[LINK] Fwd: vip-l: Accessibility Review of Dr Who Series Two, DVD Boxed Set - Christmas Option?

[Adam Todd]

At 09:49 AM 21/12/2006, you wrote:
>forwarded with permission. I thought the interface description was quite 
>interesting. If any linkers are involved in multimedia items like DVDs, 
>this aspect of accessibility may be of interest.
>
>>Imagine my amazement and excitement when I selected one of the DVDs at 
>>random (well I thought it might be disc 1, but didn't
>>know) only to hear the disc spin up and a clear voice announce:
>>
>>"Doctor Who, Series Two, Disc 4."
>>
>>"If you would like audio menus, press the enter key now."

I'll be honest, I'm surprised this was even considered as part of the DVD 
authoring process.  I have NEVER come across a DVD that announces the menus 
or features.

The title is for example a feature of the DVD process, but most people put 
a date and production code in there.  I've never heard it spoken.

I know I can embed special text strings and comments into the DVD that 
aren't displayed.   Perhaps the DVD player has some "sight impaired" 
software features to actually read and pick up on the data that is contained?

I'm not aware of any means specifically that will enable voice descriptions 
to be added into the menus or functions of a DVD.  Yes, you can have a menu 
with an audio track, but one usually puts a 30 second loop of sound from 
the films sound track there.

It almost sounds to me like the authors of the Dr Who DVD set actually had 
a request for vision impaired features, or to at least try and find a way 
to make it appear these are features when really they have cleverly used 
what is fundamental to DVD authoring in a creative way.

Then again, it is Dr Who we're talking about.

>>Tim Noonan
>>Tim Noonan Consulting Pty Ltd: Excellence in Accessibility and Usability

Now there's a name I haven't seen in a few years!

Tim use to go to my high school!