Using accessible video and audio to enhance e-learning for disabled students

Ross Little

Audio and video are almost universally accepted as offering richness and increased inclusivity in education but rarely are they considered accessible. Even rarer still is the idea that more than just overcoming accessibility constraints, video and audio can easily be made accessible and constitute accessibility strategies in their own right. The challenge then is not in making video and audio that enhances learning specifically for students with disabilities, but in making media that enhances learning and is optimally accessible for all. After all, it is video's inclusive abilities that offer much of its appeal.

So what exactly constitutes accessible video and audio? Well, in Britain, the use of signing and captioning (confusingly referred to as subtitling, a term more widely known as a method of providing a text translation of spoken audio from one language to another) are commonplace on television broadcasts, and these accessibility strategies both cater for an audience with hearing impairment. Less well known are audio-described programmes and, just as the name implies, this accessibility strategy involves the addition of a spoken description of that which is depicted on screen and allows an audience with vision impairment access to the visual component.

Whilst there are free, (and I recommend Media Access Generator (MAGpie) from NCAM), and pay-for tools available to enable captions and audio descriptions to be added to your own video and audio for learning and teaching, it is the effective use of these that truly add value to your media. This means departing from the 'learning through osmosis' style of tuition and embracing a much more learner centred approach. What you choose to caption should be informed by what you mean to teach - verbatim captioning of every sound and utterance is normally impossible. This applies much more to audio descriptions, after all it is said "a picture speaks a thousand words", and at 24 frames a second that's a heck of a lot of words.

This aside, optimally accessible video and audio isn't out of your reach no matter what your current skills in this area are. The National Centre for Accessible Media play host to a vast array of tutorials, examples and guides to help you along your way.

With a background in language teaching Ross has been using video for learning and teaching for many years. Ross was introduced to accessibility through his work with the Click and Go Video Access for All project, which looked at the issues involved in making video accessible through the use of captions and audio descriptions, and he continues to give advice and deliver workshops in this area.