone, Android), etc.‣ Is the basis of the Section 508 refresh‣ Levels A, AA, AAA – increasing complexity‣ Lawsuits and settlements are generally focusing on Level AA
Accessibility Laws: WCAG 2.0 (cont.)Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0)‣ International guidelines‣ Covers web content, mobile apps (iPhone, Android), etc.‣ Is the basis of the Section 508 refresh‣ Levels A, AA, AAA – increasing complexity‣ Lawsuits and settlements are generally focusing on Level AA
‣ Specific guidelines for video (and similar for audio): Captions (A for pre-recorded video, AA for live video) Transcript (optional at A*, required at AAA) Audio description (optional at A*, required at AA and AAA) Sign Language (AAA)
* Either a transcript or audio description is required at level A
Closed Captioning Lawsuits: Netflix‣ National Association of the Deaf (NAD), et al. v Netflix
– What constitutes a place of public accommodation?
– How did the NAD originally bring Netflix under the ADA?
– Settlement & implications
Closed Captioning Lawsuits: Harvard/MIT‣ National Association of the Deaf (NAD), et al. v Netflix
– What constitutes a place of public accommodation?
– How did the NAD originally bring Netflix under the ADA?
– Settlement & implications
‣ NAD vs. Harvard & MIT
– Current state of the case
– Implications for higher education
– Changing scope of the ADA
OCR/DOJ Resolution Agreements & Lawsuits‣ Colleges & Universities with DOJ/OCR Investigations for
Inaccessible IT
– At least 15 schools
‣ Video Specific Complaints
– University of Montana
• Videos without captions
– South Carolina Technical College System (SCTCS)
• Videos without captions
• Inaccessible media player
Dear Colleague Letters from the OCR‣ University of Cincinnati
– Concrete examples
– Breadth of online services OCR will cover
‣ University of Phoenix– Covers WCAG standards
– Remedies students who may have been harmed by inaccessibility in the past
‣ Michigan Department of Education– Identifies “violations” instead of complaints
– Lays out how to make videos accessible
Blind/Low Vision access Lawsuits: Penn State‣ National Federation of the Blind (NFB), v. Penn State
– Title II of ADA covers “public entities”
– Range of violations included:
• Library and departmental web sites
• ANGEL course management system
• “Smart” podium with touchscreen
• PNC Bank ATMs and Web site
– Broad implications for public universities
Blind/Low Vision access Lawsuits: Redbox‣ National Federation of the Blind (NFB), v. Penn State
‣ Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, et al. v. Redbox Automated Retail LLC, et al.
– ADA as well as California Civil Rights and Disabled Persons laws
– Issues with accessibility of touchscreen kiosks
– Dispels any assumption that blind people do not watch video (either alone or with family & friends)
Blind/Low Vision access Lawsuits: AMC‣ National Federation of the Blind (NFB), v. Penn State
‣ Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, et al. v. Redbox Automated Retail LLC, et al.
‣ California Council of the Blind (CCB), et al. v. AMC Theaters
– Specific issues of access to Audio Description in movie theaters
– Could bring Audio Description on a par with Captions as far as expectations for accommodation
What Is “Good Enough” for Captioning?
‣ ADA, Section 508, Section 504, CVAA, and FCC all state:
– An equivalent alternative must be provided video content
‣ How Accurate Is Accurate?
–
YouTube Automatic Captioning, for Example …‣ Even if you assume
YouTube automatic captions reach 80% accuracy (usually ASR is 60-70%):
– 80% accuracy
– 1 in 5 words is incorrect
– An 8-word sentence will be 17% accurate≅
– A 10-word sentence will be 11% accurate≅
FCC Standards for Caption Quality‣ Caption accuracy
– Must match spoken words to fullest extent possible and include non-verbal information
– Allows some leniency for live captioning
‣ Caption synchronization
– Must coincide with their spoken words and sounds to the greatest extent possible
‣ Program completeness
– Captions must run from the beginning to the end of the program
‣ Onscreen caption placement
– Captions should not block other important visual content
Best Practices for Captioning Quality
‣ Spelling & Grammar
‣ Speaker Identification
‣ Sound Effects
‣ Punctuation
– “(SHOUTING) Hi” vs. “Hi!”
‣ Verbatim
‣ # Characters per Line
‣ Font
‣ Synchronization
‣ Minimum Duration
‣ Caption Placement
‣ Silence
Transcription Standards Caption Frame Standards
How to Create Captions Yourself‣ Transcribe the video
– Usually takes 5-6x real time
– Include non-speech elements
‣ Use YouTube to transcribe & set timings
– It is highly recommended to use another program to set the timings, rather than attempting to do so manually
‣ Edit YouTube’s auto captions
Understanding Caption Formats
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WebVTT (.vtt)
SRT (.srt)
SCC (.scc)
What Is “Good Enough” for Audio Description?
‣ No specific standards from WCAG, FCC, CVAA
‣ Guidelines exist, especially DCMP’s Description Key
‣ Existing Description companies have their own internal practices/standards
‣ CVAA requirements may lead to standards development, and/or lawsuits
How to Implement Audio Description
1. Include description at the production stage, so no separate track is needed
... or ...
2. A second, user-selectable, audio track that includes audio descriptions
3. An additional version of a video that includes audio descriptions
4. A version of a video which has been re-edited to allow additional time for audio descriptions
... or?
5. Text track (similar to captions) – an unproven, but potential future option
How to Implement Audio Description (cont.)
‣ Many vendors exist, including:
* Not an exhaustive list, nor specific endorsement: see https://dcmp.org/ai/179/ for a more complete list
‣ Reputable vendors have good quality, and experience
‣ In-house, post-production solutions are generally unproven, higher risk
Audio Description Associates DCMP
WGBH’s Media Access Group CaptionMax
Narrative Television Network Audio Eyes
Bridge Multimedia DICAPTA
Other implications of video accessibility
‣ Need an accessible video player / platform, which supports:
Keyboard-only access to controls
Low-vision support
Screen reader support
Voice control (e.g. Dragon NaturallySpeaking) support
One or more method for Audio Description playback
‣ Note: Autoplay is a big problem for screen reader users!
Able Player
Existing accessible video players / platforms
‣ Some players focus on accessibility: * Able Player
OzPlayer
PayPal’s accessible video player
‣ Some players are quite accessible, but few support description: Kaltura
YouTube
JW Player
Brightcove
Selection of a player / platform increasingly needs to consider accessibility
OzPlayer
* Not an exhaustive list, nor specific endorsement
Owen EdwardsSenior Accessibility ConsultantSSB BART [email protected]
Lily BondDirector of Marketing3Play [email protected]
Q&A
Register for upcoming webinars at:http://www.3playmedia.com/webinars/
Upcoming Webinars Sept 8: Quick Start to Captioning
Sept 20: Captioning the 3Play Way
Sept 29: 2016 Legal Update on Digital Accessibility Cases (with Lainey Feingold)
Oct 6: Developing an Accessibility Policy
live tweet: #a11y @3playmedia
Please type your questions into the window in your control panel. A recording of this webinar will be available for replay.