Including video, images, and other multimedia in online instruction can be very useful, especially for asynchronous classes or for flipped classroom methods. However, it is crucial to ensure that you make all teaching delivery resources and media accessible to the widest range of people possible.
This page is not intended to be comprehensive. Please visit the following websites for more information on including accessibility in online instruction.
U of I Campus Resources for Accessibility
U of I Library Resources for Accessibility
This section will focus on resources to which the U of I has a campus-wide license with links to broader information as well.
(from UVA Library):
Some participants may be unable to access or fully utilize chat:
Recommendations:
It is important that the presenter understand that a person who is using screen reader software will not be able to understand the content being shared. This is also true if the participant is calling in or has a bad internet connection.
Recommendations:
Zoom: Accessibility Considerations & Best Practices
A detailed guide from UVA on ensuring your Zoom sessions are accessible to all.
Video Conferencing Platforms Feature Matrix
From the National Association of the Deaf, a guide covering most common video conferencing accessibility options.
Zoom Accessibility
From Zoom itself.
Working With Online Video Conferencing Tools
From UVA; covers MS Teams, Google Meet, and WebEx.
[Content borrowed and adapted from UVA Library]
Accessible video/audio includes captions, a transcript, audio description, and delivered in an accessible media player.
Regardless of the captioning method chosen, the results should follow best practices and guidance found in “The Captioning Key”. Regulatory guidance and standards for accessibility compliance are also provided by the following agencies and organizations:
According to the Described and Captioned Media Program Captioning Key, quality captions and transcripts are:
Post-Production Captioning
Post-production captions are created after the live event has occurred. The recording should not be made available until the captions have been created and checked for accuracy and adherence to best practices.
Live Captioning
Live captioning should be considered when hosting online meetings, webinars, online classes and other training events, and when streaming live events. It should also be strongly considered when hosting live events onsite. Adding live captions to the live event provides greater access and interaction for many members of the audience, not just those who are D/HoH.
At the U of I, you have a few options for this, depending on what resource you are using for your video/audio. Remember that automatic speech recognition (ASR), which may be provided in YouTube, Kaltura, and other tools, is never acceptable to leave as is; you must edit it for clarity and accuracy.
Audio Description, also called descriptive video or video description, is a secondary audio track (either recorded by a person or created by running text-to-speech software on a timed text file) that describes and gives context for essential visual information. Audio Description makes videos and multimedia accessible to people who have low vision or who are blind, by capturing what is happening on screen into audible descriptions that are played during natural pauses in the audio track.
Creating audio descriptions is an art and a new technology, so please keep that in mind!
An accessible media player supports captions, audio description, keyboard-only controls, and other accessibility features.
For more in-depth, albeit institution-specific information on any of the above, please see the following web pages:
There are links on this web page on how to create accessible Word, PowerPoint, PDF, Excel, and HTML documents. There are also links to a short CITL-produced video on creating accessible teaching materials and to a color contrast tool.