Media is increasingly being used for teaching and learning. Students across a range of abilities and learning styles consume this media in various ways. To meet University policy requirements, video and audio content must include equally effective alternative access so all users can access the information.
Accurate captions are essential to video accessibility. Our media platform on campus, Mediaspace (also known as Kaltura), offers automatic captioning and tools to correct for accuracy.
This video explains the steps to leveraging the platform.
Text instructions for the captioning process are found on this page (Kaltura, Captioning Tools)
There are many software for producing and editing captions. Mediaspace allows for downloading of a caption file (.srt file) to edit in another tool before reuploading. You can also generate and refine captions in various tools to upload a caption file into a video.
If you are distributing an audio file like an MP3, you'll want to include an accompanying transcript.
Transcripts can be verbatim or remove filler words. They might also include features such sound effects and speaker identification, as well as descriptions of visual elements from the video.
A majority of the audio-only files used in teaching are in Mediaspace, and that media player has a captioning tool built in (see above on Captions). If you're distributing the audio file in other ways, you may need to include a separate Word document file representing the transcript.
Audio description (AD) is a technique used to provide additional narration that describes visual elements in multimedia content for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The simplest way to include AD is for the primary speaker/presenter to provide descriptions of visual aids in the flow of their presentation. The alternative is to write and produce the AD after the media is made; using software and the media platform to "insert" the description where needed.
Similar to alt-text, these descriptions use succinct, vivid, and objective language prioritized by context. If an image is superficial in purpose, perhaps it need not be included. Even so, the AD would match it's utility.
Producing AD after a video is completed incurs a lot of audio production, video editing and special options with the video player. Currently, the best way to include audio description is to "self-describe" the visuals if you are presenting or speaking in a video. If you consider how you would describe the visual to a student of yours in the context of your content, simply include that description in line with the rest of your teaching and no post-production is needed.