The Impact of Recent Lawsuits & Case Law on Accessibility Requirements for Video in Higher Ed CSUN Conference – March 23, 2016 Owen Edwards Lily Bond

Agenda ‣ Introduction to Captions & Description ‣ Accessibility Laws ‣ Closed Captioning Lawsuits ‣ Blind/Low Vision Lawsuits ‣ Caption Quality Requirements + Creation ‣ Description Quality Requirements + Creation ‣ Benefits of Accessible Video ‣ 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” – W3C ‣ 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 “I am here” - RNIB

Accessibility Laws: Rehabilitation Act Rehabilitation Act: Sections 508, 504 ‣ Covers federal agencies and orgs with federal funding ‣ Assistive Technology Act

Accessibility Laws: ADA Rehabilitation Act: Sections 508, 504 ‣ Covers federal agencies and orgs with federal funding ‣ Assistive Technology Act ADA: Titles II, III ‣ Covers public and commercial entities ‣ Lawsuits: What is a “place of public accommodation”?

Accessibility Laws: CVAA Rehabilitation Act: Sections 508, 504 ‣ Covers federal agencies and orgs with federal funding ‣ Assistive Technology Act 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 ‣ Copyright owner bears responsibility

Accessibility Laws: WCAG 2.0 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) ‣ International guidelines with “Success Criteria” ‣ Covers web content, mobile apps (iPhone, Android), etc. ‣ Being used to update (‘refresh’) Section 508 ‣ Levels A, AA, AAA – increasing complexity

Accessibility Laws: WCAG 2.0 (cont.) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) ‣ International guidelines ‣ Covers web content, mobile apps (iPhone, Android), etc. ‣ Being used to update (harmonize) Section 508 ‣ Levels A, AA, AAA – increasing complexity ‣ Specific guidelines for video (and similar for audio):  Captions (A for pre-recorded, AA for live)  Transcript (A and AAA)  Audio description (A and AA)  Sign Language (AAA)

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

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 … ‣ Google says their accuracy rate for YouTube automatic captions is ≅ 80%: – 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 StandardsCaption 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 WEBVTT 00:00: > 00:00: align:middle line:90% 00:00: > 00:00: align:middle line:84% This short video shows you how to get started 00:00: > 00:00: align:middle line:84% in the 3PlayMedia account system. 00:00: > 00:00: align:middle line:84% First, log in to account.3playmedia.com. 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03, :00:03,830 --> 00:00:05,970 This short video shows you how to get started 3 00:00:05,970 --> 00:00:08,574 in the 3PlayMedia account system. 4 00:00:08,574 --> 00:00:10,240 First, log in to account.3playmedia.com. 01:02:53:14 94ae 94ae :02:55:14 942c 942c 01:03:27:29 94ae 94ae :02:53:14 94ae 94ae :02:55:14 942c 942c 01:03:27:29 94ae 94ae 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 2.A second, user-selectable, audio track that includes audio descriptions 3.An additional version of a video with audio descriptions 4.A version of a video which has been re-edited to allow additional time for audio descriptions ‣ Many vendors exist, including:  Audio Description Associates  DCMP  WGBH’s Media Access Group  CaptionMax  Narrative Television Network  Audio Eyes  Bridge Multimedia  DICAPTA

Other implications of video accessibility ‣ Need to use an accessible video player / platform, which offers:  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 accessible players exist: *  Able Player  OzPlayer ‣ Some players are accessible, but don’t support description:  PayPal’s accessible video player  Kaltura  YouTube ‣ Others are improving support:  JW Player  Brightcove OzPlayer * Not an exhaustive list, nor specific endorsement

Benefits of Captioning: Accessibility ‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing 48 Million Americans with hearing loss 48 Million Americans with hearing loss

Benefits of Captioning: Comprehension ‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing ‣ Better comprehension ‣ Flexibility to view in noise-sensitive environments 80% Of people who use captions don’t have hearing disability 80% Of people who use captions don’t have hearing disability

Benefits of Captioning: Video Search ‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing ‣ Better comprehension ‣ Flexibility to view in noise-sensitive environments ‣ Interactive video search 97% Of users said searchable transcripts enhanced experience 97% Of users said searchable transcripts enhanced experience

Benefits of Captioning: SEO ‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing ‣ Better comprehension ‣ Flexibility to view in noise-sensitive environments ‣ Interactive video search ‣ SEO: more inbound traffic 7.3% Increase in views from captions 7.3% Increase in views from captions

Benefits of Captioning: Reuse ‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing ‣ Better comprehension ‣ Flexibility to view in noise-sensitive environments ‣ Interactive video search ‣ SEO: more inbound traffic ‣ Reusability 50% Students who use transcripts for study guides 50% Students who use transcripts for study guides

Benefits of Captioning: Translation ‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing ‣ Better comprehension ‣ Flexibility to view in noise-sensitive environments ‣ Interactive video search ‣ SEO: more inbound traffic ‣ Reusability ‣ Translation to foreign languages

Benefits of Captioning: Compliance ‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing ‣ Better comprehension ‣ Flexibility to view in noise-sensitive environments ‣ Interactive video search ‣ SEO: more inbound traffic ‣ Reusability ‣ Translation to foreign languages ‣ May be required by law

Benefits of Description: Accessibility ‣ Accessibility for blind & low-vision users 21 Million Americans with vision loss 21 Million Americans with vision loss

Benefits of Description : Cognitive Disabilities ‣ Accessibility for blind & low-vision users ‣ Advantages for people with cognitive / learning disabilities

Benefits of Description: Eyes Free ‣ Accessibility for blind & low-vision users ‣ Advantages for people with cognitive / learning disabilities ‣ Flexibility to “view” in eyes-free or eyes- busy environments

Benefits of Description: Compliance ‣ Accessibility for blind & low-vision users ‣ Advantages for people with cognitive / learning disabilities ‣ Flexibility to “view” in eyes-free or eyes-busy environments (e.g. while cooking) ‣ May be required by law

Take Part in a Research Study on Closed Captioning in Higher Education ‣ Institutional Solutions for and Student Perceptions of Closed Caption and Transcript Use in Institutions of Higher Education – A collaborative research project funded by 3Play Media and the Oregon State University Ecampus Research Unit ‣ Incentives – Students: fifty $25 Amazon gift cards will be raffled to participants who elect to share their address for the purpose of the raffle – Institutions: five 10-hour captioning credits valued by 3Play Media at $1,500 will be raffled to institutional participants who elect to share their address for the purpose of the raffle ‣ Two reports will be created for this project: one regarding data from the student survey and one regarding data from the institutional survey

CSUN Conference – March 23, 2016 Owen Edwards Lily Bond Q&A