The Semantic Annotation Tool consists of two parts: Waldorf.js and Statler. Waldorf.js is a drop-in jQuery module that facilitates the creation and sharing of time-based media annotations on the Web. Waldorf.js wraps all HTML5 video tags on a page with an intuitive authoring and presentation environment for time-based video annotations. Annotations are loaded from and saved to Statler, a linked data-compliant server that communicates with the plugin to collect and disseminate user-generated comments and tags compliant with the W3C Open Annotation specification. This system creates an end-to-end open source video annotation workflow that can be used as either an off the shelf or customizable solution for a wide variety of applications.

Waldorf.js and Statler are both open source software. The current beta versions of both are available on GitHub:

Waldorf.js and Statler were created through a partnership between the Media Ecology Project and the Virtual Environments and Multimodal Interactions Lab with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.