Module 3 Book: Formatting Course Media So It’s Accessible

Module 3 Overview

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

Describe strategies for enhancing the accessibility of video and audio
Explain how accessible video and audio enhances the learning experience for all students
Creating inclusive media

Topics

This module will cover the following topics:

Topic 1: What is Media?
Topic 2: What does accessible video, audio mean?
Topic 3: Why is this important?
Topic 4: How can accessible videos and audio enhance the learning experience for everyone?
Topic 5: How do I?

Introduction

Media in the classroom has the power to supplement course materials. Media can be used to spark discussions, provide examples and to explain tricky concepts or instructions. In this module we will focus specifically on video and audio. We will discuss the importance of making videos and audio inclusive and accessible as well as how to make them inclusive and accessible. We will also learn how to embed captions in videos as well as how to make transcripts.

Topic 1: What is Media?

When we hear the term media we might think more traditionally and consider music, art, literature, or paintings but if we fast forward to today media can pretty much describe any channel of communication. Media can include anything from handwritten paper to digital data so let’s define media as a method of communication and define educational media as “channels of communication that carry messages with an instructional purpose” (Ritakumari, 2019, p. 7). The media we are going to focus on here are videos and audio that are created and used for teaching and learning purposes.

Videos and audio have the power to supplement materials, promote discussion, provide real-life examples, and free up valuable class time. When used with accessibility and inclusivity in mind they will engage students and make learning more interactive and dynamic. One of the benefits for you, the instructor, is that you can reuse them for other classes and other semesters. Keep in mind that when reusing videos and audio that it is important for students to think you are “investing effort in helping them learn” (Fiorella, 2021, p. 2). When reusing videos and audio you can show your investment by including introductory text or self-testing questions before or after the video or audio file you are including in your class.

Students today use instructional videos to learn everything. They are useful for learning basic tasks like changing a tire as well as more involved tasks like making macarons. In academics video can be more effective than lectures when learning about many topics such as medical procedures, math equations and counseling techniques, as examples (Notel et al., 2021). The reason for this is that students do not need to retain all the information in one shot, they can rewind and rewatch videos as many times as needed to fully grasp the concept(s) being taught. To help students learn from video and audio we should consider the basic multimedia principles, coherence, signaling, redundancy and segmenting (Fiorella, 2021).

“[V]ideos allow for students to manage their own cognitive load by pausing to take notes, rewinding difficult sections, or accelerating easy ones. Many academics can relate to being in a videoconference that they wished they could fast-forward. Video grants that capacity.”

(Notel et al., 2021, p.206)

The coherence, signaling, redundancy and segmenting principles all highlight that media should be kept simple.

The coherence principle highlights that students learn best when they can focus on the essential information in the lesson and all extraneous information is removed. Many times, we feel the need to make things more interesting by adding fun stories and images but often that results in students missing the message of the lesson.
The signaling principle discusses that people learn better when essential information is highlighted. When possible, consider hand drawing diagrams and formulas. Your hand will serve as a cue that directs students to the part of the diagram that you are discussing. You can also use cues such as drawing circles around relevant information and if you are in the video point to the information you are trying to highlight.
The redundancy principle advises that students generally learn best when words are spoken rather than presented as text. This means that an image is best when accompanied by explanatory spoken words rather than when presented alongside written text and narration.
The segmenting principle explains that students learn better from short self-paced lessons rather than long continuous lessons. Information that is divided into appropriately sized chunks gives the learner more control when they are trying to process it. You can achieve this by splitting longer lessons into smaller chunks, for example split a 60-minute lesson into 3 - 20-minute lessons (Knott, 2020). The icing on the cake is to include self-testing questions after each segment.

LT&I Tool Kit - Multimedia Design Guide

Topic 2: What does accessible video, audio mean?

Accessible media means it has been designed to be usable by as many people as possible, including those with disabilities. This can include things like captioning and transcriptions for videos and audio. It can also mean including a sign language interpreter. The goal of accessible and inclusive media is to ensure that everyone, regardless of their access and abilities, has equal access to the information and resources being presented. Accessible media includes the use of plain language, the ability to resize text, clear navigation, and the use of colors with enough contrast for people who have difficulty reading text (WAI). Accessible and inclusive media can also mean removing seductive details (coherence principle). Seductive details are information or elements that are added purely for the sake of entertainment, they are usually meant to enhance learner engagement but in reality, they take cognitive resources away from the learning objective. Review The Coherence Principle video (length 2:34)

Wisc-Online (2018, October 30). The Coherence Principle [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTyr9P15JhI

Adding extra fun and interesting details to your lesson can dilute your primary instructional goal because students are less able to focus on the essential information (Fiorella, 2021). We can all relate to listening to lectures that digress into long winding roads where we are left wondering what the point was. It is important to remember that students will benefit from direct to the point instruction because they will be digesting a smaller amount of information that is essential to the lesson and they will not be focused on content that is not deeply rooted to the learning outcome (Notel et al., 2021).

A good way to get students to pay close attention to essential information is to nod or point to it (signaling principle). If you are in the video, you can nod or point to pertinent information. If you are not in the video, you can use other visual cues such as highlighting or circling to ensure students' attention is focused on the content that needs to be learned. Your voice can also be used as a cue to pay closer attention to what you are saying, a change in intonation is effective to get people listening. Check out The Signaling Principle video (length 3:48):

Wisc-Online (2017, October 23). The Signaling Principle [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENGjwO-kKpc

Despite knowing that video is one of the most popular ways to deliver instructions (Fiorella, 2021), you should also consider creating audio recordings. An easy way to create audio recordings is to record your lecture while you are lecturing. You can do this by using a lav or lavalier mic that is connected to your cell phone then add that recording to your learning management system for students to listen to as many times as they want. This will also allow students who are unable to attend class to catch up.

Did you know?

English is a second language for deaf students, sign language is their first language. You can just imagine how exhausting it is for any student to learn outside their native language. Now, it may not be financially feasible to include a sign language interpreter in your videos and audio (would now be a video) but if a need arises videos can be edited to include one. If you do not know how, ask your institution's media team for help.

Transcript

Jon Fulton:

So here are some thoughts on using your own created videos rather than outsourcing from a third party. Obviously, there are some topics that have thousands of videos explaining them, so why would you take the time to recreate a video on such a well-known topic? One reason is to make it relevant to your specific course. There may be only a portion of that topic you wish to explain to your students, and after wading through hundreds of videos, you may realize that the other videos out there over explain some parts of what you want, and maybe under explain others.

Another reason is regionality. If you can anchor your video in your locality, it can help the students engage with the material better and possibly make the material feel more relevant to their situation. This is one reason we often deal with subject matter experts in our region for content instead of sourcing basically the same material from video producers far away.

When developing ideas for course content to be used online, I often ask the instructor or developer to think back to areas of the course where they have seen consistent issues with students not understanding the material as fully as they should. While revising the visual arts course, the instructor realized that a few topics weren't having the same impact on students, so he devised a series of short videos to fill in these blanks. For instance, one was a short video on how to view a subject from behind a canvas and how to use distance, scale and pencil placement to help the drawing process. We made a short video explaining those processes and the students were able to understand that material much easier and fill in that kind of blank.

I'm also often asked to create video productions that I push back against. Often the idea of the video can be easily summarized in a few understandable sentences, so it's important that you think through why you actually need to make a video in the first place. The best use of videos are for demonstration purposes, relatability with subject matter experts or really good explanations of things. Things that you can really focus on.

Review the Basic Multimedia Principles

Topic 3: Why is this important?

Now you might be wondering why you should be concerned about accessible and inclusive course media especially if students do not come forward with needs requests. Well, if we take a minute to think about how we walk about in our cities we will realize that curb cuts are a common example of the relationship of accessibility, inclusivity, and usability. Can you remember a time when there were no curb cuts? It was around the same time we were using payphones. Curb cuts do not only help those with mobility issues they help parents. They allow a person with mobility issues and a person pushing a stroller to cross the street with ease. Curb cuts really do make crossing the street better for everyone. Thinking about accessibility and inclusivity at the content creation stage prevents inaccessibility. Accessible media helps to create a more inclusive and equitable classroom for everyone.

Listen to Jamie’s story about her struggles in the classroom and her first experience with captions (length 5:42)!

View Transcript

Transcript

Jamie Drozda:

First, I want to share a little bit about myself, so you understand why my first experience with captions is such a big deal to me.

At six years old, I lost 98% of my hearing in my right ear and about 10% in my left ear. When this happened, I was moved from my desk near my friends to the front of the classroom, and I remember hating it. I remember all throughout elementary school my mom would inform my teachers that I was hard of hearing, and I would instantly be moved to the from my desk near my friends to the front of the classroom and every time that happened, I was embarrassed and humiliated, I was often teased for having to sit at the front of the class. But back then I was not able to tell anyone what I was feeling probably because I was young and did not how to put those feelings into words, but I could, and I did put my feelings into actions.

What actions did I take well I simply remained a sick kid, I never wanted to go to school so often I would tell my mom that my ears hurt, and she would keep me home those days. If she took me to the doctor, I would be diagnosed with an ear infection and that would get me a few more days off school. Funny thing though I can remember being surprised that I actually had an ear infection because hurting ears were just an excuse to get out of school. If I did go to school, then often I would tell the teacher I was sick so they would let me call my mom to come pick me up. One time in grade 4 my teacher told me I could not call my mom and go home; she said I had to stay at school. I remember being upset but I turned around and went back to my desk then I threw up on it then she let me go home. The odd thing is I don’t remember actually being sick until I was told I could not go home.

Now things actually became worse in high school. I went from a class of about 15 students with mixed grades and a whole school population of about 60 students to a school with hundreds of students and each classroom was very full. In high school I remember walking out of the classrooms into the hallways which were packed with yelling teenagers, my heart would race, I would become clammy, and I would leave. I will say I think I was pretty good about leaving, I would call my mom from the payphone, yes, a payphone, and tell her what I was doing before I left, then I would sign out at the office with some odd excuse. Most often I would pop a brace off one of my teeth and say I was going to the orthodontist to have it glued back on and I actually went to the orthodontist and had it glued back on.

Every day when I came home from high school, I would beg my parents to let me quit and eventually much to my parents dismay I got a full-time job and dropped out. Back then, I think, anxiety, disability, accessibility just was not recognized, and I hope if I were a child and teenager now it would be much different.

I will say things were much better when I returned to school as an adult, harder because by then I had 3 girls aged 12, 11, and 8, better because I was an adult and could properly stifle my anxiety. I think here it is important to say that it took until I was 35 years old to have the confidence to state my needs in the classroom and even at that I have only ever done it once. Then and now it is embarrassing to speak of my hearing impairment and right now even though I am sitting here alone I can feel that my face is red because it is hot.

My takeaway from my experience is don’t wait for students to come forward with their accessibility needs instead try to design classroom experiences the best you can to meet the needs of all students. Even in University teachers have power over students. Many students are not comfortable coming forward to state their needs and rocking the boat. Even worse than that many students cannot afford an official assessment and diagnosis if it is required.

Let’s skip ahead to my first captioned movie, it was the Girl with the dragon tattoo, and I watched the Swedish series. It was amazing I did not miss anything; I should also note that the captions were in English. Honestly though, I was hooked I made Blair watch the rest of the movies in the Swedish series. I kept telling him it was so much better to read the screen and he kept saying that we could turn captions on if we watched the English version, but I was happy and I felt like we were even so to speak so Swedish it was.

This is a little aside but two years ago I was finally able to get hearing aids, technology finally caught up. I will say the learning curve was steep, I sat in my living room with everything shut off and listened to the noises around me. It was crazy, I had no idea the dogs’ nails clicked on the hardwood, it definitely explains the scratches on the floor. I also had no idea how loud cars are when they drive by. And when we were watching TV, I heard someone at the door so I went downstairs to see who it was, a few times, I got up to answer the phone, a few times, until finally my daughter said Mom what are you doing so I told her and we all had a pretty good laugh because it turns out I had never heard those sounds from the TV before. I should also note that I still have captions turned on for all entertainment and instructional videos. I find it a lot easier to fill in the gaps by reading the screen because even with hearing aids it is hard to hear especially when there is background noise.

“Inclusive design acknowledges the essential nature of accessibility and proactively seeks to provide user-friendly experiences for people with and without disabilities.”

(Phillips & Colton, 2021)

Listen to Brenna Clarke Gray discuss thinking a little differently about how accessibility and accommodation function (length 5:24).

View Transcript

Transcript

Brenna Clarke Gray:

Before we start, I want to say that my thinking today is informed by lots of people, but most recently, maybe the easiest threads to link my thinking back to would be Ben Mitchell's TPC talk last week about accommodations and accessibility, particularly for neurodivergent students, and an article I was reading this morning in the Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics called Universal Design in Apocalypse Time: A Short History of Accessible Teaching Excavation by Sarah Madoka Currie. I'll link that in the show notes.

In both cases, these thinkers are giving me a reason to think a little bit more, a little bit more critically, maybe just to think a little differently about how accessibility and accommodation function. The broad brush strokes difference between the two ideas: Accommodations are things that we do to our course in order to allow specific learners to have needs met. It might be, you've all seen the letters you get from Accessibility Services. It might be extra time on an exam. It might be the ability to type instead of handwrite an exam, whatever it is. It's an accommodation, when it's granted, to one or a small handful of students within the course, but everybody else is doing the sort of like, quote, unquote, mainstream assessment.

Accessibility is a lot broader. Accessibility is like trying to anticipate the potential needs of our learners and meet them, without having to give special accommodations to individual students, and without those individual students having to request it. It's trying to imagine like, "Where are the barriers to learning in my class and how can I manage those ahead of time? How can I think about access at the course design stage?" It might be that you don't have timed exams at all, so individual students who require additional time on the exam don't need to be accommodated in your class because that's not a particular issue of your course.

That's, in broad brushstroke, the difference between accommodation and accessibility. We tend to think of them in the same breath, often, but they're actually really, really different. The main difference, I think, is that the university, and I don't mean our university, I mean the university as a structure. The university is really good at accommodation because that's like a legal framework. I can already hear friends arguing with me about the really good at accommodation part. I totally get it. Accommodations are often difficult to access for students. There's all kinds of problems around the requirements for documentation. I guess what I mean by really good is that there's an existing framework and a process for accommodation.

We often talk about the institution being accessible when what we mean is that the institution grants accommodations. The problem with an accommodation framework, whether it's for disability, whether it's for remote learners, whether it's for, well, any kind of reason that students might have exceptionalities or atypicalities that create different needs for them in the classroom, the accommodation model, A, requires students to self-identify the institution, but it also requires documentation. Documentation can be really, really, really expensive. Especially in the case of a learning disability or a neurodivergence that isn't diagnosed in childhood, getting that diagnosis in adulthood can be really, really expensive.

Then there's also familial and cultural reasons why someone might not have had access to that kind of care, or might not want to access that kind of care. Now, the problem with accommodations is that they're, by definition, exclusive to students who know how to access them, and they don't necessarily cover all the kinds of needs that we might see. Accessibility is something different, broader, larger. It's more like an ethos, more like a way of approaching your course content from the perspective of wanting the most number of people to have the best possible experience.

I get uncomfortable sometimes when I hear conversations about accessibility that seem to place accessibility up against rigor or difficulty. I don't think ... Well, I don't really care about rigor as a concept to start out with, but I also don't think there's any reason to believe that a place where everyone feels a sense of belonging and can access the materials, I don't think that those things get in the way of whatever notion of rigor that you hold, unless the idea of rigor is just that fewer people can access it.

It's not a sign of rigor if course materials are not in an accessible format or can't be read by a screen reader. That's not rigor. That's just exclusion. I guess, the reason why I'm thinking about this is because I want us all to think more about accessibility and less about accommodation, which isn't to say that I don't want students who need accommodations to have them granted. Of course, I do. As we work towards a more accessible institution, that's going to happen faster, slower with greater and lesser sense of willing in different areas of the institution. I'm not arguing for the dismantling of the accommodation system, though I would read a persuasive argument about it.

What I am suggesting is that if you've thought about access beginning and ending with the act of accommodation, I'm warmly inviting you to think a little bit broader about what it means to allow accessibility for your course to your learners.

Here is a link to the full episode: You Got This! Season 3, Episode 13: A Bit of a Pickle, ft. Emilio Porco.

Reflect

Think about how an overcrowded classroom can hinder a student with mobility issues. Sure, your classroom might have a very nice accessible desk, but it does little good if a student cannot get to it because the classroom is overcrowded. Similarly, a perfectly edited video or audio file does little good if students cannot access it or if they do not have the cognitive capacity to process it.

By including accessible and inclusive media in your courses you can improve learning by allowing students to have flexibility and control over their learning. Breaking videos down into “smaller segments and allowing them to decide when to continue” (Fiorella, 2021, p. 489) helps to prevent extraneous cognitive load especially during a complex lesson or when students have low prior knowledge (segmenting principle). Also, allowing students to view content outside of class increases class time for application, discussion and other in-class learning activities.

If we think about UDL or inclusive design, allowing students to view course content outside of class provides a safe space for them to learn and increases engagement. When we think of the diversity of ourselves and our learners (those who need more time to process information, have memory difficulties, are hard of hearing or English language learner) then we understand the importance of being able to learn and relearn outside of the classroom walls. When we can pause and rewind videos and audio the benefit of the redundancy effect (putting key points on slides or videos) is virtually eliminated. We have all likely created digital content without considering the needs of others but we can do better.

Think about it:

“We all jumped in a car 20 or 30 years ago, and just started producing tons of digital content. And then we realized halfway through the trip that we forgot to grab a few people and bring them with us.”

Ryan Knott

Let's Review

Topic 4: How can accessible videos and audio enhance the learning experience for everyone?

Accessible videos and audio can enhance the learning experience for everyone by making the content more engaging, accessible, and inclusive for all learners.

Let's think about UDL and inclusive design, videos and audio can be used to provide multiple means of representation because they provide students with alternative formats of the same concept you are trying to relay in class. A popular example of this is narrating a set of slides with images, this is especially helpful when trying to reinforce tricky concepts or problems. You can do this directly in PowerPoint or you can use a screen recording software such as Kaltura, which is offered here at TRU. When choosing images, models or actors for your slides or videos it is important to represent the whole range of cultural experiences and identities in your classroom. When possible, you might consider bringing in community members, artifacts and news events that represent the content you are teaching.

“I’m normalizing TV. I am making TV look like the world looks, women, people of color, LGBTQ people equal way more than 50 percent of the population. Which means it ain’t out of the ordinary… The goal is that everyone should get to turn on the TV and see someone who looks like them and loves like them. And just as important, everyone should turn on the TV and see someone who doesn’t look like them and love like them. Because, perhaps then they will learn from them. Perhaps then they will not isolate them, marginalize them, erase them. Perhaps they will even come to recognize themselves in them.”

Shonda Rhimes (2015)

Why not normalize course media? Why not make our media look like the classroom or world looks? This can only help us, and our students become more comfortable in our learning spaces and communities. Students can struggle emotionally and cognitively when they do not feel a sense of belonging in the classroom (Bowen, 2021). It can also be harder for students to transfer knowledge outside of the classroom when they cannot see how the content relates to them.

There are several ways accessible and inclusive videos and audio can enhance learning experiences for everyone.

Captions and transcripts for videos and audio can help improve comprehension for all learners, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing, those who live in shared accommodations and need to keep the volume low, as well as those for whom English is not their first language. Transcripts can be downloaded and used offline, and they can be converted to braille. They can also be skim read rather than watched or listened to which can be easier and quicker for some learners.
Audio allows students to hear you, they will hear your tone of voice and enthusiasm for the content. Videos can add in your facial expressions and gestures. You can guide students' attention to an image or diagram that is of significant importance. You can actively draw diagrams so students can learn how to draw them on their own. Video and audio allow students to engage with course content on their own time which automatically increases engagement.
Making videos and audio accessible can help to ensure that all learners have equal access to the information and resources being presented which can lead to improved learning outcomes and greater educational equity. Accessible videos and audio allow learners to engage with the content in different ways, which can be beneficial for different learning styles and can help to keep learners engaged and motivated.
Asynchronous media allows students to watch and listen to materials at their own pace and they can rewind and review specific parts. Captions and transcripts allow learners to study in an environment where they may not be able to have audio turned on.

The list above outlines some of the benefits of accessible and inclusive design but please know that this list is not exhaustive, ask your students what accessible and inclusive media means to them, you will learn so much more.

One last way to make learning spaces more inclusive to students is to share key student support services that are available across campus. Module 5: Support Services Across Campus shares what supports should be integrated, what supports are available, how to integrate them into your Moodle course shell, and how to talk to students about supports.

Let's Recap

Topic 5: How do I?

Before we get into the “How to” let’s consider some important design decisions. One thing to consider when creating videos for students is that audio is more important than video so if you are considering recording your lecture or creating a short tutorial you do not necessarily need yourself on video or even need high-definition video. Go easy on yourself, focus on making your video viewable, making your audio as audible as you can and focus on creating really good content. Good audio allows students to hear your change of intonation and pitch which is interesting and vivid to listen to. Trying to make the perfect video is onerous and almost unachievable, let there be mistakes so students know you are human and relatable.

Machine Captions

Closed captions in Kaltura are automatically generated but please know that they are machine generated so there will be errors due to mispronunciations, background noise and accents, as examples. Closed captions can also be automatically generated in YouTube but they will have the same mistakes for the same reasons. It is important to review and edit your captions, if you do not you will end up with craptions! Also, your transcript file is created based on your captions so the better your captions the better your transcript will be.

Kaltura Instructions

Learn how to edit captions and download transcripts in Kaltura videos.

tinymce-kalturamedia-embed||Kaltura - Transcripts and Closed Captions (02:35)||608||402

You will find comprehensive written instructions for editing captions in Kaltura at Accessibility and Enrichment: Editing Captions.

YouTube Instructions

Below are quick links to YouTube instructions for adding and editing transcripts and captions.

Note

These links are included for your convenience, TRU does not offer technical support for YouTube.

Other Screen Recording Softwares

If you are on a MAC you may choose to use QuickTime and if you are on a Windows computer you can check out iSpring Free Cam. You could also use Loom which works on any device or you could use paid softwares such as Snagit or Camtasia.

For audio editing we recommend Audacity. Audacity is a free, open source software that works on Windows, macOS and many other operating systems.

Module 3 Assessment

To complete this Module as a component towards earning the certificate, please choose one of the assessment options below to share in the Module 3 Discussion Forum. Please check back to see how your peers are using videos and audio in their courses. We encourage you to engage with each other.

Assessment Option 1

Share a video clip or audio clip you’ve created, you use in your course from an external source, or an idea for something you want to create in the future that would benefit from accessibility practices

Describe the media resource and how it is (or will be) used
Describe revisions that could be made to make it more accessible
Explain why those decisions would be made

Assessment Option 2

Describe how a video clip or audio clip you use in your course implements strategies discussed in this module and identify how additional accessibility strategies could be integrated moving forward (as applicable). Describe how/why the current accessibility strategies benefit students and how/why additional changes would make an impact (if applicable).

Site:	TRU Open Courses
Course:	Inclusive Digital Design Course (Enrolment Key: IDD)
Book:	Module 3 Book: Formatting Course Media So It’s Accessible

Printed by:	Guest user
Date:	Saturday, 12 April 2025, 1:16 AM

Module 3 Book: Formatting Course Media So It’s Accessible

Table of contents

Module 3 Overview

Learning Outcomes

Topics

Introduction

Topic 1: What is Media?

Topic 2: What does accessible video, audio mean?

Further Reading

Did you know?

Further Reading

Transcript

Transcript

Review the Basic Multimedia Principles

Topic 3: Why is this important?

Transcript

Transcript

Reflect

Think about it:

Let's Review

Topic 4: How can accessible videos and audio enhance the learning experience for everyone?

Let's Recap

Topic 5: How do I?

Machine Captions

Kaltura Instructions

YouTube Instructions

Note

Other Screen Recording Softwares

Module 3 Assessment

Assessment Option 1

Assessment Option 2