Closed Captioning for Web Videos

Apparently the issue of web site accessibility and multimedia content on web pages has gotten a lot of attention lately. There is currently a bill before Congress that would make closed captioning mandatory for any web video that also appears on TV.

Right now, if this bill became law, it would only affect the major players of web-based video. But, it could eventually filter down to smaller operations as well. Some web sites like YouTube use voice recognition software to produce closed captioning, but it is still very inaccurate. To manually transcribe one hour of video costs approximately $90 (this works out to about $1.50/min). And, there are some technical hurdles that must cleared to synchronize the text with the video.

The Federal 508 web site accessibility guidelines state the following for multimedia content:

(b) Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall be synchronized with the presentation.

(k) A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality, shall be provided to make a web site comply with the provisions of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way. The content of the text-only page shall be updated whenever the primary page changes.

All web content authors should keep this issue on their radar, as it is certainly going to become a bigger one as web video becomes more and more popular.

4 Reasons Why You Absolutely Need to Use Google Places for Your Business

More and more people are using search engines to find information about local products and services. Google Places, formerly known as Google Local Search is a must have for local businesses who want to capitalize on this phenomenon.

Here are the 4 reasons why you absolutely should create a listing on Google Places for your business:

1. Google Places allows you to submit detailed information about your business for free. This information includes your street address, email address, description of products and services offered, hours of operation, payment options, photos of your products and storefront, and videos.
2. Your business will appear in Google Maps. Once you submit your listing Google will show your location on Google Maps along with the information located above. You can even adjust the map pointer if it doesn't show your location as accurately as it should.
3. You can offer printable coupons for customers. Google Places will allow you to submit coupon information complete with an expiration date that your customers can print and bring to your business.
4. Statistical information. When you are logged into your Google Places page you can view analytics showing how many times your listing was viewed, where visitors came from, what keywords they used to find you, and even how many times they downloaded your coupon.

While setting up your Google Places listing is fast and easy, I would strongly recommend that you not "set it and forget it". You or someone in your company should review the descriptions, email address, photos, and coupons in your listing to be sure they continue to be accurate and timely.

Google Helps You Make Your Site Into a Portal

Most web site owners are always looking for ways to drive traffic to their site. Google's Custom Search may be another tool you can add to your arsenal. With Google's Custom Search you can create a collection of web sites that are specific to your industry and wrap them into a search engine powered by Google.

By placing this custom search box on your home page you can attract visitors who are looking to do targeted keyword searched for topics relative to your expertise.

Setting up a custom search engine in Google requires that you have a Google account. From the Custom Search home page you simply follow the screens to name and customize your search. If you are a qualified not-for-profit or an educational organization you can even suppress the Google text ads that appear on your search results pages.

In addition, you can customize the look and feel of the results page to reflect your branding.

Google's Custom Search service is free and is different from their Site Search service which is a hosted, fee-based product that Google offers to businesses.