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Glossary of terms

TermDefinition
Accessibility layerThe added information — such as tags, alt text, or narration — that makes a file usable with assistive technology. For PDFs, this information is added without changing how the document looks. See What PDF accessibility remediation means.
Alt textA short written description of an image, read aloud by screen readers or displayed when the image can’t load.
API keyA credential used to authenticate requests to Content Studio’s public API. See Create and use an API key.
Audio descriptionA narration track added to a video that describes important visual information, for people who are blind or have low vision. See Audio descriptions vs captions.
Captions/SubtitlesOn-screen text that displays a video’s dialogue and relevant sounds, timed to the audio. Can be shown in the shared player, burned into an MP4 export, or downloaded on their own as an SRT file.
CreditsThe unit Content Studio uses to meter usage of AI and processing operations. See Plans and credit costs and How credits work.
Description profileA saved set of preferences used when generating audio descriptions for a project.
DuckingLowering a video’s own audio while a description is spoken, so the description stays intelligible. At 0% the original is unchanged; at 100% it is silent for the duration of the description. See About narration placement.
EmbedA shared player placed inside your own web page using an iframe, rather than opened as a link. See Share a video.
Glossary (in-app)A project-level list of characters and recurring terms that our tool uses to stay consistent across descriptions, for example using the same name for a character throughout a video. Not to be confused with this document, which is a glossary of documentation terms. See Build a glossary of characters and terms.
NarrationThe spoken form of a project’s audio descriptions — the voice, its speed, and where each line falls against the video. See Tune the narration.
Narration previewRendering every description in the voice your export will use, so you can hear the result before exporting. The rendered audio is reused by the export.
OrganizationA shared workspace for a team, with a shared credit pool, shared projects, and role-based permissions. See Organization roles and permissions.
Pinned lineA description whose timing, placement, speed, or volume you set by hand. Project-level narration settings no longer move it.
PDF/UA-1A technical standard that defines what makes a PDF file accessible to assistive technology.
ProjectThe basic unit of work in Content Studio: a single video, PDF, or image (or batch of images) submitted for AI processing. See Project types and file limits.
Share linkA public, unlisted page where anyone can watch a described video without an account. Descriptions are delivered live, so each viewer chooses how they receive them. See Shared player controls.
WCAGThe Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the standard set of accessibility recommendations against which captions, alt text, and other accessibility features are commonly measured.