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Follow these how-to guides to make sure your multimedia, presentations, websites, and forms are accessible to everyone. To view any of the Google Slides tutorials larger, click the full-size icon ( ) underneath each embedded presentation. You can use the arrows and play buttons (
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Videos & Transcripts
Creating Accessible Videos
In this how-to guide, users will learn how to make accessible videos. Our online courses typically offer video either synchronously or asynchronously for our students to view. In this guide, you will learn how to prepare your videos while making sure they are designed for all students and users of your course content.
What will be learned?
Participants will learn how to create accessible videos.
Why is it important?
Because video content often is used to deliver instruction, understanding accessibility for the video format is crucial in an online learning setting.
Who benefits?
This benefits students who are differently-abled but also benefits all students through universal design.
Other Resources:
To access this presentation as a PDF, download “Creating Accessible Videos” and open it in Adobe Acrobat.
UNCG offers a process for requesting captions and/or transcripts from a vendor.
Creating Transcripts
This how-to guide will teach you how to create transcripts for your audio and/or video recordings. It will provide specific steps as well as key tips to follow.
Why is it important?
A transcript can be very useful to the author because it allows the production process to flow smoothly. It can also make captioning your content much easier and could eliminate the need for audio description (if descriptive language is used appropriately).
From the user’s perspective, transcripts allow for a better user experience because they aid the learning process. They also provide users with visual or hearing disabilities additional access to your content.
Who benefits?
Authors of audio/video content as well as all users can benefit from transcripts, but deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers as well as users with visual impairments benefit most from transcripts.
Resources
To access this presentation as a PDF, download “Creating Transcripts” and open it in Adobe Acrobat.
DIY Captions (ASR Captions & Uploading Caption Files)
Learn how to upload caption files and use ASR (automatic speech recognition) captions with editing for recorded videos using
Why is it important?
Captioning videos ensures that anyone who needs to access your content is able to do so, which will increase your ability to reach larger audiences. Using automated captions makes it easier to add captions yourself rather than paying a vendor to do it. However, properly editing automated captions is extremely important to ensure captions are at least 99% accurate.
Who benefits?
Users who have a hearing impairment (deaf, hard of hearing, and others) directly benefit from captioning since it can replace the audio heard in the video. Among the hearing community, captioning allows your video to be accessed in both noisy and quiet environments. Captioning is also beneficial users with cognitive disabilities (captioning accuracy does NOT have to be at 99%), and helps ESL users understand audio content. Research has also shown that captioning improves comprehension and retention for all users.
Resources
- UNCG process for requesting captions and/or transcripts from a vendor
- Online Video Platforms
- Deciding When to Caption
Panopto
Video: How to Add & Edit ASR Captions in Panopto (3:10)
Instructions
- Find your video in Panopto and click Edit
- Choose Captions
- Expand the Import Captions drop down box
- Choose Import automatic captions
- Check the captions for errors and edit as needed
- Captions must be 99% accurate for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
- Look for punctuation, spelling and other errors
- After editing is done, click Apply, and then OK to close the editor
- When your updated video appears on the screen, choose the CC button on the video player to enable your captions
Video: How to Upload a Caption File in Panopto (1:41)
Instructions:
- Find your video in Panopto; select Settings
- Choose Captions
- Under the Upload Captions section, choose English from the dropdown box to set the video’s language (other languages are also available)
- Select Choose File; find and attach the appropriate caption file (previously saved on your desktop or network drive)
- Select the Upload Captions button
- Close the Settings box and wait for the upload process to finish (it takes a few minutes)
- Once back at your folder screen, click Edit, and then Captions on the next screen to check the uploaded captions
- There should be minimal errors if the uploaded caption file is from a professional captionists
- Professional captionists strive for 99% accuracy rate – important for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
ZOOM
Video: How to Enable Live Captions (Presenter)
Instructions
Before your meeting (the following only needs to be done once to enable this setting for all future meetings)
- Log in to Zoom. From the side navigation menu, click Settings and go to the Meetings tab
- Click the Meeting (Advanced) link
- Scroll down to find the Closed Captioning section, and click the Closed Captioning button to enable closed captioning. This turns on closed captioning, including the live transcription service
During your meeting
- Click the Live Transcript button, then choose Enable Auto Transcription from the popup window (this will activate live auto captions for you and your participants)
- Turn auto captions on or off by clicking the up arrow on the Live Transcript button
- Choose Hide Subtitles to turn auto captions off, or View Full Transcript to see the auto captions in transcript mode
Video: How to Generate & Edit ASR Transcripts (1:28)
Instructions
Before your meeting
- Log in to Zoom. From the side navigation menu, click Settings and go to the Recordings tab
- Under Cloud Recording, make sure the toggle button for Allow hosts to record and save the meeting/webinar in the cloud is enabled
- In the Advanced cloud recording settings, make sure the Audio transcript box is checked to enable this feature
During your meeting
- Record your meeting and save it to the cloud
- End the meeting (transcripts will not fully process until the meeting has officially ended)
After your meeting
- Go to your Zoom profile and click Recordings from the side navigation menu
- Under Cloud Recordings, click the name of your recorded meeting
- Click the Play icon, or the Shared screen/speaker video link
- Edit the Audio Transcript as needed by clicking the pencil icon; click the check mark when done
Video: Assign the Closed Captioning Role (3:03)
Instructions
**Before your meeting, send a meeting invitation to the person who will be typing the captions during the meeting**
- Start your Zoom meeting as the host (only the host can assign the CC role)
- Click the CC Closed Caption button on your control panel
- In the box that appears, click the Assign a participant to type option
- On the Participants’ Panel, hover over the name of the person who will be typing the captions (usually the professional captioner assigned to your meeting)
- Click the More button (next to the person’s name)
- The Captions box will appear for the captioner only
- Captions typed in the box will appear instantly on participants’ screens if subtitles are activated (participants should click the CC Closed Captions button on the control panel) and then Show Subtitles from the pop-up box
Canvas Studio
Video: How to Upload a Caption File to Canvas Studio Video (1:29)
Instructions
- Open your video in Canvas Studio
- Click the Captions option
- Under the Upload Section, choose the caption file’s language (English and several other languages are available)
- When the Open File box appears, choose the appropriate caption file and select the Open button to upload the file to Canvas
- Under Manage Captions section, you should now see the caption file’s language.
- The CC button on the video player will also appear; click the CC button and the closed captions will appear at the top of the video player’s screen
- To get a transcript (generated from the captions), click the 3 vertical dots icon beside the file’s language
YOUTUBE
Video: How to Edit ASR Captions in YouTube
Instructions
- Sign in to your YouTube account
- Click on your account icon , and select “Your Channel” from the drop down menu
- Click YouTube Studio
- If you already uploaded your video, click Subtitles. This link will allow you to add and edit closed captions for your video. If you have NOT uploaded your video, click Create>Upload Video; select your file to upload (typically an .mp4 file), and click Subtitles
- Click the video you plan to edit from the Channel Subtitles section of the page
- Click English (Automatic) to begin editing the captions that have been automatically added to your video. Captions must be edited because ASR captions are often incorrect and lack punctuation
- When edits are done, click Publish Edits
Caption Your Videos Using Amara Software
Learn how to upload your transcript and caption your own videos using Amara software.
Why is it important?
Captioning videos ensures that anyone who needs to access your content is able to do so, which will increase your ability to reach larger audiences.
Who benefits?
Users with a hearing impairment (deaf, hard of hearing, and others) directly benefit from captioning since it can take the place of the audio heard in the video. Among the hearing community, captioning allows your video to be accessed in both noisy and quiet environments. Also, captioning helps ESL users understand verbal content, and research has shown that captioning improves comprehension and retention for all users.
To access this presentation as a PDF, download “Caption Your Videos Using Amara Software (without transcript)” and open it in Adobe Acrobat.
To access this presentation as a PDF, download “Caption Your Videos Using Amara Software (with transcript)” and open it in Adobe Acrobat.
Websites
Creating Accessible Canvas Pages
This how-to guide will teach users how to create Canvas pages that are accessible to all users. It covers the basic elements of accessibility, including accessible document structure, media, images, math/scientific equations, and more.
Why is it important?
Accessible Canvas pages mean that all users will have access to your information. Also, planning for accessibility during a course’s design phase is less time consuming than remediating a course after it’s been designed because a user found it inaccessible.
Who benefits?
All users benefit, but users with disabilities benefit the most. Course designers also benefit from not running the risk of creating an inaccessible course that has to be remediated after a student reports that it doesn’t work.
To access this presentation as a PDF, download “Creating Accessible Canvas Pages” and open it in Adobe Acrobat.
Creating Accessible WordPress Sites
Learn how to make WordPress websites inclusive to as many users as possible through theme selection, design, navigation, semantic markup, hyperlinks, and image descriptions.
Why is it important?
Creating an accessible WordPress website will allow the widest possible audience to experience the site.
Who benefits?
The creator of an accessible WordPress site demonstrates proactive consideration for the audience, shows professionalism in meeting up-to-date website design standards, meets federal standards to avoid negative consequences, and improves search engine optimization by giving search engines information in alt and title tags.
Ultimately, making a WordPress site accessible allows more people to operate the website successfully.
To access this presentation as a PDF, download “Creating Accessible WordPress Sites” and open it in Adobe Acrobat.