When you read/play back a book in the library or in Bloom Reader, there appears to be a standard order in which other media are played back–first the video, then the audio. Is that correct? Can the order be adjusted either by the book creator or the book reader? I don’t think so, but I thought I would check to see.
first the video, then the audio. Is that correct?
Correct. When developing out Sign Language tool, the good folks at Chetana requested this behaviour for their particular needs. I believe the use-case in mind was helping hearing parents who did not proficiently sign, or were just learning to sign, to enjoy books with their deaf children who could sign.
Can the order be adjusted either by the book creator or the book reader? I don’t think so, but I thought I would check to see.
Currently, it cannot. Can you see a use-case where the ordering or video-audio needs to be reversed?
(Of course, the ordering of audio elements can already be changed by ticking the Show playback order buttons in the Talking Book Tool.)
As I suspected. In terms of different use-cases, I was brainstorming about some “off label” uses of the video element other than being a sign language equivalent of the text on the page. For example, that the text introduces what will be seen in the video. In such a case, one might want to get the text/audio first then watch the video. Such possible uses are speculative and not actual, so I wouldn’t advocate for a new feature to support this.
On the other hand, I would advocate for a “mute” button on the video element in case someone has attached a sign language video that inadvertently includes extraneous audio. I’m imagining a “mute audio” checkbox in the sign language tool that would launch the video element on playback with the audio initially muted. That way, one could ensure that the only audio on the page was the narrated audio added by the Talking Book Tool.
Here is a follow-on question. I added two videos to a page. In the Bloom Player (Desktop Editor preview or BloomPUB viewer) it automatically plays one video but it doesn’t play the second way. There is apparently not a way to start the second video as clicking on it just advances the page. Help me understand how this works.
I added two videos to a page.
Interesting. This would go beyond the current design, which is one Sign Language video per page (like the 8 different SL template page types).
Bloom Editor – as you discovered – allows you to have multiple videos on a page, but we have not tested Bloom Reader’s behaviour with multiple videos on a page.
What is your use case that prompted this?
Our use case is “off label”: Using the SL tool for including other types of video on a page. The page in question used two videos as examples of how Bloom does a particular thing.
Actually, ideally, the order of viewing should be under the control of the viewer as the use cases vary widely depending on which language they are fluent in. Since there was to be ONLY one option and a set order that would govern all sign language books, we picked the order assuming a user more fluent in sign language as a default.
I was also testing having 2 videos in a book for questions and answers/ dialogue. I was checking to see if we could have control on when to play the 2nd video. Could this be added as a feature?
Could this be added as a feature?
Yes, it could. The process is to post your request here so others can “vote” on it. This helps us to determine its priority.
Please include a user story explaining why the feature is important to you and how it would be used.