Multimedia

Videos and live audio must have captions and transcripts. With archived audio, a transcription may be sufficient. For most web videos, both captions and a text transcript should be provided. For content that is audio only, a transcript will usually suffice.

Transcripts provide a textual version of the content that can be accessed by anyone. They also allow the content of your multimedia to be searchable, both by search engines and end users. Screen reader users may also prefer the transcripts over listening to the audio of the web multimedia.

Most proficient screen reader users set their assistive technology to read at a rate much faster than most humans speak. This allows the screen reader user to access the transcript of the video and get the same content in less time than listening to the actual audio content.

For captioning support in the classroom, contact Academic Technologies or DSS. For captioning online courses, contact the eDesign Shop or DSS.