In a world without sight how can one explore the World Wide Web frontier? A screen reader enables the visually impaired computer user to access information. But documents and forms must be prepared and coded so that the screen reader knows how to read the document properly. After a careful analysis of electronic documents and forms, Word Wizards will prepare electronic media with the proper tags and coding to work seamlessly with assistive technology. In addition, concise but comprehensive assistive text will provide the visually impaired user with the ability to access the information in a comprehensive manner.

For the hearing impaired, captions provide text versions of the spoken word. Captions allow the content of web audio and video to be accessible to those who do not have access to the audio. Though captioning is primarily intended for those who cannot hear the audio, it has also been found to help those that can hear audio content and those who may not be fluent in the language in which the audio is presented.

Common web accessibility guidelines indicate that captions should be:

• Synchronized – the text content should appear at approximately the same time that audio would be available.
• Equivalent – content provided in captions should be equivalent to that of the spoken word.
• Accessible – caption content should be readily accessible and available to those who need it.

On the web, synchronized, equivalent captions should be provided any time audio content is present. This obviously pertains to the use of audio and video played through multimedia players such as Quicktime, RealPlayer, or Windows Media Player. But can also pertain to technologies such as Flash, Shockwave, or Java when audio content is a part of the multimedia presentation.

Many government entities are struggling with meeting the letter of the 508 requirements from a budgetary standpoint. To provide a real time captioned transcript of all of proceedings that have an audio component is simply cost prohibitive. A reasonable alternative is to provide a relatively inexpensive roll-up caption of the most important material. This material is captioned after the fact (off-line) and stored in the section of the browser reserved for video on demand. Agencies can prioritize web content in consultation with advocates for the handicapped. The most popular material can be captioned and the rest made available in the form of electronic transcripts.

Call for a quote to see how quickly we can transform your multi-media files for use on your own browser. Why caption hours and hours of material when a cost benefit analysis might show very little demand for most of it. Focus instead on the most popular items, such as key-note addresses, important rule making procedures, the summary portion at the end of days and days of hearings, etc. This is often the best alternative, simply because it is the alternative that the client can afford and therefore can comply with. In an ideal world everything would be captioned in real time, all of the time. In the practical world we have an affordable solution.

Transcripts also provide an important part of making web multimedia content accessible. Transcripts allow anyone that cannot access content from web audio or video to read a text transcript instead. Transcripts do not have to be verbatim accounts of the spoken word in a video. They can contain additional descriptions, explanations, or comments that may be beneficial. Transcripts allow deaf or blind users to get content through the use of refreshable Braille and other devices. For most web video, both captions and a text transcript should be provided. For content that is audio only a transcript will usually suffice.

Transcripts provide a textual version of the content that can be accessed by anyone. They also allow the content of your multimedia to be searchable. Screen reader users may also prefer the transcript over listening to the audio of the web multimedia. Most proficient screen reader users set their assistive technology to read at a rate much faster than most humans speak. This allows the screen reader user to access the transcript of the video and get the same content in less time than listening to the actual audio content.

Word Wizards has been providing transcripts and captioned web casts to our customers that include the federal, local and state government agencies.

Because there is so much variation in the kinds of print documents provided electronically on the web by government agencies, pricing must be done on a case by case basis. However, Word Wizards has lots of experience, and many satisfied customers so we can do these cost estimates with a great deal of confidence. Please call for your free estimate.