Techniques for WCAG 2.0

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G56: Mixing audio files so that non-speech sounds are at least 20 decibels lower than the speech audio content

Applicability

Any technology

This technique relates to:

Description

The objective of this technique is to allow authors to include sound behind speech without making it too hard for people with hearing problems to understand the speech. Making sure that the foreground speech is 20 db louder than the backgound sound makes the speech 4 times louder than the background audio. For information on Decibels (dB), refer to About Decibels.

Examples

Example 1: An announcer speaking over a riot scene

Example 2: Sufficient audio contrast between a narrator and background music

This example demonstrates a voice with music in the background in which the voice is the appropriate 20 DB above the background. The voice (foreground) is recorded at -17.52 decibels (average RMS) and the music (background) is at -37.52 decibels, which makes the foreground 20 decibels louder than the background.

Audio example

Audio Example: Foreground is 20 decibels above the background (mp3)

Transcript of audio example (good contrast):

"Usually the foreground refers to a voice that is speaking and should be understood. My speaking voice right now is 20 decibels above the background which is the music. This is an example of how it should be done.."

Visual example of the recording above

The audio example above is visually represented below in a snapshot of the file in an audio editor. A section is highlighted that contains foreground and background. It is a much larger wave than the section that contains only background.

Visual representation of sufficient contrast.

Failure Example 3: Insufficient Audio Contrast between a narrator and background music

Audio example of the failure

This example demonstrates a voice with music in the background in which the voice is not 20 DB above the background. The voice (foreground) is at -18 decibels and the music (background) is at about -16 decibels making the foreground only 2 decibels louder than the background.

Audio Example: Foreground is less than 20 decibels above the background (mp3)

Transcript of audio example (bad contrast):

"This is an example of a voice that is not loud enough against the background. The voice which is the foreground is only about 2 decibels above the background. Therefore is difficult to understand for a person who is hard of hearing. It is hard to discern one word from the next. This is an example of what not to do."

Visual example of the failure

The highlighted section contains foreground and background. The wave is almost the same size the section that contains only background, which means the background is too loud in comparison to the foreground voice.

Visual representation of bad contrast.

Resources

Resources are for information purposes only, no endorsement implied.

Tests

Procedure

  1. Locate loud values of background content between foreground speech

  2. Measure the volume in dB(A) SPL

  3. Measure the volume of the foreground speech in dB(A) SPL

  4. Subtract the values

  5. Check that the result is 20 or greater.

Expected Results

If this is a sufficient technique for a success criterion, failing this test procedure does not necessarily mean that the success criterion has not been satisfied in some other way, only that this technique has not been successfully implemented and can not be used to claim conformance.

Techniques are Informative

Techniques are informative—that means they are not required. The basis for determining conformance to WCAG 2.0 is the success criteria from the WCAG 2.0 standard—not the techniques. For important information about techniques, please see the Understanding Techniques for WCAG Success Criteria section of Understanding WCAG 2.0.