MAGpie 2

Editor: If you have anything to do with media, websites, videos, etc., I hope you're doing all you can to ensure that those products are accessible to people with hearing loss (and vision loss, for that matter). Complaints that it's too hard no longer cut it, due in part to the work of WGBH in Boston. They have long been heavily involved in developing tools that enable people to easily provide access to various types of information.

Their latest release is version 2.01 of their FREE captioning, subtitling, and audio-description software! Additional information on the Media Access Group at WGBH is available at http://access.wgbh.org. For more information on WGBH please visit http://www.wgbh.org.

Here are portions of the press release.

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Boston, MA. March 2003. Version 2.01 of the Media Access Generator (MAGpie)-- free, do-it-yourself captioning, subtitling and audio-description software for digital multimedia developed by the CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM)-- is now available to download at http://ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/magpie/
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By adding captions, subtitles and audio descriptions to Web-based media, CD-ROM and DVD-ROM, multimedia specialists, publishing companies or service providers enable full access to millions people with hearing or vision loss, as well as speakers of other languages in the US and abroad. Captions added to multimedia presentations ensure that the audio components are accessible to users who are deaf or hard of hearing. Audio descriptions provide access for people who are blind or visually impaired by adding narration that describes the visuals, including action, scene changes, graphics and on-screen text. Descriptions can also assist students with learning disabilities by reinforcing through audio what the user is watching on the screen.

Using MAGpie 2.01, authors can add captions and audio descriptions to the most popular media platforms: Apple's QuickTime, RealNetworks' RealPlayer and Microsoft's Windows Media. MAGpie is friendly to those who are new to multimedia, educators and even to young users. MAGpie 1.0 was released in early 2001. New features greatly expand the software's capabilities and ease of use.

MAGpie 2.01 features:
> Java-based - will run on Windows 98, NT4, 2000 and XP, and on Macintosh OS X. (There is currently no support for earlier versions of the Mac OS.)
> Support for playback of QuickTime, Real and Windows media file formats
> Audio description support, users can write, time and record audio descriptions for digital media
> Caption, subtitle and description tracks can be created in multiple languages
> Multiple captions and description tracks can be created for a single multimedia clip
> Spell check eliminates typographical errors more easily
> Segmented captioning enables users to create captions with karaoke-like effects
> Improved user interface/authoring grid

Additional Resources Available from NCAM
Samples of accessible multimedia delivered in the various formats (QuickTime, SMIL and SAMI), and source code and tutorials, are available from NCAM's Rich Media Access Project at http://ncam.wgbh.org/richmedia. Additional resources on making Web sites and software accessible, including general captioning conventions and general audio description guidleines, are available from NCAM's recently published "Making Educational Software and Web Sites Accessible: Design Guidelines Including Math and Science Solutions." The Guidelines are available free of charge in print form (contact access@wgbh.org, or call 617 300-3400) and to download at http://ncam.wgbh.org/cdrom/guideline/.

Funding for MAGpie Development
Funding for MAGpie 1.0 was provided by the Trace Research and Development Center at the University of Wisconsin (http://www.tracecenter.org/), as part of its Information Technology Access Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center which itself is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/NIDRR/).

Funding for the development of MAGpie 2.01 comes from the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (http://www.meaf.org/).