Strategies
Related Guidelines:1 WCAG 1.2.1, WCAG 1.4.2, WCAG 2.1.1, WCAG 2.1.2
Some media are only audio, such as podcasts, audiobooks, and audio-only lectures. Here is a list of basic accessibility strategies that apply to most audio-only content:2
- High-quality audio is key. If recording yourself, do your best to eliminate background noise, use a decent-quality microphone, enunciate, and speak clearly.
- Provide an accurate transcript, as it may be the only means for some to perceive that content. For more detailed information on transcribing audio, additional tips, and best practices, see WebAIM’s Creating Transcripts.
- If the transcript is in a separate document, don’t forget the guidelines for making documents accessible; many of these apply to a transcript document as well.
- If possible, use a platform and/or player supported by Cornell (e.g., Panopto or Kaltura). These are supported by Cornell staff and are more likely to have basic accessibility features. For example, they are more likely to be keyboard navigable.3
- Some media players have a setting that enables the media to play automatically when a person loads the page. Try to disable this setting because the audio can overlap with that of a screen reader, interfering with student comprehension of your content.
- Don’t forget to explain all acronyms, abbreviations, jargon, slang, and metaphors in the media itself OR adjacent to the media on the same page or in a linked document. This helps to ensure learners stay on the same page as the instructor and don’t get left behind.
More Information about Transcripts
Transcripts
Why transcripts are important
Although beneficial to many, a transcript’s4 primary purpose is to allow those who are deaf, Deaf, or hard of hearing to perceive the content in the media. For more information on why it is important to provide a transcript, see 3PlayMedia’s Should You Transcribe your Podcast?
How to create a transcript
When it comes to creating transcripts, here are a few options you can try:
- Fix an automatically generated transcript. While audio-only media do not require captions, sometimes platforms and/or players that automatically generate captions will also generate a transcript or make it possible to export a transcript from a captions file.
- If you recorded the audio yourself with a script, you can edit that script into a transcript.
- Finally, you can also listen to the video and transcribe the audio by hand.
Please note that not all platforms have the feature to automatically generate a transcript. However, in that case, you don’t necessarily have to transcribe the whole transcript, line-by-line, with no support. There are online tools that can help make transcribing easier; for example, Otter and oTranscribe. If you have questions about how to create a transcript or would like tool suggestions, you can schedule a consultation with us at cornellCTI@cornell.edu, and we’ll be happy to recommend online tools to help streamline this process and save time.