SME Accessibility

SME Validation

SME-specific validation rules: missing speaker, WCAG contrast, markers, and suppressible errors.

When SME mode is enabled, Scene Cut adds specific validation rules that complement the standard checks (reading speed, duration, gap, scene cuts). Some rules only apply in extended mode.

SME rules

Basic mode (color and positioning)

Rule	Level	Trigger condition
Insufficient contrast	Warning	Contrast ratio between text color and background below 4.5:1 (WCAG AA)

Extended mode (speakers and classification)

Rule	Level	Trigger condition
Untyped sound effect	Info	Text in brackets `[...]`, parentheses `(...)` or `` prefix (excluding `-`) but type set to dialogue
Missing music marker	Info	Music-type entry without `♪` or `🎵` in the text

SME validation indicators are displayed the same way as standard errors — orange for warnings, blue for information — and are navigable with Opt + Shift + →.

The speaker field is optional — a missing speaker on a dialogue entry is not flagged as an error. This is by design: many broadcast workflows use only color to identify speakers.

The contrast check ensures that speaker colors remain readable against the subtitle background. Scene Cut calculates the relative luminance of each color using the WCAG 2.1 formula and verifies that the ratio reaches at least 4.5:1.

In practice, white, yellow, and cyan pass easily on a dark background. Red and magenta may cause issues depending on the background color chosen in appearance preferences.

Contrast validation is active from basic mode onwards — even without speakers or classification, chosen colors are always checked against the background.

Suppressible errors

All SME alerts can be suppressed individually per subtitle. This allows validating an intentional editorial choice without the error reappearing every time the project is opened.

For example, a dialogue without a speaker may be intentional (unknown voice, ambiguous narration). Suppressing the alert removes it from the display and the error counter, while preserving the decision in the project.

Suppressions are saved in the .scenecut file and survive saves and reloads.

Only warnings and info alerts can be suppressed. Critical errors (standard violations) cannot be suppressed.

SME Metrics in the QC Report

When SME mode is active, the QC report includes an Accessibility (SME) section with the following metrics:

Metric	Mode	Description
Entries with color	Basic	Number of entries with a custom color
Unique speakers	Extended	Number of distinct speakers in the project
Entries with speaker	Extended	Number of dialogue entries with a speaker assigned
Speaker list	Extended	Names of all speakers in the project
Type breakdown	Extended	Number of entries per type (dialogue, sound effect, music, narrator)

SME metrics let the supervisor quickly check the coverage of accessible subtitling — for example, spotting that a high percentage of dialogues have no speaker assigned.

Entry types

Classify subtitles as dialogue, sound effect, music, or narrator for SME subtitling.

Import and export