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Audio Descriptions Follow

This document presents the following

  1. Audio Description Overview
  2. Submitting Audio Descriptions from the Platform
    1. Prerequisites
    2. How do I submit an AD file
  3. Consuming Audio Descriptions from the Platform
  4. Redoing completed Audio Descriptions
  5. Limitations

Audio Description overview

Audio Description, also referred to as video description or descriptive narration, is additional commentary that explains what is happening on screen. AD describes body language, expressions and movements, and text on screen that is not spoken in the dialog , making a program clear through sound.

Verbit’s AD feature allows users to request a verbal description track of relevant visual elements that appear in the video and are essential for comprehension, but are not communicated through the video’s existing audio.

AD can be divided into two types: Extended vs Standard

  • Extended: Extended AD is a method of describing videos that need more detail than what can be provided through standard AD. It allows the video to be paused to make room for longer descriptions, which is useful when there are no natural pauses in the original content or when there is a lot of important visual information to describe
  • Standard: Standard AD is a way to add narration to a video in the pauses of the dialogue. This works best for videos with long pauses in speech or not a lot of detail to describe. The describer can add short descriptions of the visuals where there is room. When done well, audio descriptions improve the video without being distracting

NOTE: Verbit platform does not currently support Standard AD. If you are interested in hearing about what is available and supported, contact our CS department.

Workflow

NL-AudioDsc-img-01.png

Submitting Audio Descriptions from the Platform

Prerequisites

NOTE: At any point, a customer can contact a Verbit CS and request this feature. If requested, the Job Flow will be added to customer job’s profile

  • Customer must have Job Profile with AD job flow (click here for more information on job profiles).
    The following are the two AD job flows we provide.
    • Pro captions + AD
      This flow provides Captions + AD for the video file uploaded
    • AD Only (no dialogue)
      This flow provides AD only. If a video uploaded contains no dialogue, only visuals, then only AD is required
  • If you wish to upload video files via Linked accounts (click here for more information on Linked Accounts), the relevant Linked accounts must be configured. Click here to view the list of supported Linked accounts supporting AD flow.

How Do I Submit an AD file

Important: The media file should be publicly accessible, therefore we recommend the customers to upload via Wistia or YouTube.

  1. Login to the Verbit platform.
  2. Go to My files page
  3. Are you uploading via URL, or file using Linked Accounts?
URL Linked Account
Click Here Click Here

 

Uploading URL for AD

  1. Copy the URL address from any public location.
  2. In the My files page, hover over the + icon and click the chain icon in the lower right-hand side of the screen.

    NL-AudioDsc-img-02_new.png

  3. Add the URL link in the text field and then click Add Files and then click Upload.
    NOTE: One link per line is allowed.

    Screenshot_2023-04-16_150442.png

  4. In the Job Settings screen, select the relevant profile and then click Confirm. In the example below, we selected AD Only profile

    NL-AudioDsc-img-04_n.png

  5. You are redirected to the My files page. Verify that the file uploaded appears and the status displayed is Work in Progress.

Uploading files using Linked Accounts

  • NOTE:
  • Uploading files using Linked Accounts
  • Refer to Limitations to view supported Linked accounts
  1. In the My files page, click the YouTube icon in the lower right-hand side of the screen.

    NL-AudioDsc-img-05_new.png

  2. Select the relevant file, select the Profile and then click Confirm.

    NL-AudioDsc-img-06_new.png

  3. You are redirected to the My files page. Verify that the file uploaded appears and the status displayed is Work in Progress.

Consuming Audio Description

How do I consume AD using Smart Player

  1. Go to My files page
  2. Select the Finished file. In the example below, Video_7_sub_off was selected.

    NL-AudioDsc-img-07_new.png

  3. Select Download > Plugins > Smart Player.
    NOTE: The Plugins > Smart Player is only visible to customer with any of the AD profiles.

    NL-AudioDsc-img-08.png

  4. You are redirected to the Smart Player page. To view the video with the AD enabled, click AD. The AD is displayed in a blue text box.

    NL-AudioDsc-img-09.png

How do I consume AD alternate text files?

  1. Go to My files page
  2. Select the Finished file
  3. Select Download > Audio descriptions
  4. Select the relevant AD files and click Download

    NL-AudioDsc-img-10.png

  5. The download may take several seconds. The following message is displayed.

    NL-AudioDsc-img-11.png

  6. The following message is displayed when the files are ready for download.

    NL-AudioDsc-img-11x.png

  7. Go to the download folder and click the relevant file. The figure below shows an example of an AD.TXT file .

NL-AudioDsc-img-13.png

How do I consume AD embed code for HTML

  1. Go to My files page.
  2. Select the Finished file.
  3. Select Download > Audio Descriptions > SP.HTML

    NL-AudioDsc-img-10.png

  4. The download may take several seconds. The following message is displayed.

NL-AudioDsc-img-15.png

  1. The following message is displayed when the files are ready for download.

NL-AudioDsc-img-16.png

  1. Go to the download folder and click the relevant file. You are redirected to the HTML page. Cut and paste the URL link to the relevant website

NL-AudioDsc-img-17.png

Redoing completed Audio Descriptions

How to perform AD Redo?

  1. Sign in to Verbit platform.
  2. Select the AD job to be updated.
  3. Select the 3 dots icon > Redo audio description.

NL-AudioDsc-img-18.png

  1. In the dialogue box, click Download original AD to download the AD script. Download and modify the AD script locally:
    • User can modify AD content.
    • User can modify the AD timing when each portion of the script should be displayed (this should be carried out carefully).

NOTE: We recommend backing up the original script in case there is a decision to revert to the original AD version.

  1. Click Continue.
    • To make changes at a later time, click Continue without downloading script, and come back at a later time.

      NL-AudioDsc-img-19.png

  2. Once changes are completed, customer uploads the newly revised AD file and clicks Submit.
    NOTE: Uploading a new verions of the AD file, will override the original AD file.

    NL-AudioDsc-img-20.png

  3. The platform will update user if the latest AD version was successfully uploaded or not.
    • If successfully uploaded, the job status is updated to work in progress and the script is sent to our AD microservice
    • Once completed by the AD microservice , an AD package is available on the Verbit platform, and the Job Status is updated to Finished.
    • An email notification stating the Job is Ready is sent to the user.

NL-AudioDsc-img-21.png

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Limitations

  • Turnaround Time for AD description is 4 business days.
  • Currently supported file types are: .mp4, .m4v, and .f4v .
  • Works only with the following Linked Accounts: YouTube and Wistia (the media files should be publicly accessible).
  • Vimeo files can be uploaded only via URL and not via Linked Accounts. The URL must be a direct link to the media (also called “direct links for third-party playback”).

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