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What’s so cool about the VDRDC?

Posted by Emma on December 30, 2011 at 4:11 pm. Audio Description, Consumer Advisory Board, Techy

CaptionMax has a dedicated Consumer Advisory Board with experts in all kinds of accessibility. We have invited Josh Miele, Ph.D. to be our next guest blogger. Dr. Miele is a Research Scientist with the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute where he conducts research in the areas of audiotactile graphics and auditory displays. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired.  You can find out more about Dr. Miele on his LinkedIn profile, by reading his editorial comments on accessible technology at his blog, or by following his more broadly focused twitter feed @BerkeleyBlink.

In addition to being an honored member of CaptionMax’s Community Advisory Board, I direct the Video Description Research and Development Center (VDRDC) at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco. The VDRDC is investigating cutting-edge technologies for creating and delivering video description of the future. We are looking at new ways of using the web, cloud, and mobile phones, as well as techniques like wiki-style crowd-sourcing, to annotate and describe the ever-growing tide of video information in the home, on the web, and in the classroom.

In addition to investigating innovative description technologies, the VDRDC is conducting an important campaign of outreach and dissemination related to video accessibility for blind and visually-impaired people. These activities are being conducted in collaboration with an impressive group of partner organizations called the Description Leadership Network (DLN). CaptionMax is a proud partner in the Description Leadership Network, which also includes the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), and the American Council of the Blind (ACB). The DLN also includes the Described and Captioned Media Program, Dicapta, the IDEAL Group, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Narrative Television Network. This amazing group of description stakeholder organizations is assisting the VDRDC with important research and outreach activities that include consumer focus groups, webinars for teacher training, professional development workshops, hands-on media experience for blind youth, academic publications, and more.

The following sections highlight two up-coming VDRDC events that may be of particular interest to fans and friends of CaptionMax.

Free Webinars For Teacher Training

In collaboration with DCMP (The Described and Captioned Media Program) and other DLN partners, we are kicking off the New Year with an exciting series of Free Educational Webinars about using innovative description technologies in the classroom. This series will be of particular interest to teachers, administrators, and parents of blind students. The first Webinar will take place on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 02:00 PM EST / 11:00 AM PST and will provide a solid foundation for anyone interested in providing better access to video for students with visual disabilities.

Webinar topics will include:
- A teachers’ guide to using video description
- A comprehensive overview of resources for obtaining described materials
- A sneak peak at the description technologies of the future being developed at the VDRDC

This is DCMP’s first of four teacher Webinars that will be produced in collaboration with the VDRDC and other DLN partners over the next two years. Each webinar will focus on a different aspect of description and classroom video accessibility for blind and visually-impaired students so don’t miss a single one! Register now! It’s free!  What are you waiting for?

Professional Development Workshop

Video Description has become more and more important, and with the FCC mandate in effect in July 2012, an increasing proportion of broadcast programming will be described and made accessible to blind people. This means that the coming months may bring an increase in demand for video description writers, voice-over artists, editors, sound engineers, and quality-control technicians. The VDRDC and the DLN is interested in preparing qualified blind and visually-impaired applicants for jobs such as these.

Blind and visually-impaired people should get involved in description – not just as consumers – but as professionals.  I believe that description quality may be significantly improved by employing blind people in the many positions crucial for professional description production, almost none of which require sight. This intensive workshop presents an innovative way to train a new generation of blind professionals to make valuable contributions to the description industry.

The VDRDC Professional Development Workshop will be organized by the National Federation of the Blind, a DLN partner, and will be lead by Rick Boggs,  a blind description professional with unparalleled experience at every level of the industry. This unique workshop will provide five days of intensive training in a wide variety of critical description skills for up to ten qualified trainees. Participants will become expert in different description guidelines, as well as in writing, editing, recording, and assuring description quality. For application information e-mail info@vdrdc.org.

Looking Ahead

The Webinars and Professional Development Workshop are just two of the projects undertaken by the VDRDC.  My next blog post will discuss more of the cutting-edge technologies we are investigating. There is also plenty more to be said about our up-coming focus groups, publications, open-source apps, and other projects. A final shout out to the good people at CaptionMax and our other valuable DLN partners. Watch this space for more posts, or check out the VDRDC website for more information about our research and outreach activities.

The VDRDC is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs , Grant No. H327J110005. This blog post does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal government.

We’re Thankful!

Posted by Emma on November 23, 2011 at 10:43 am. Audio Description, Captioning, Movies, Subtitling

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the U.S. How does the holiday season always sneak up so quickly?!

Our offline staff will get a much-needed day to rest their speedy fingers and indulge in too much turkey, stuffing, and all the fixings. We’ll all be back on Friday, rested, well fed, and raring to work.

Our realtime staff will work through the holiday to caption your favorite holiday events. We are working on a dozen basketball games, not to mention other fantastic holiday specials. Don’t worry; they will also be taking a couple of quick breaks to scarf down some holiday goodies too.

We could not keep doing this fantastic work if it wasn’t for you!

We are thankful for …

- all the viewers who keep us on our toes by suggesting new programs to caption and video describe.

- all our clients who choose to add accessibility to their videos.
(Clients like A&E, AIT, Allied Vaughn, APT, Ascent Media, Best Buy, BioMedia Associates, BKN International, Bravo, Bullfrog Films, Bunim/Murray Productions, CBS, Clear Channel Entertainment, Colonial Williamsburg, CSN, Comedy Central, CPB, Dreamworks, Embassy Row Productions, Faith & Values Network, Fanlight Productions, Films Media Group, Florentine Films, Fox Broadcasting Company, FremantleMedia, Google, Granada TV, GSN, Gurin Co., HBO, History Channel, HIT Entertainment, Holt McDougal, Image Entertainment, Hometime, IFC, ITVS, King World, KQED, Laureate Education, Lifetime Television, Lions GateLiveNation, Magical Elves, Major League Baseball, Mayo Clinic, McGraw-Hill, MG Perin, MTV, NETA, NASA, NASDAQ, NAD, National Black Programming Consortium, National Geographic Television, National Institute of Health, NBC Universal, Nickelodeon, Noggin, Outdoor Channel, Reveille Productions, SCET, SyFy Channel, Scripps Networks, Showtime, Sony Pictures Television, Spike TV, Starz, The CW, TV Land, TV One, Twentieth Television, United Way, University of Minnesota, USA Network, US Department of Education, US Park Service, US Postal Service, VH1, Warner Brothers Television, Wet Cement Productions, WNET-Thirteen New York)

- all the educators working to create inclusive educational communities with captions and video description.

- all the advocacy groups who keep our legislators on their toes.

Thank you, and we hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Consumer Advisory Board Meeting 2011

Posted by Emma on October 5, 2011 at 8:17 am. Audio Description, Captioning, Consumer Advisory Board, Movies, Subtitling

Welcome to CAB 2011.

We had another successful Consumer Advisory Board (CAB) meeting. The weekend was packed full of movie watching, interesting presentations, and invaluable discussions. Enjoy some of the photos of our meeting.

Joya Bromeland, Timothy Smitley, Josh Miele, Jordan Richardson, Ardis Bazyn, Michelle Rich, and Cathy Lyle.
Our fantastic board members. Joya Bromeland, Timothy Smitley, Josh Miele, Jordan Richardson, Ardis Bazyn, Michelle Rich, and Cathy Lyle.

Cathy and Kate talking at while getting coffee.
We started with some meet and greet. Cathy (Board Member) and Kate (Video Describer) grab some coffee while chatting about last night’s movie.

Mike Hanson talking about his Appalachian Trail Hike.

Mike and Josh discussing the hike.
Our guest speaker, Mike Hanson, presented stories from his experience on the Appalachian Trail Hike. Mike is a blind attorney who hiked the trail in 7 months; he is very amazing and inspiring. Check out his facebook page for pictures and videos. We can’t wait to see the documentary!

Lunchtimee in the cafe.
Lunch break in the cafe.

Mel and Jess presenting captioning examples.
At our meeting, we discuss different captioning situations. Our board members review our choices and give us feedback.

Jeremy presenting video description samples.
Our board members also review samples of our video description. This is why we have the best description in the business.

A thank-you to our board members.

Thanks to everyone who attended our annual meeting. Thanks to our staff, who made the meeting a great success. Now it’s time to plan for next year.

Helpful Definitions for FCC Terminology

Posted by Emma on September 7, 2011 at 9:42 am. Audio Description, Techy

The Report and Order adopted on August 24, 2011 reinstates the FCC’s video description rules on October 08, 2011 with modifications required by the CVAA. Full compliance with the rules is required on July 1, 2012.Check out our COO, Gerald Freda’s, breakdown of the of the new rules.

If you’ve been reading the Report and Order, here are some important definitions to study. After all, it wouldn’t be the start of September without homework!

Important Definitions

(1) Designated Market Areas (DMAs): Unique, county-based geographic areas designated by The Nielsen Company.

(2) Video programming provider: Any video programming distributor & any other entity that provides video programming intended for distribution to residential households. This  includes broadcast or nonbroadcast television networks.

(3) Video description/Audio description: The insertion of audio narrated descriptions of a television program’s key visual elements into natural pauses between the program’s dialogue. See examples on our YouTube page.

(4) Video programming: Programming provided by a television broadcast station, but not including consumer-generated media.

(5) Video programming distributor: Any television broadcast station licensed by the Commission, any multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD), & any other distributor of video programming for residential reception that delivers such programming directly to the home & is subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission.

(6) Prime time: Generally, from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. on Sunday local time.  Exceptions are made for central time zone & mountain time zone.

(7) Live or near-live programming: Programming performed either simultaneously with, or recorded no more than 24 hours prior to, its first transmission by a video programming distributor.

(8) Children’s Programming: Television programming directed at children 16 years of age and under.

A Summary of The FCC’s New Video Description Rules

Posted by Emma on August 31, 2011 at 3:18 pm. Audio Describers, Audio Description, Techy

by Gerald Freda
CaptionMax Chief Operating Officer

On August 24, 2011, the Federal Communications Commission released a Report and Order to adopt rules requiring video description for certain television programming. The Commission had previously adopted rules requiring video description in 2000, but those rules were struck down by a federal court in 2002.

Then, in 2010, Congress enacted the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) and on October 08, 2010, President Obama signed CVAA giving the FCC the expressed authority to adopt video description rules.

As indicated in the Report and Order adopted on August 24, 2011, the directive reinstates the FCC’s video description rules on October 08, 2011 with modifications required by the CVAA. Based on the R&O here is what I have gleaned from the document.

Who does this effect?

- the top 4 national networks (ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC) located in the top 25 television markets and the top 5 non-broadcast networks (Nickelodeon/Nick At Nite, TBS, TNT, The Disney Channel & USA) must provide 50 hours per calendar quarter of video-described prime time and/or children’s programming

What are the other significant requirements?

- the 50 hours-per-quarter benchmark is defined as programming that is video-described (a.k.a. audio-described) for its original broadcast and one re-air

- broadcasters may count programming even if the program has aired previously but only for the first airing and second re-air

- broadcasters can count programs that they obtain with video description but only for the first and second airings

When do these requirements go into effect?

- full compliance for the top 4 national networks and top 5 non broadcast networks will begin as of July 01, 2012

- no provision was adopted for program selection as that will be up to the broadcaster to select the program

- no quality standards were adopted at this time and may be revisited

- any program aired with video description must always include description if re-aired by the same broadcaster

What are some other requirements?

- breaking news, live programming, and near-live programming are exempt

- a program owner or provider of programming may petition the FCC for an exemption caused by undue burden with economic hardship

- there is no provision for video description to be an included as part of an Internet-streamed program even if the program contained video description during its original broadcast

- mobile broadcast compliance for video description of the same program will be delayed until October 08, 2013

- the top 5 non-broadcast networks, determined by The Nielson Company, will be updated on a three-year interval

(more…)

Our Best of British!

Posted by Emma on May 11, 2011 at 9:02 am. Audio Description

CaptionMax audio describers have been video describing lots of great British children programs this month and we’ve picked up some new, fun phrases along the way.

Here are some British English phrases that we’ll use more often!

What are your favorites?

  • The Bin Man….or The Garbage Man
  • Rubbish!…or Trash!
  • Stabilizers…or Training Wheels
  • Ice Lollie…or Popsicle
  • The Bonnet…or Hood of the Car
  • Trolley…or Shopping Cart
  • Lorry…or Semi Truck
  • Torch…or Flashlight

Access in the Classroom – It’s Not Just Braille.

Posted by Emma on March 16, 2011 at 11:12 am. Audio Description, Captioning, Consumer Advisory Board, Subtitling, Techy

CaptionMax has a dedicated Consumer Advisory Board with experts in all kinds of accessibility. As guest bloggers, we ask our board members to  share their accessibility stories. Our next CAB guest blogger is Joya Bromeland, a 6th year itinerant teacher for blind and visually impaired students. Joya works with many different schools to make technology accessible to all students. In the past year, she has been developing this great resource to empower classroom teachers. She has been great enough to share it; so head on over and check it out! Take it away, Joya.

A row of computer monitors on a desk

I’m one of Louis Braille’s biggest fans, and providing braille and braille instruction continues to be an important part of my job, but the multi-media classroom of the 21st century requires that my students who are blind and visually impaired be just as skilled in areas of technology, self-advocacy and creative problem-solving in order to have basic access to classroom tools.

As an itinerant Teacher for students who are Blind and Visually Impaired (TBVI), I collaborate with teachers in roughly 18 different schools to ensure that our students have access to the same instructional materials, experiences, and opportunities as their sighted peers.  It’s an ambitious and necessary goal that leads to alternative pathways to access and success: braille, tactile graphics, refreshable braille displays, speech screenreaders, audiobooks, audio description, keyboard shortcuts, video magnification and more.

I start with the assumption that every element of the curriculum can be accessed nonvisually—whether it’s Algebraic graphs, diagrams of the moon phases, PowerPoint assignments and board work, websites, Twitter, Moodle, email, newspapers, books, abstract visual concepts, and videos.  Then, through collaboration with general ed. teachers, braillists, and my fellow TBVIs, we figure out a way to make it happen through accessible formats and specialized instruction.

Our students become experts at thinking outside the box, maneuvering around it, giving it a good kick every once in a while—all inherent to the process of full and independent participation at school among their sighted peers.  It’s not surprising we work with such great students (and I can’t wait to see what they bring to our future!)

Of course there are daily bumps in the road to access.  There are days when I am on the phone trying to reach publishers of an online textbook because their “accessible version” of the book is not accessible to my students.  Or I’m sending accessibility standards to the “Contact Us” links on websites after a frustrating session with a student that probably led to me scanning, pasting, or retyping the web text because it was inaccessible via screen reader.  And this spring, we TBVIs will continue the campaign for reducing bias and providing equal access to standardized tests for our students. But more and more we have the law to back up our expectations for accessibility with ADA, IDEA, NIMAS, and now the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.

Currently, there is limited availability of audio described videos for specific curriculum, though these videos are being produced by educational publishers and used by teachers at increasing rates.  Working with my students, I understand the value in providing vivid audio descriptions with accurate vocabulary in the 5-minute science video shown at the beginning of class, or the history video shown to build context for a unit of study.  Access to AD video leads to opportunity for my students to develop the same level of awareness and understanding of concepts as their sighted peers.  Publishers and schools need to act on this value in order to make audio description a real possibility in the classroom.

I’ve really appreciated the resources CaptionMax has made available to teachers in Minnesota to help spread the word about Audio Description and teach us how to access it.  It’s also been exciting to be a part of the Consumer Advisory Board, where we experience some of the rigorous process that goes into high quality audio describing. I’m hopeful that the Video Accessibility Act and the committed work of CaptionMax will lead to greater availability of these videos and ultimately greater access and opportunity for our students.

Top 5 Tips to Beat the Captioning Headaches!

Posted by Emma on March 9, 2011 at 9:35 am. Audio Description, Captioning, Subtitling, Techy, translation

Captioning doesn’t have to be a painful process. In fact, adding accessibility to your media (broadcast, web, whatever) can be pain free! Here are our 5 Top Tips for keeping your captioning/subtitling/transcription costs down and finding the right provider for you!

Tip 1: Plan Ahead

Include captioning/subtitling/transcription costs in your initial project budget and timeline to get the best deal and eliminate those unexpected gotchas at the end. Adding captions can significantly boost your SEO and drive more potential clients to your website. Any captioning services worth their weight will offer you a free quote for your project.

Tip 2: Research

Look at lots of samples! Many companies will have a sample gallery where you can see a small bit of all the services they offer. Find the the look and style that you like best. Find out the difference between web and broadcast captions. Ask your friends who they use. Get recommendations! Ask your prospective captioning company any questions you have. All the best have experts on staff who have added captions/subtitles/you name it to everything short of a toaster oven (we’re still working on that one). Those experts can help you find the best fit and the most pain-free process for your specific video!

Tip 3: One-Stop Shop

Do you need tape encoding? Are you making a web video and a DVD? Do you need multiple language translation? Interested in going green with a tapeless work flow? Is sending a hard drive your preferred method? The best companies can handle your project from start to finish. These extra technical services let you skip the hassle of contracting yet another post-house that can charge you double for the same product. Take advantage of your captioning company’s techy knowledge, and you’ll work with fewer go-betweens and have fewer headaches!

Tip 4: Turnaround

Sometimes you need it yesterday! Some projects will always have irritations and bottlenecks as their deadlines approach. Make sure that you talk to your captioning company about clear turnaround deadlines. Your captioning company should be able to clearly explain their turnaround times for the file types you want. Be clear with your scheduling needs and confirm a guaranteed turnaround time. But if you’re down to the wire, go with the company that delivers on time — every time!

Tip 5: Customer Service

Have questions? Don’t understand something? While there will always be variations in prices between captions, subtitles, transcription, etc., your captioning company should provide you with excellent customer service. A dedicated project manager can answer your questions and guide you smoothly through the captioning/subtitling/transcription process. Choose a company with years of experience in a wide range of projects, subjects, and technologies. Find a company with real people who speak real-people language and not a bunch of industry (yes, there is a captioning industry) jargon.

Describing ‘Life in a Day’

Posted by Emma on January 27, 2011 at 4:25 pm. Audio Describers, Audio Description, Movies

by Jeremy Fisher

Describing 'Life in a Day'

Have you ever had the privilege of working on something that made you feel like you’d spent your whole professional life preparing for that particular project? If not, I wish it for you. It’s a great feeling, a feeling I had while describing Life In A Day, a behemoth of a film from a describer’s viewpoint.

Stream it with audio description: Stream it live with audio description and captions (by CaptionMax) on Friday, January 27, 2010 at 8:00 Eastern, 7:00 Central at Life In A Day. Only streaming with AD for a limited time!

Life in a Day is a feature-length film encompassing life on planet earth on one day: July 24, 2010. Filmmakers of all sorts submitted over 4,500 hours of footage of their own lives that Director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) and his team cut down to tell a story of our shared human experience.

The footage jumps across the globe from modern cities to developing countries, from the joy of birth to the pain of conflict, from mountaintop vistas to subway platforms. This broad scope and rapid pace presented myriad challenges for a describer: quickly setting new scenes, respecting the flow of the soundtrack and dialogue, and conveying the global feel without making blanket generalizations or race and nationality. And with footage provided from around the globe, it’s full of subtitled speech, a describer’s most troublesome foe! How do we describe the scene and characters and read subtitled dialogue all at the same time? (Yikes!) We tried something new to solve this problem: multiple describers reading as the voice of a single subtitled character in the scene. I think it turned out well and will sound much clearer to the listener than me having a back-and-forth conversation with myself while describing at the same time.

All told, just about every difficult situation a describer could come across presented itself in Life in a Day, but this project is filled with wonderful visuals that I’m thrilled to have been able to verbalize for the blind and low vision audience. In this one project, I got to describe: a giraffe giving birth, a Parkour walker climbing walls and jumping off rooftops, a field of people releasing tissue paper hot air balloons into the sky, a human tower, and more. Check it out while you can. It’s only streaming with AD for a limited amount of time before it moves on to other distribution channels. Catch it while you can!

The Description of ‘Sita Sings the Blues’

Posted by Emma on January 12, 2011 at 10:19 am. Audio Describers, Audio Description, Movies, YouTube

by Jeremy Fisher

Greetings, Description Fans.

We’re just wrapping our audio description for Sita Sings the Blues, a feature-length animated film that retells the ancient Sanskrit Epic, the Ramayana. In editing Annie’s description script, I came away both impressed and reminded of how hard our job is. In the course of writing description for this feature length film, Annie had to master Indian culture, fashion, names; a whole host of animation styles; and more.

I handpicked some of my favorite bits. Check ‘em out. Then watch the described film at our YouTube site and hear for yourself.

“An old bearded Brahma, his four heads revolving on one body, perches on a lotus that’s connected to Vishnu’s navel. Lakshmi massages Vishnu’s feet while he reclines on a five-headed cobra.”

“A palace rises above an ancient Indian city. Inside, Dasharatha holds a crown over Rama, who bows, his hands in prayer. The animation resembles traditional Indian paintings, with characters in profile.”


“High above, one-eyed Rakshasa demons in bird form fly. Pink bat wings propel their purple eel-like bodies. They swoop down and fly in the forest.”

Hanuman, with the body of a man and the face of a monkey, races off, tail flying behind him. He wears a crown and wields a mace. At the seashore, Hanuman grows huge and leaps over the ocean.”


“On a black background, the flickering heart montage pulses inside a woman rendered in simple white lines. The scene alternates between her body frozen in a dance pose, and her lighting a match.”


Sita Sings the Blues is a creative content film. With the blessing of the films producer/director, Nina Paley, we have posted the film, with audio description, captions, and Spanish translation on our YouTube site!

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