Together with our customers, we are committed to an accessible future. We therefore find the cooperation with our customers extremely valuable and the personal story of each of our customers is extremely important.
In this series, we ask Scribit.Pro customers about their experiences with our service and our services. How do these organizations, authorities and individuals experience the cooperation with our company? What is their digital accessibility strategy and what role does Scribit.Pro play in it? And do they have any tips for others who also want to get started with video accessibility?
Scribit.Pro works with government agencies, organizations, companies, museums, educational institutions and foundations. But we can also count a number of media production companies among our clientele. Idee aan Zee is such a business partner. The enthusiastic team not only works on beautiful video productions, but also, just like Scribit.Pro, attaches importance to its accessibility.
The organization
Idee aan Zee (also known as IDAZ) is a media company in The Hague that makes commissioned videos and animations. IDAZ produces all kinds of diverse media productions: from short animation to podcast, from documentary to full-length corporate film. The video agency sees itself as image tellers of the story that someone else wants to tell. The other person can be a company or organization, but private individuals can also make use of the experience, technology and talent of the image makers from The Hague.IDAZ has long been able to count the national government as its largest client.
Idee aan Zee was founded in 2005. There are four permanent employees and a large number of freelancers are involved in writing, producing, directing, filming, editing and post-processing the media productions. Zoë Truyts has been working at Idee aan Zee for two years as a producer and editor. When a request for a video comes in, Zoë takes care of everything related to the production, such as the film crew and the location. She is also often involved in a production as early as the script phase.
How did Idee aan Zee get started with digital accessibility?
‘Since 2018, government institutions have had the obligation to be digitally accessible. All content produced by the government must comply with the internationally applicable WCAG guidelines, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Basically, all communication must be accessible and understandable for everyone, including people with a disability. Because of our continuous tendering process from the national government, it is also important for us to have digital accessibility in order.
In addition, Idee aan Zee wants to be an organization that is as inclusive and diverse as possible. Inclusivity is one of the core values of our company and plays an important role in our day-to-day business. Accessibility is an obvious part of this.’
What has Scribit.Pro been able to do for you?
‘Scribit.Pro means a lot to us. Quite early in our collaboration, I went through Scribit.Pro's online learning environment. In this Scribit.Pro Academy you can read and learn everything about video accessibility. You will also discover how to add audio description, subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and a transcript to video content. Very interesting, but also quite intimidating. By taking that course, I realized that video accessibility really is a profession on its own. There is an awful lot involved and it requires a lot of work, time, knowledge and special skills.
I immediately said to my colleagues: “We need to outsource this aspect of video production. Let Scribit.Pro take care of it for us.' That way we don't have to think about it ourselves or deal with it and that is very nice. We post a video and Scribit.Pro ensures that the video is made fully accessible that same week. I have deep respect for the people at Scribit.Pro and the work they do.’
How did you come into contact with Scribit.Pro?
‘We came into contact with each other about a year and a half ago. Since then, Scribit.Pro has been our go to.’
‘I have a deep respect for the people at Scribit.Pro and the work they do.’
What does the collaboration with Scribit.Pro look like?
‘When we have made a new video, we place it on the dashboard of the Scribit.Pro editor. Then the image descriptors and subtitlers get to work. We will receive an email as soon as the video has been made accessible and provided with all supporting files. After an evaluation round, the video, with all associated accessibility facilities, can be sent to the client.
Scribit.Pro also gives us feedback on our video productions. Not all clients are equally alert to accessibility, or understand its importance. But Idee aan Zee believes that accessibility can not only support people with disabilities, but can be useful for all viewers. It benefits the overall viewing experience. We want everyone to feel involved in the media productions we make and the stories we tell. The focus on video accessibility still needs some time, but the hope is that it will eventually become part of the format.’
How do you like the collaboration?
‘The contact is very good and it is going very well. Communication is fast and clear. If there is something, it will be solved in no time. We really think it's an advantage that Scribit.Pro thinks along with us. The collaboration is very good.
It's so nice that Scribit.Pro exists. We can focus on making beautiful video productions and they ensure that those videos then meet the guidelines for web accessibility. This way we can focus on other things and at the same time we are assured that our videos are accessible to the largest possible group of viewers.’
Any tips for others who also want to get started with video accessibility?
‘Everyone really needs to become more aware of the need for digital accessibility. If you think about it, it is actually ridiculous and embarrassing that (media) accessibility is only now being discussed. People without disabilities have always been privileged to have access to all possible media and information, but for a very large part of our fellow human beings this is not the case. And so little is still accessible; that should really be better. So get started with it. Get accessible and address that video accessibility. Idee aan Zee really only wants to give one tip: do business with Scribit.Pro, just like we do.’