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Comment LC-845: Comment Shortname:; Commenter: Joe Clark 2 <joeclark@joeclark.org>; Message-id:; Section of the document concerned:

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From http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-comments-wcag20/2006May/0119.html

audio description
narration added to the soundtrack to describe important visual details that cannot be understood from the main soundtrack alone. [...] Audio descriptions of video provide information about actions, characters, scene changes, and on-screen text. [...] In standard audio description, narration is added during existing pauses in dialogue.

1. Audio description provides ""information about actions, characters, scene changes, and on-screen text"" among other things. Nobody has produced an exhaustive list, and maybe we do or do not need such a thing, but it isn't limited to those items.
2. Audio description is typically ""added during existing pauses in dialogue."" There are quite a few occasions in which it is necessary to describe over dialogue.
3. ""Audio description"" is generally written as a mass noun, like ""captioning."" Hence ""audio description of video provides.""; Related issues: (space separated ids); WG Notes: [TEAMA] He is recommending 3 edits. Responses. 1) Add the words "and other visual content" at the end of the list. or simply "etc..." which is my preference but may not be testable. 2) We say "standard Audio Description" occurs during pauses. I don't think we can require AD over dialogue. We do not forbid it but we cannot require it and therefore we cannot define it as such in the definition. Level 3 requires extended audio descriptions which is usually how this should be handled. 3) He is saying we should *not* make Audio Description(s) plural. http://ncam.wgbh.org/richmedia/tutorials/audiodesc.html uses the term Audio Descriptions (pural). So his recommendation has by no means become standard. However som major players are using it as a "mass noun". I think we should go with it. Discussed in the 10 August 2006 telecon: accepted by unanimous consent http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/2006/08/10-wai-wcag-minutes.htm DONE [partial accept] <proposed>(Note 1 in definition of AD) "Audio description of video provides information about actions, characters, scene changes, on-screen text, and other visual content. </proposed>" DONE Change all instances of "Audio Descriptions" to "Audio Description". Internal draft update 11 August.; Resolution: WCAG 2.0 defines audio description (AD) as an alternative that is inserted during natural occurring pauses. We cannot require AD to occur over dialogue, even if there is not enough space to fully describe the content, because putting AD over dialogue would make that dialogue inaccessible. Level AAA requires extended audio description which is usually how this should be handled. Although AD is not yet standardized as a Mass noun (http://ncam.wgbh.org/richmedia/tutorials/audiodesc.html), there is momentum in the industry to make it a mass noun and therefore we have changed it according to your recommendation. We have also revised the first note in the definition of audio description to read, "Audio description of video provides information about actions, characters, scene changes, on-screen text, and other visual content."; (Please make sure the resolution is adapted for public consumption)