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Audio description failure technique #4390

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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion guidelines/terms/20/audio-description.html
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Expand Up @@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
(See also <a>extended audio description</a>.)
</p>

<p class="note">Where all of the <a>video</a> information is already provided in existing <a>audio</a>, no additional audio description is necessary.
<p class="note">Where all of the important <a>video</a> information is already provided in existing <a>audio</a>, no additional audio description is necessary.
</p>

<p class="note">Also called "video description" and "descriptive narration."</p>
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29 changes: 29 additions & 0 deletions techniques/failures/F113.html
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<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en" xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>Failure of Success Criterion 1.2.5 due to not using available pauses in dialogue to provide audio descriptions of important visual content</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../css/sources.css" class="remove"/></head><body>
<h1>Failure of Success Criterion 1.2.5 due to not using available pauses in dialogue to provide audio descriptions of important visual content</h1>
<section class="meta"><p class="id">ID: F113</p><p class="technology">Technology: failures</p><p class="type">Type: Failure</p></section>
<section id="applicability"><h2>When to Use</h2>
<p> Applies to all synchronized media. </p>
</section>
<section id="description"><h2>Description</h2>
<p>This describes a failure condition for all techniques involving audio descriptions. Audio descriptions can either be provided as part of the soundtrack's original narration or be added to audio during pauses in existing dialogue. If important actions, characters, scene changes, and on-screen text are only conveyed visually, appropriate pauses in dialogue need to be used to provide this information as audio descriptions.</p>
<p class="note">Not all pauses are usable for audio descriptions. If the pauses in dialogue are too short (for instance, less than 2 seconds), or do not occur in proximity to the visual content that needs to be described, they may not be appropriate for audio descriptions.</p>
<p>In situations where important visual information is being conveyed at the same time as non-spoken audio (such as music and sound effects), the technique of "audio ducking" can be used. This involves dropping the overall sound level so that it is easier to distinguish the narration that is added during pauses in dialogue.</p>
<p>This technique can work well with background music and sounds, but audio ducking has the potential to mask important audio information. Sometimes such audio information can convey much of the sense of the video. </p>
<p class="note">There may be some pauses in dialogue where non-spoken audio information is so important that the addition of audio descriptions is inappropriate in that pause.</p>

</p>
</section>

<section id="tests"><h2>Tests</h2>
<section class="procedure"><h3>Procedure</h3>
<p>For each occurrence of synchronized media containing audio and video:</p>
<ol>
<li>Check that all important visual information that cannot be understood from the main soundtrack alone has been conveyed in audio descriptions.</li>
<li>Check that there are pauses in dialogue where it would be appropriate to add audio descriptions.</li>
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@patrickhlauke patrickhlauke May 30, 2025 •
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As mentioned in the call, I'm not sure about the current second test

<li>Check that there are pauses in dialogue where it would be appropriate to add audio descriptions.</li>

It seems back to front, and strange that you'd need to do this check after doing the first check, IF the first check was already true.
This second check should be conditional - perhaps:

<li>If all important visual information that cannot be understood from the main soundtrack alone has <em>not</em> been conveyed in audio descriptions, check that ...</li>

Or, shorter, prefix it with

<li>If not, ...</li>

or

<li>Otherwise, ...</li>

There are other failure techniques like F3 and F44 that have conditional steps, so this would not be unusual.

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@GreggVan GreggVan May 30, 2025 •
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Check this and check that sounds like a test not a requirement or failure

a failure should be worded as a statement -- not a series of checks-- unless you are talking about a TEST for a failure.

ALSO we don't list failures that are simply negative versions of the SC. (which this one seems to be). They are usually only used when the failure is common and it is not necssarily obvious from the wording of the SC. If there is controversy in the field -- that is a good indication that something is not obvious.

Is that true here? if so then the failure should be sure to be worded to make the questioned part clear.

PS
as worded -- this sentence is not a failure.

Creates a failure technique to show the conditions under which a video fails 1.2.5 due to important visual information not being described in pauses in the dialogue

the SC does not require ALL important information be included in pauses - so the fact that there is some that is not -- is not a failure. A failure cannot go beyond what is required. And one reason we do not require all important information to be in the gaps is that there is rarely enough gap to put all the important information into

So the test procedures, if they start off with a faulty failure, will also be faulty, which appears to be the case here. The requirement is only that some important information be included in gaps. We do not require that all gaps be used , nor do we require that all important information be described.

So it looks like we are creating a failure that requires something not in the SC. No?

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@patrickhlauke patrickhlauke May 30, 2025 •
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A failure should be worded as a statement -- not a series of checks

See all other existing failure techniques, which do similar? https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Techniques/#failures

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the SC does not require ALL important information be included in pauses - so the fact that there is some that is not -- is not a failure

the SC asks for audio description, which by definition is

"narration added to the soundtrack to describe important visual details that cannot be understood from the main soundtrack alone"

while the definition doesn't explicitly say "ALL", it also doesn't say (nor does the SC) "hey, it's ok if there's important stuff that isn't actually audio-described, you tried your best"

If we removed the all from the wording of that first check though, we could leave it implied (as the current SC and definition do), and leave it up to people to litigate this in court...

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We do not require that all gaps be used

and this PR doesn't seem to suggest that it's required?

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yes they INCLUDE a test -- but the failure should be stated first -- with a test to follow.

I see for some of these -- the "description" is not a clear statement but sort of a discussion. Leaving the clarity to come from the test... Not really good form but -- unless I am willing to rework them all.... I wiill leave them as is. best

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@mbgower mbgower Jun 4, 2025 •
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a failure should be worded as a statement -- not a series of checks -- unless you are talking about a TEST for a failure.

It is the test, and in failure techniques they are a series of checks, @GreggVan

I went through the first 20 failure techniques. Almost all of them are a series of one or more checks followed by a "If check #1 is..." Of the four that do not use the word "Check", three of them, F7, F12, and F19 just use the synonym "determine" to exactly the same purpose. The only one I could find that does not actually use either of these words in its steps was F15 -- and even then, ALL 20 used the concluding structure "If check #1 is..." to form the final test..

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@mbgower mbgower Jun 4, 2025 •
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@patrickhlauke IMO, your two cited examples are not parallel (F2 has a confusingly worded opposite of the prior check and F44 is simply one check with a preamble, not a set of checks). I also find that when there are only a couple of examples out of dozens, that it sorta makes the point that what you're asking for is uncommon.

However, it is possible to emulate F44 if that's what you want, although it makes for a wordy single check that involves a double negative.

Suggested change
<li>Check that there are pauses in dialogue where it would be appropriate to add audio descriptions.</li>
<li>If all important visual information that cannot be understood from the main soundtrack alone has not been conveyed in audio descriptions, check that there are pauses in dialogue where it would be appropriate to add audio descriptions.</li>
<li>If check 1 is true, then this failure condition applies and the content fails the success criterion.</li>

Or maybe you'd prefer it in three steps? I actually think this reads okay, and is maybe in line with what you're seeking? (Note that this isn't a true suggestion, because I haven't included replacing the first bullet, but I think you get the idea.)

Suggested change
<li>Check that there are pauses in dialogue where it would be appropriate to add audio descriptions.</li>
<li>Check that all important visual information can be understood from the main soundtrack alone</li>
<li>Check that all missing important visual information has been conveyed in audio descriptions</li>
<li>If not, check that there are pauses in dialogue where it would be appropriate to add audio descriptions.</li>
<li>If Checks 1 and 2 are false and Check 3 is true, then this failure condition applies and the content fails the success criterion.</li>

</ol>
</section>
<section class="results"><h3>Expected Results</h3>
<ul>
<li>If check 1 is false and check 2 is true, then this failure condition applies and the content fails the success criterion.</li>
</ul>
</section></section></body></html>
4 changes: 2 additions & 2 deletions understanding/20/audio-description-or-media-alternative-prerecorded.html
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Expand Up @@ -57,8 +57,8 @@ <h2>Intent of Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)</h2>
<div class="note">

<p>
For 1.2.3, 1.2.5, and 1.2.7, if all of the information in the video track is already
provided in the audio track, no audio description is necessary.
For 1.2.3, 1.2.5, and 1.2.7, if all of the important information in the video track is already
conveyed in the audio track, no audio description is necessary.


</p>
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10 changes: 7 additions & 3 deletions understanding/20/audio-description-prerecorded.html
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Expand Up @@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ <h2>Intent of Audio Description (Prerecorded)</h2>
<div class="note">

<p>
For 1.2.3, 1.2.5, and 1.2.7, if all of the information in the video track is already
provided in the audio track, no audio description is necessary.
For 1.2.3, 1.2.5, and 1.2.7, if all of the important information in the video track is already
conveyed in the audio track, no audio description is necessary.


</p>
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<section id="failure">
<h3>Failures for Audio Description (Prerecorded)</h3>


<ul>
<li>
<a href="../Techniques/failure/F113" class="failure">Failure of Success Criterion 1.2.5 due to not using available pauses in dialogue to provide audio descriptions of important visual content</a>
</li>
</ul>
</section>

</section>
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