Accessibility practices and tools: Video and audio
Make your multimedia content accessible to all students.
Video and audio can enhance learning, but only when they’re accessible to everyone. Students who are deaf or hard of hearing, have processing difficulties, or use assistive technology such as screen readers rely on captions, transcripts, and clear media structure to engage effectively.
Why it matters
- Captions support learners with hearing impairments, language needs, and varied learning preferences.
- Transcripts allow students to review, search, or skim content quickly.
- Accessible multimedia aligns with the Disability Action Plan, and helps fulfil legal and ethical responsibilities.
Requirements for multimedia
- All videos must include captions—either auto-generated and edited or manually added.
- Audio-only materials must have transcripts that identify speakers and summarise key points.
- Avoid media without captions (e.g., YouTube videos with unverified subtitles).
- Describe visuals if they are not explained in narration or add a brief description in text.
Using Panopto for accessible video
Panopto is the University’s supported video platform and integrates directly with Canvas. It includes:
- Auto-generated captions (editable by staff)
- Downloadable, searchable transcripts
- Keyboard-accessible player controls
- Variable playback speeds and bookmarking
Tips for Panopto
- Review and correct captions for accuracy.
- Add section markers or timestamps to longer videos.
- Use clear video titles and descriptions.
- Keep recordings concise (ideally under 10–15 mins).
For more guidance, see the page on Panopto.
Captioning external content
- YouTube: Only embed videos with accurate, verified captions.
- Zoom recordings: Upload to Panopto for auto-generated captions.
- Podcasts or audio files: Include a written transcript or detailed notes.
Tips for recording accessibly
When recording your presentation:
- Speak clearly and at a moderate pace.
- Don’t discuss unrelated topics while a detailed slide is displayed.
- Verbally describe key visuals or provide a text summary nearby.
- Eliminate background noise or music that competes with speech.
- Provide links (in nearby text) to any resources referenced in the recording.
Common issues and how to fix them
Getting it right
Closed captioning for recordings
If you use Panopto with your Canvas course, Panopto will add captions to recordings automatically. And if you integrate Zoom with Panopto and record to the Zoom Cloud, the recording will upload to Panopto automatically and captions will be applied.
Live captioning
- In Zoom, enable on-the-fly captions for a live lecture stream (Zoom’s live transcript feature).
- In Panopto, on-the-fly captioning of a live lecture stream (Panopto webcast) is not available.
- Students may also benefit from Google’s Live Caption feature. Captions are provided in Google Chrome browser whenever they play a video (English only).
Creating transcripts
Microsoft Word Online allows you to record your voice or upload your audio recording via the ‘Transcribe’ feature. You will be able to transcribe up to 300 minutes of audio per month.
- Go to https://www.microsoft365.com
- Click the ‘Apps‘ menu
- Click ‘Word‘
Note: Log in to Word Online using your University of Auckland Microsoft account, e.g. jblo001@uoa.auckland.ac.nz.
- View the instructions from Microsoft to transcribe your recordings (scroll down to the heading called ‘Upload an audio file’). The transcript will label each paragraph with a placeholder name of who’s speaking, e.g. ‘Speaker 1’. If you don’t require labels (e.g. there is only one voice on the video), follow the steps that describe how delete them by means of the ‘relabel’ feature.
- Click ‘Add all to document‘ then download a PDF copy. In Word Online, click ‘File‘ > ‘Save As‘ > ‘Download as PDF‘.
- Upload the document to your Canvas course via the Upload Document function, then insert a link to your document next to the video.
Related Canvas Baseline Practices and Universal Design for Learning
- Canvas Baseline Practices require captioning for all video content.
- Universal Design for Learning encourages multiple modes of content delivery, giving students options for how they access and process information.
Tools
- UDOIT (Canvas) – scans Canvas content for uncaptioned videos or inaccessible embedded media.
- Panopto – provides auto-captioning, transcript export, and editing tools.
- Microsoft Word Online – produces transcripts for in-app voice recordings or uploaded audio files.
Page updated 21/07/2025 (content refresh)