Recording a presentation over Zoom is an effective and low-cost way to create videos to share online.

An accessible Zoom recording is a video where:

• you can clearly see the presenter's face, for people who lip-read or who need facial cues for understanding;
• you can clearly see the presenter's content;
• you've left room for an ASL interpretation track, and
• the captions don't interfere with the content.

Additionally, you likely want to provide the session as an audio-only track, as well as a transcript. This is especially true for longer presentations.

How to create accessible Zoom recordings

Captions for Videos

All videos need captions.

• If the captions can be turned on and off, this is called closed captioning (because you can close them off).
• If you can't turn the captions off, this is called open captioning. 

Closed captions are the best practice in captioning, because while some people need captions in order to access audio content, other people can find them distracting. This is an example of conflicting access needs; closed captioning can solve that.

If you are posting your video online on YouTube, Facebook, Linked In, or UVM's streaming service, you will need to include captions in .srt format. 

Automated Captions vs. Edited Captions

If you post a video online, the WCAG 2.1 Guidelines (1.1 Text Alternatives) require that you provide captions.

• Automated captions meet Level A requirements (bare minimum)
• Edited captions meet Level AA requirements (best practices)

Automated captions, while better than nothing, are on average, only 60% accurate.

Edited captions are where you have gone through your caption file and made sure the text matches what's being spoken on-screen, and you have represented any non-speech noises such as laughter, scoffing, humming, or ambient noises.

• At CDCI, you can order edited caption files from the Student Access Center.

Captions for Other Files: PowerPoint

One way to share content is to record narration over PowerPoint slides, then embed that audio in the PowerPoint file itself for sharing. If you're going to do that, you need to include captions for the recorded narration. 

Audio embedded in a PowerPoint file needs captions in .vtt format. To do this, you need to start with a standard captions file in .txt or .srt format, and then you edit that file to save it as a .vtt. 

• Detailed instructions on creating and adding .vtt captions to PowerPoint

Subtitles Are Not Captions

Subtitles are not the same thing as captions. Subtitles are captions that provide translation from the spoken language of a video into another language. Captions are the written text that appears on screen and represents the language being spoken.

Transcripts Are Required for All Audio

All audio content needs a written text transcript. WCAG 2.1 guidelines (1.1 Text Alternatives) requires all non-text content to have a text equivalent.

Text transcripts for audio meet Level A requirements (bare minimum)

Different Types of Transcripts

A transcript can consist of any of the following:

• A text file containing the full text of the audio in one chunk.
• An accessible text file version of your captions file
• An annotated transcript indicating who is speaking, and including punctuation, links, and supporting images.

All three options meet accessibility requirements. Which option is the most welcoming and inclusive?

How to Get Audio Transcripts

• At CDCI, you can order transcripts from the UVM Student Access Center through their caption request form. Simply choose "transcript" as the option for type of file output. 
• You can order low-cost automated transcripts from Rev.com. 
• You can download your captions file from YouTube or the UVM Streaming Media platform and change the .srt format to a .txt file.

American Sign Language (ASL)

Many deaf people in the United States identify as Deaf, as in belonging to the Deaf community. American Sign Language, or ASL, is a language specific to the Deaf community, and many deaf people speak it. It is a fully realized language with grammar and syntax different from spoken English. Many deaf and Deaf people prefer to access content in ASL.

The act of someone providing ASL signing for audio or video content is referred to as ASL interpretation.

Is ASL Interpretation Required for Accessibility?

While the WCAG 2.1 guidelines do not require ASL interpretation as a standard for accessibility, providing an ASL-interpreted version of your content makes it more welcoming and inclusive. 

ASL interpretation should be provided alongside spoken audio content whenever possible. 

Because people with neurodivergent and attention-related disabilities can find ASL interpretation distracting, best practice is to provide both ASL interpretation and spoken content in separate files or channels.

How to Get ASL Interpretation

• At CDCI, we can order ASL interpreters for live events via the Student Access Center. 
• For recorded media, we order ASL-interpreted versions of files from Vancro. Please contact Audrey Homan for details.

What is Audio Description?

Audio description is a form of narration that provides description of the non-spoken action and details of a video. 

Is Audio Description Required for Accessibility?

WCAG 2.1 guidelines specify that providing an audio-described track for videos meets Level AAA, or gold-standard accessibility. 

How to Order Audio Description

UVM currently does not provide audio description services.

Examples of Audio Description

• Audio-Described Cooking with Brain Injury (video)
• Gateway to Himalayan Art at the Rubin Museum (video)
• Introducing the Next Generation of Choreographers: Olive Hardy (video)

Creating an inclusive and accessible interview setting 

Whether you are interviewing a person with a disability or not -- and remember, there's a 1 in 4 chance you are -- creating a space where an interviewee will feel comfortable and included is important. Interviews take time, and you want to be respectful of other people's. 

You also want to get great media recordings. 

So you want to focus on accessibility before the interview, during the interview, and after the interview.

A special note about job interviews:

While our interviewing tips cover all interviews, they're mainly for interviewing for recorded media production, such as podcasts, video stories, and news stories. Job interviews also have a specific set of legal requirements about the content. Check in with your ADA coordinator for more information.

Here's how to create accessible and inclusive interviews.