508 Standards | Transcription Solutions | Implementing Transcriptions | Recommendations | Resources
  Video

Summary
Making video accessible takes several steps. According to the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidlines 2.0 (WCAG), there must be a text equivalent for all non-text content (Checkpoint 1.1), and there must be synchronized media equivalents for time-dependent presentations (Checkpiont 1.2). To clarify, there must be captions for audio and audio descriptions for the video. According to the W3C:

  • Captions are text equivalents of auditory information from speech, sound effects, and ambient sounds that are synchronized with the multimedia presentation.
  • Audio descriptions are equivalents of visual information from actions, body language, graphics, and scene changes that are voiced (either by a human or a speech synthesizer) and synchronized with the multimedia presentation.

Points to keep in mind:

  • All course-related video and multimedia productions that contain speech or other necessary audio information should be open or closed captioned. Open captioning is permanent. It cannot be turned on and off. Closed captioning can be turned on and off. None of the Web-based media players (i.e., Real Player, Windows Media Player, Quicktime) are toggleable. An additional link for the media without captions or audio descriptions must be provided.
  • In order to create captions, a transcription of the audio is needed.
  • All course-related video and multimedia productions that contain visual information necessary for comprehension should include audio descriptions.
  • A text equivalent of the additonal recorded audio description is also required, which can be integrated with the original audio transcript.
  • Providing these text equivalents as a link is necessary in order to easily convert the information to braille or speech (as with a screen reader), or display in a larger font or different colors.
  • Audio or video files used in web pages should launch external players. Screen readers cannot recognize embedded players.

Follow These Steps:

If a student with a disability is admitted into a distance education program, the following procedure will be used to ensure that course materials containing audio or video (media) are made accessible:

1. Department of Disability Services (DDS) notifies the DE program as soon as a student requests reasonable accommodation.
2. DE program will consult with the DDS and the Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) to establish a plan of action for making the course media accessible. The plan must include a feasible timeline. A determination will be made as to whether the media requires transcription, captioning and/or audio description, as well as whether the required work should be out-sourced or done in-house by support organizations on campus.
3. The DE program provides the selected vendor or support organization with a copy of file(s) in the appropriate format. In most cases, a central account will be billed for the service.
4. The files are returned by the agreed-upon date and the DE program proofreads the materials for errors.
5. DE program, in consultation with the CIT (if necessary), will integrate the transcripts and descriptions with media and other web-based materials. See Guidelines for Multimedia for more information.

*The W3C's Checkpoints provide specific examples of different types of media presentations that require accessibility.




508 STANDARDS
Transcription Solutions

There are several different options for transcribing. Which ever one you choose, remember that a content specialist should still proofread the transcription once completed.

  1. Outsourcing
  2. In House Transcribing:
    Transcribing with Voice Recognition Software
    Start /Stop Transcription Pedal System (This is a foot pedal transcription system. It works with PCs and makes it possible to play/pause, fast forward and rewind in a codec player with a foot pedal so your hands are free to type.

  Implementing Transcriptions

There are several options for implementing transcriptions. Outsourcing is always available for creating captions and audio descriptions for video, although it can be rather costly. Magpie, created by the WGBH, is a freeware captioning/audio description tool. It is the only available captioning program for video on the web right now. Magpie outputs the necessary files to play in Real Player (SMIL, .rt), Quicktime (SMIL, .txt), or Windows Player (SAMI). More on Magpie will be discussed below.

  1. Using transcriptions as an additional link:
    Having a link to the transcript allows the user to read the content at his or her own pace. It also makes it easy to convert to braille or display in a larger font or different colors. An integratred transcript of both the audio and the audio descriptions must also be made available.
  2. Captioning/Audio Description Services
  3. Captioning with Magpie 1.0
  4. Captioning with Magpie 2.0
  5. Adding audio descriptions
Recommendations
The transcription solutions that best suit you will depend on your budget and the amount of time you can devote to the project. The captioning/audio description solution will also depend on your resources. In the long run, it will cost less to do these "in house" and will enable you to have more control of the production process. But it might be more time consuming, in the beginning, to get everything set up and to learn the different programs and decide which options best suit your particular needs.
Outsourcing
  1. Type-Thing Services http://www.type-thing.com/web.html
    contact: Michele Duran Skroch phone: 505-922-1000 (NM) email: michele@type-thing.com
    $3.75 per page based on a single spacing
    60 minute lecture about 20 pages depending on speed of speaker. ($75-$112.5)
    They are set up for FTP or can download from a URL.
    Turn around is within 48 hours depending on the size of your file. They have a lot of experience dealing with
    digital audio files and have staff familiar with medical terminology.

  2. Kellar Enterprises http://www.kellarenterprises.com/medical_transcription.htm
    contact : Joanne Kellar, phone: 814-231-3301 email: mail@kellarenterprises.com
    60 minute lecture = 3 to 5 hrs. of transcription $25/hr. ($52.50-87.50)
    They are set up for FTP or can download from a URL
    Turnaround depends on the size of the file, but more than likely within 24 hours.
    * They are presently at an agreement with PSU at $70.00/audiotape up to 60
    minutes/audiotape. This is so they can budget more easily. This is
    the same agreement we can give UNC, based on volume.*
    (Her company has people who are familiar with medical terminology)

  3. Flash Transcription Service http://eztranscript.com/
    contact : ? phone: (956) 682-4445 Fax: (956) 682-6443
    $5.5-6 per page (will go as low as $4 per page based on volume)
    60 min lecture = 2.5-3 pages
    Medical terminology is their specialty. They handle all types of digital audio files.
    Turn around is usually 24 to 48 hours

  4. We Type 4 U http://www.wetype4u.com
    contact: tele: 877-938-9734 email:disrach@wetype4u.com
    $2.00 per page, 39 line page (single spacing)
    60 minute lecture = approximately 15-20 pgs ($30-40)
    Turn around is 24 hrs.
    They have little experience with medical terminology.
Transcribing with voice recognition software

Voice recogniton software enables people to transcribe by simply using their voice. The Center for Instructional Technology and the School of Public Health Sciences have conducted brief tests using two voice recognition programs. CIT tested Microsoft's Advanced Via Voice, and SPHS conducted a test using Dragon Naturally Speaking. Both programs are similar in the way they work. Building a large vocal library requires training the software. More than one person can train the software, but each person will have to train and build his or her own vocal library.

Required Hardware, Software, and/or Other Tools:
*These programs require a lot of memory for the vocal library built by the speaker.

Dragon Naturally Speaking
Windows 98,2000, NT, XP, ME: 500 MHz, 128 MB

Pro Via Voice
Windows 2000, ME: 300 MHz, 96 MB
Windows XP: patch CD (the sales representative can tell you what this is)


Advanced Via Voice
Windows 98: 300 MHz 64 MB
Windows XP: 300 MHz 192 MB, patch CD
Windows ME: 600 MHz 64 MB

Costs:
Dragon Naturally Speaking $695.00 retail
Pro Via Voice $229.95 regular retail, $169.95 educational retail
Advanced Via Voice $109.95

Required Skills:

Precise speaking voice with clear enunciation. Good listening skills are also needed if you are transcribing someone else's audio.

Required Time Needed for Development:

These programs take a while to train in order for them to become familiar with your voice. Mistakes become fewer and fewer the more more you train. Training could take up to 3 months to achieve 99% accuracy.

Degree Compliance Can Be Part of Initial Production:

This process could be a part of the initial production, but will be time-consuming in the beginning. The editing process may take longer in the initial stages of training the software.

Special Problems & Issues:

  1. When using voice recognition software, everything has to be spoken. For example, periods, quotes, commas, have to be said.
  2. Inconsistencies in the transcription will require editing. For example, saying "divided by" may be written using the symbol, /, or the program may write out "divided by". When it comes across a word which is not recognized in its vocabulary that is spoken frequently, the program will show a pop up box guiding you through steps to add that word to its vocabulary and your voice profile. Editing in this manner, as you go along, increases the speed and accuracy through the rest of the transcription and for transcriptions to follow.

Examples

Test using Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS)
Test using Via Voice

Recommended Resources:

Offcial Dragon Naturally Speaking Site:
http://www.lhsl.com/naturallyspeaking/

Official ViaVoice Site: You can purchase the software here or call 1800-825-5263 or 1800-426-2255.
http://www-3.ibm.com/software/speech/desktop/w9.html
  Start Stop Transcription System

This is a foot pedal transcription system. It works with PCs and makes it possible to play/pause, fast forward and rewind in a codec player with a foot pedal. This will cut down considerably on transcription time if you decide to do it "in house".

Required Hardware, Software, and/or Other Tools:

  1. Start Stop UNIVERSAL Transcription System
  2. Start Stop PEDAL POWER for Real Player™
  3. Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, NT 4.0 and XP™ compatible

Costs:

  1. Start Stop UNIVERSAL Transcription System $199.00
  2. Start Stop PEDAL POWER for Real Player™ $199.00
  3. Combo Package $240.00

Required Skills:

Typing, listening, and familiarity of vocabulary used in the presentation.

Required Time Needed for Development:

Depends on how long the audio track/s are and how many words the speaker speaks per minute along with your typing speed. See test.

Degree Compliance Can Be Part of Initial Production:

This does not have to be a part of the initial production. If the audio files are available, that is all that is required to transcribe.

Special Problems & Issues:

The pedal system can decrease transcription time by about 60% as shown in the example below.

Examples:

Test using Start/Stop Transcription System

Recommended Resources:

Official Start Stop Site: You can purchase the software here.
http://www.startstop.com/
  Captioning with MAGpie 1.0

Magpie 1.0 is a freeware captioning tool for video intended for the web. It outputs the necessary files to play in Real Player (SMIL, .rt), Quicktime (SMIL, .txt), or Windows Player (SAMI).

Required Hardware, Software, and/or Other Tools:

  1. MAGpie 1.0 program
  2. Windows95/98, 2000, ME, XP, or NT, or Macintosh system
  3. Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 or higher (http://www.microsoft.com)
  4. Windows Media Player (http://www.microsoft.com)
  5. RealPlayer G2 or higher (http://www.real.com)
  6. QuickTime Player (included with QuickTime 4.0 or higher) or MoviePlayer (included with QuickTime 3.0) (http://www.apple.com/quicktime)

Costs:

Free

Required Skills:

A good understanding of MAGpie 1.0. Reading the help section is necessary in order to understand how Magpie works. This section will guide you through the steps to adding captions and audio descriptions. The skills required are comparable to the skills required for Microsoft Word.

Required Time Needed for Development:

Learning MAGpie might take a couple of hours. The program has a couple of bugs and problems, but they are listed below which will hopefully allow you to move on with little frustration. The captioning part is the most time consuming. If you outsource your transcriptions, the time it takes to caption obviously will be cut down. Without a transcript, a 5 minute video takes approximately 2 hours to caption. With a transcript, the time is cut almost in half at approximately 1.25 hours. The whole captioning process will speed up with practice. You can view the video sample here. This sample is a .wmv file which is only playable in Windows Media Player.

Degree Compliance Can Be Part of Initial Production:

This process can be a part of the initial production.

Special Problems & Issues: (Most of these issues have been addressed with Magpie 2.0)

  1. The internal player for Magpie 1.0 is a Windows Media Player. This means you can only use media within Magpie compatible with that player. These formats are listed below.

    File Formats Supported by Windows Media Player :

    • Windows Media (.asf, .asx, .wax, .wma, .wmv, .wvx, .wmp, .wmx
    • Audio Visual Interleave (.avi)
    • Moving Pictures Experts Group (.mpg, .mpeg, .m1v, .mp2, .mp3, .mpa, .mpe, .mpv2, .m3u)
    • Musical Instrument Digital Interface (.mid, .midi, .rmi)
    • Macintosh AIFF Resource (.aif, .aifc, .aiff )
    • Sun Microsystems and NeXT (.au, .snd )
    • Audio for Windows (.wav)
    • CD Audio Track (.cda)
    • Intel Video Technology (.ivf)
    • Windows Media Player Skins (.wmz, .wms)
    • Algebraic-Code-Excited Linear Prediction
    • *QuickTime Content (.mov, .qt): If you upgrade from a previous version of Windows Media Player, files that were created using the QuickTime version 2.0 and earlier file formats are supported in Windows Media Player 7. If you have not previously installed Windows Media Player, you cannot play QuickTime files in Windows Media Player 7.

  2. Magpie 1.0 will output the necessary SMIL files to play in Real Player and Quicktime even if the base media you are using isn't compatible with those players. If you open up the SMIL file in a text editor, such as notepad, you can see where it references the video source. If you have another version of the video you would rather use to play in Real Player or Quicktime, you can change the name of the video (see sample below) so it will point to the one you want. Make sure the media you want to use is in the same folder as the Magpie files.

  3. After outputting to SMIL make sure the"videoregion" and the "textregion" have the proper dimensions in order to view it correctly in the player. This has been a recurring problem with MAGpie's output. The dimensions vary from file type to file type so you may need to do a little adjusting. The example below will help you with where to start.

    Before Editing
    <smil>
    <head>
    <meta name="title" content="SMIL Wrapper"/>
    <layout>
    <root-layout background-color="black" height=" 315" width=" 325"/>
    <region id="videoregion" background-color="black" top=" 5" left=" 5" height=" 240" width=" 320"/>
    <region id="textregion" background-color="#000000" top=" 255" left=" 5" height=" 60" width=" 320"/>
    </layout>
    </head>

    <body>
    <par>

    <!-- VIDEO -->

    <video src="VIDEO.wmv" region="videoregion"/>


    <!-- CAPTIONS -->

    <switch>

    <textstream src="VIDEO.rt" region="textregion" system-language="en" system-captions="on" title="english captions" alt="english captions"/>

    </switch>


    </par>
    </body>
    </smil>

    After Editing
    <head>
    <meta name="title" content="SMIL Wrapper"/>
    <layout>
    <root-layout background-color="black" height=" 315" width=" 325"/>
    <region id="videoregion" background-color="black" top=" 5" left=" 5" height=" 240" width=" 320"/>
    <region id="textregion" background-color="#000000" top=" 255" left=" 5" height=" 60" width=" 320"/>
    </layout>
    </head>

    <body>
    <par>

    <!-- VIDEO -->

    <video src="VIDEO.rm" region="videoregion"/>


    <!-- CAPTIONS -->

    <switch>

    <textstream src="VIDEO.rt" region="textregion" system-language="en" system-captions="on" title="english captions" alt="english captions"/>

    </switch>


    4. </par>
    </body>
    </smil>

  4. If you are checking your work in another player, like Real Player, and want to make corrections in MAGpie, make sure you close Real Player before outputting the revised captions to SMIL again. In other words, your media cannot be in use by any other application in order to output a SMIL file.
  5. Follow the download instructions carefully. Saving files in the proper folders is necessary in order for Magpie to run.
  6. Windows Media Player uses SAMI instead of SMIL. It works a little differently. Unlike SMIL, you must open up the base media in the Windows Player in order to view the captions and not the SAMI file. Windows Media Player has an internal mechanism that automatically looks for a SAMI file that is associated with that media.

Examples

Open Source Video Repository Project

Recommended Resources:

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

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

More on SMIL

More on SAMI
  Captioning with MAGpie 2.0

Magpie is a freeware captioning tool for video intended for the web. It outputs the necessary files to play in Real Player (SMIL, .rt), Quicktime (SMIL, .txt), or Windows Player (SAMI).

Required Hardware, Software, and/or Other Tools:

  1. MAGpie2.0 program (Read download instructions, and special issues below, thoroughly and carefully before downloading)
  2. Windows95/98, 2000, ME, XP, or NT
  3. Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 or higher (http://www.microsoft.com)
  4. RealPlayer G2 or higher (http://www.real.com)
  5. QuickTime Player (included with QuickTime 4.0 or higher) or MoviePlayer (included with QuickTime 3.0) (http://www.apple.com/quicktime)

Costs:

Free

Required Skills:

It is necessary to read the help section for Magpie 2.0 in order to understand how the program works. Good typing and organization skills are useful. The skills required are comparable to the skills required for Microsoft Word.

Required Time Needed for Development:

Learning MAGpie might take a couple of hours. The program has a couple of bugs and problems, but they are listed below which will hopefully allow you to move on with little frustration. The captioning part is the most time consuming. If you outsource your transcriptions, the time it takes to caption obviously will be cut down. Without a transcript, a 5 minute video takes approximately 2 hours to caption. With a transcript, the time is cut almost in half at approximately 1.25 hours. The whole captioning process will speed up with practice. You can view the video sample here. This sample is a .wmv file which is only playable in Windows Media Player.

Degree Compliance Can Be Part of Initial Production:

This process can be a part of the initial production.

Special Problems & Issues:

  1. Magpie 2.0 is rather difficult to install. There are still bugs to be worked out in this process.
  2. Since Magpie 2.0 has a Quicktime internal player and an GRiNS internal player, it can handle many more different types of media than Magpie 1.0. (Described below).

    File formats that play in QuickTime
    MOV, AVI, DV, MPEG, AIFF, WAV, MP3, SWF (Flash)

    File formats that play in GRiNS
    GRiNS uses the RealPlayer engine, so it will play the same file types as RealPlayer does.
    RM, RA, MP3, SWF (Flash), SMIL/SMI, WAV, AIFF**, MPG, MPEG, AVI

  3. After outputting to SMIL make sure the"videoregion" and the "textregion" have the proper dimensions in order to view it correctly in the player. This has been a recurring problem with MAGpie's output. The dimensions vary from file type to file type, so you may need to do a little adjusting. The dimensions in the example in Magpie1.0 section will help you with where to start.

Examples

Salud Pilot Video

Recommended Resources:

http://ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/magpie/magpie2_docs.html (joining the listserv is a great way to get help fast from the developers of Magpie)

More on SMIL

More on SAMI
  Audio Descriptions

Required Hardware, Software, and/or Other Tools:

  1. If you do not want to record the descriptions yourself, you can get an appointment with UNC Video Services (966-5078) here on campus, to record in their sound booth. This may take time because of busy scheduling.
  2. For adding audio descriptions with Magpie 1.0, you will need an audio recording program and a microphone. The .wav recorder that comes on most computers works fine for this. A microphone/headset which you can plug directly into your computer also works well for recording simple descriptions.
  3. You can record directly into Magpie 2.0, so all you need is a microphone headset to plug into your computer.
  4. If you are streaming the video/audio descriptions, the .wav files must be converted into a format that will stream like .rm, mp3. Real Producer Basic is a free tool that converts files into .rm

Costs:

A microphone head set can be purchased at the Ram Shop for around $20.00.

Required Skills:

A clear, precise speaking voice

Required Time Needed for Development:

It took me about 3.5 hours to write, record, and edit a 14 minute video. The time will vary depending on how many descriptions are necessary and how long the video is.

Degree Compliance Can Be Part of Initial Production:

This process needs to be a part of the initial production.

Special Problems & Issues:

  1. Deciding what descriptions are necessary and how to word them concisely is very important. Descriptions should only describe those actions or information which which are necessary to make the scene clearer to a blind individual. A good test for this is to listen to the audio descriptions, once outputted from Magpie, without viewing the video.
  2. Currently audio descriptions in RealPlayer8, or lower, SMIL presentations are open only-- they can't be turned off via the RealPlayer preferences. If you can depend on your users using the RealOne Player, you can include the systemAudioDesc attribute to the <audio> declarations in the smil file and they will be toggleable. However, if you can't, you should create a second smil file from Magpie and link to the two smil files separately from the HTML page -- described version and non- described. Magpie 2.0 will soon add an attribute to the their SMIL 2.0 output that allows the descriptions to be toggled on and off from within the RealOne Player. To manually add the attribute to the SMIL file, more directions can be found here: http://service.real.com/help/library/guides/realone/ProductionGuide/HTML//realpgd.htm (go to Chapter 18-Switching, and then scroll down to the "Avalible Test Attributes" section.)
  3. The RealOne player is the only player that allows you to toggle on and off the audio descriptions, but there is a bug that doesn't allow any audio descriptions to be heard. We recommend you have 2 options for the user to choose from, a described version and a non- described.
  4. Audio descriptions are not supported by the Windows Media Player yet. To hear audio descriptions in that codec, they must be on the raw video.

Examples

Salud Pilot Video

Recommended Resources:

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

http://ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/magpie/magpie2_docs_ad.html

http://service.real.com/help/library/guides/realone/ProductionGuide/HTML//realpgd.htm
  RESOURCES


© 2002, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for Instructional Technology.