HomeCheckpoint 2.1 - Audio and Video
All video files containing speech have an HTML equivalent
WCAG 1.0 Priority 1
WCAG Guideline 1. Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content.
People who are vision impaired use screen readers to 'read' a web site. People who are deaf cannot hear the information presented in an audio file. Blind and deaf people have contrasting problems with video; the former cannot see important visual information, and the latter cannot hear speech or other important audio information.
Providing information without an alternative will mean that people with vision or audio impairments will not be able to access all the content. Even if content is not important, it needs to have an alternative so that these people are aware that information is not being missed.
Requirement
Text transcripts of video files must be provided in HTML format.
Recommendation
When creating an HTML equivalent for a video file it is important to transcribe all the important information. The transcript should not be a word for word account of the video file, or describe unnecessary details such as the speaker's appearance (unless that is directly relevant, such as in a 'worst dressed' video).
Example
An example of video files are the migrant stories provided by Live in Victoria: http://www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=372&languageId=1&contentId=-1
Ray and Gwen Cocker, Upholsterer and Stitcher - immigrated from the United Kingdom
Oscar Furniture, Horsham (West Victoria)
A great mix of work and pleasure is how husband and wife team, Ray and Gwen Cocker, as well as Jeff Thurston describe their move to Victoria from the United Kingdom.
The three are based in Horsham in Victoria's west, all working for Oscar Furniture, a manufacturing company that employed the British trio after searching the world for the perfect people to fill its long-term vacancies.
For their prospective employer 'Down Under', Ray and Gwen had the advantage of having been self-employed as an upholsterer and stitcher respectively, as well as having worked for a company for five years.
Ray and Gwen concur that this background has helped them get the most out of their new position.
"It's no problem at all. We want to continue working for Oscar Furniture and make sure it's a successful furniture company and we'll take it from there and just enjoy ourselves, basically. That's what we have come over here to do, work and enjoy."
Their fellow countryman and colleague, Jeff Thurston, is also finding the living easy.
"I've been given an opportunity to settle in a nice country. It's got great prospects for me and my family, whereas England wouldn't," he explains.
"I've been able to find new friends now and the experience is pretty good at the moment. My fiancée has just come over from England and she is working for River Base Hospital as a nurse, so I think things have begun to come together for us."
Oscar Furniture owner Anthony Op de Coul points out that although the preliminary work to get his skilled migrants to Australia took some time, it was still a better alternative than his previous fruitless searches.
"It's not a quick fix solution, it takes time - six months or longer. But it is a solution. (We) weren't getting anywhere for a number of years.
"Over the last 10 years I guess we had advertised on and off in the city and the like, to get skilled trades people with no avail. After having no luck advertising overseas myself in South Africa, someone put me onto the State Government's Skilled Migration Unit and I contacted them.
"They had some contacts with the furniture Guild in England and they placed an ad in their magazine and from that ad I have ended up with three staff."
Jeff openly encourages other employers to consider looking beyond Australia's borders to fill their vacancies.
"It's worth putting an effort into (that is) to find some people to come over - there are a lot of good people in other countries that can really help develop skills in this country," he says.
Checking Tool
View website in the browser to ensure that all video files are accompanied by the transcripts.
Information Source
The original source of this information is located on the W3C web site (www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-TECHS/#tech-text-equivalent)
Back to Audio and Video Guidelines