For students with disabilities, audio and video files pose particular challenges. If you plan to use such files in your classes, here are some points to pay attention to.

Transcript

Audio files or the audio track of a video must be transcribed for people with hearing impairments. This can be done manually or with software. Using automatic transcription software typically saves about 20 % of time compared to manual transcription. However, in specific case – for example, if the speaker has a strong accent or uses a lot of subject-specific language – manual transcription may be a better choice.

Subtitles

The best way to make a video accessible is subtitling. However, subtitling – in particular dealing with the precise time markings – can be very time-consuming for a long video. Check whether you can convert the entire video into a text document with images, especially if a video mostly contains static images. Transcribing the audio track as a text is much less work than subtitling. The transcription could also serve as the basis for a text document for visually impaired students.

You can find instructions for subtitling videos for people with impaired hearing in Chapter 7.1.