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The Scribe’s Press

A Blog About 508 Compliance, Media Services, and Technology

Congratulations to all nominees and winners of the 23rd annual TIVA-DC Peer Awards. Despite great challenges, the live streamed ceremony was pulled off without a hitch thanks to the TIVA Team lead by Bill Coughlan and Todd Clark, Glass River Media, and Interface Media Group this past Sunday......

A Whole New Look After almost 10 years without a major update, we are announcing the launch of our new website. A fresh look for 2020, bringing a modern and simplified web experience for our users. We are also revamping this blog, The Scribe’s Press.......

This week, Word Wizards, Inc. announced its recent accreditation by the BBB serving Metro Washington DC and Eastern PA.  As a BBB Accredited Business, we are dedicated to promoting trust in the marketplace. According to a recent BBB study by Nielsen, nearly 83% of U.S. consumers......

Challenge The Harvard University Extension School came to us to develop a template, built in Microsoft Word, that would render the formatting process for a typical student thesis less arcane. Originally, they were considering different specifications for each department. To standardize the process, they decided......

For the past year, we have reported on the forthcoming update to 508 compliance standards. On January 9th, 2017 the final rule was officially posted to the Federal Register. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) standards and guidelines refresh is intended to improve on the......

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality have taken both our attention and the market by a storm within the past several years.  From headsets to our own smartphones, both have come leaps and bounds from the old Disney Quest Aladdin Magic Carpet VR ride, with the......

On June 30, 2016 at an event hosted by Interface Media Group, WIFV  (Women in Film and Video) brought the fascinating animation portfolio of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) and its director Dr. Horace Mitchell, to the attention of the local film and video production community....

Thanks to our friends at WIFV-DC, we recently attended the Reel Affirmations Film Festival’s screening of Victorious: Women of the Gridiron. The film is about the D.C. Divas, an all-woman football team that was undefeated in the 2015 Woman’s Football Alliance season. Some of the......

Both Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (508) and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are made up of laws and guidelines requiring information to be made available to all members of the public, regardless of sensory disabilities. Closed Captioning (CC),  Audio......

Word Wizards recently had the pleasure to do transcription work for a new batch of TED Talks (“TT”). TED is a non-profit group, whose primary mission is the spread knowledge globally through powerful online talks about a variety of subjects. TTs are free online lectures......

Word Wizards would like to take a moment to acknowledge a truly historic project we helped with recently. Behind the scenes, our team works on many high profile projects. Once in a while, we work on something that has true historical significance. Two weeks ago......

Word Wizards makes a living by providing profession transcription services. Our team relies on our hands for transcription activities, and protecting these important assets is paramount to the success of our company. Unfortunately, some typists are susceptible to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) because of the......

  Thanks so much to Docs In Progress for organizing the Crowdsourcing Theatrical Distribution talk.  They do amazing work helping people from all walks of life to fulfill their desire of creating documentary productions.  Since video transcription is often an essential part of making a documentary,......

  Duff Johnson, Executive Director of the PDF Association recently spoke before the U.S. Access Board regarding the upcoming refresh of the 508 accessibility rules.  The proposed changes include adherence to WCAG 2.0 for all media types and additional conformance to other guidelines based on......

Word Wizards is continuing our coverage of The United States Access Board’s 508 refresh. These rules and standards set the accessibility compliance requirements for electronic publications procured by the federal government, including web sites, video assets, and mixed media productions. For video assets, the current......

Valspar, a paint company, recently collaborated with EnChroma to bring attention to the Cx Explorer – glasses specifically tailored to bring color to the colorblind. The Explorer looks just like regular aviator sunglasses. The key difference, however, is that the Explorer is capable of increasing......

The U.S. Access Board, the government agency responsible for providing accommodations for people with disabilities under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, has issued a call for public comments concerning Information and Communication Technology (ICT). This call is in regards to new rules......

The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) is currently working to revise the standards for Section 508 accessibility. This revision is being called the 2015 Section 508 Refresh.   Since the last revision (in 2000), technological advances have increased exponentially – going from......

Since software is constantly updating and evolving, we have to keep up with changes to make the most accessible documents as possible. With that in mind, issues can sometimes arise with the new versions of our most commonly used software, such as JAWS. What works......

This post is the start of a new series concerning Section 508 compliance remediation. Our expert 508 compliance team has encountered several workflow errors while using Acrobat for 508 remediation.  These errors cause some serious headaches for both users and clients. As such, we felt......

  Wishing you a happy new year from your friends at Word Wizards. 2015 is here and we are planning big things for our company.  Transcription, compliance, and graphic services are hot, and our company is growing faster than ever before. Our blog took a......

Starting this weekend #Stuck will be screening in select theaters across the country. The production team is coming along for the ride, hosting Q + A sessions after the show, and kicking off their tour in NYC at the Village East Cinema this Friday night. Through......

One of the most exciting new tends in filmmaking today is the use of camera-equipped drones. These inexpensive Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or UAVs, are more budget conscious than helicopters for capturing the overhead excitement of a vehicle chase or other outdoor scenes. Using a versatile......

  Working in the post-production phase of video production, Word Wizards often receives projects with major editing problems and no budget or time for a reshoot. In a recent TIVA meeting held at RHED Pixel, Rich Harrington presented a first-hand look at two essentials of......

Heavily involved in many aspects of post-production, Word Wizards realizes that editing is where the magic begins. And choosing the right editing software for your project—Adobe Premiere, Avid or Final Cut—is essential. A huge thank you goes out to TIVA who recently sponsored an incredibly......

Tech Nirvana   Word Wizards lives on the cutting edge of technology.  As a matter of fact, we first exhibited transcripts with time code at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) trade show in 1998.  Since then we have continued to innovate using the latest......

There were valuable resume and interview tips aplenty at an informative presentation on resume building, hosted by Women in Film and Video (WIFV) and Women in Cable Television Communications (WICT), at Interface Media Group on April 2, 2014.  The panel discussion was scheduled just ten......

Producers and reporters of science programs for film and television are always looking for engaging, compelling stories to teach and motivate and to open our minds to infinite possibilities. Scott Gordon, C.E.O. of Word Wizard, is addicted to scientific programming and watches very little else......

At Word Wizards we are all about accessibility.  Our 508 compliant transcripts meet federal standards for multimedia on Federal websites that are accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing, as well as to the blind and low vision individuals. ...

Attention! Word Wizards HQ has moved. Our new address is 8609 2nd Avenue. Unit 406B. Silver Spring, MD. 20910....

A TIVA Era Begins Following the successful TIVA presidency of Jerry Griffith with many innovations and a record membership, Brian Grundstrom now steps into Jerry’s shoes and takes over the reins. Formally Vice President of TIVA, Brian offers an insider’s view and super-charged ideas for......

The DC chapter of Women in Film and Video kicked off their 35th year in style with a holiday party at the offices of the nonprofit organization 1776. Located at 1133 15th Street, Farragut North, 1776’s workplace—and party rental space—features bright, open areas, comfortable furniture and festive ceiling lights, and was the perfect backdrop for WIFV’s gathering....

Napa Valley known as wine country once again magically transformed into movie country with a touch of “Hollywood.” The third annual Napa Valley Film Festival—November 13-17th 2013—showcased 125 independent films to enthusiastic audiences....

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a very enjoyable panel, presented by Women in Film and Video and hosted by Interface Media Group, that was all about taking the plunge into social media and how to fully utilize it....

Earlier this year, I wrote an article about how the National Archives is a treasure trove of stock footage for films and documentaries. Just the other day, I was reading a documentary magazine and happened to come across an article that serves as a perfect companion piece....

While many people think of Word Wizards, Inc. as just a transcription and post-production company, we also have a very accomplished graphic design and website wing that’s responsible for some very impressive work around the web....