Overview
Accessible videos ensure all learners can access visual and auditory information while improving the overall quality of your content. By following the four essential elements outlined in this guide, you’ll create videos that meet accessibility standards, enhance engagement, and support meaningful learning for every viewer.
The Four Elements of an Accessible Video
High-Quality Video and Audio
Start with clear visuals, steady framing, and clean audio recorded in a quiet environment. Use approved UTSA tools like Panopto to ensure accessibility features such as captions and audio descriptions are supported.
Audio Description (AD)
Audio descriptions provide spoken narration of important visual details that aren’t conveyed through dialogue. Plan for AD during scripting or add it in post-production to ensure all viewers can fully experience your content.
Captions
Captions display all spoken words and important sounds as text on the screen. They must be at least 97 percent accurate and include speaker identification and sound effects. We can help with this element, as our team can caption many of your videos for you.
Video Summary
A short written summary gives viewers context about the video’s purpose, key points, and participants. Place it above the embedded video in Canvas so it’s visible to all learners before viewing.
Guide: Video Summary Best Practices
Resources
For more, review these additional resources:
- DCMP: Guidelines and Best Practices for Describing Educational Video
- W3C: Making Audio and Video Media Accessible
- Effective Educational Videos: Principles and Guidelines for Maximizing Student Learning from Video Content
- W3C: Example Descriptive Transcript from Caption Files
- Making Short-Form Videos Accessible with Hierarchical Video Summaries
Support
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