Accessibility

Films published before September 23, 2020, do not need to be made accessible. However, there are exceptions in the accessibility law.

Live broadcasts

Live broadcasts, such as zoom meetings, webinars, and streaming where the content is happening simultaneously (synchronously), do not need to be made accessible.

If the broadcast is recorded, the recording must be made accessible within 14 days from the broadcast date. The exception does not apply to re-broadcast material, such as if a recorded live broadcast is published online at a later time.

Films published exclusively behind a login on an extranet or intranet

For this to apply, two conditions need to be met. Firstly, the film must be secured so that it is only accessed via this platform, and secondly, the platform must have been launched before September 23, 2019.

For the University of Gothenburg, these exceptions mean the following:

Material classified as live broadcasts that are not saved and made publicly available for longer than 14 days from the broadcast date are exempt.

Archive material and material published before September 23, 2020, are exempt as long as they are not republished. When republishing older material, it also needs to be made accessible.

Course material available only through course pages in Canvas, which requires login, is exempt from the law. In this case, it is important that material uploaded to GU Play for publishing in Canvas goes through the integration between the systems and is not unlisted in GU Play.

Films and audio files stored privately in GU Play are exempt, even if they are also shared with selected employees through the options to share rights to a specific clip in GU Play.

Primarily use closed captioning. If you are going to publish a video on a platform that does not support closed captioning, then create a separate version with burned-in text specifically for that platform. Everywhere else, use closed captioning instead.

A good subtitle is not always the same as a literal representation of what is said. Subtitles are not written language but spoken language in written form. Adapt what you write so that the text works in written form, but remember that it is what is said that should be conveyed. Do not translate technical terms and do not reshape the content to resemble a written article text.

Subtitling is the most common form of accessibility adaptation when it comes to films. You can order subtitles, but it is also possible to create your own subtitles manually.

Media Technology's film shows how to manually create closed captions on YouTube. Moderskeppet also has a good guide on how to subtitle your video clips.

A common format for subtitles is .srt (SubRip format). It is compatible with platforms such as GU Play, YouTube, and Facebook.

To make the subtitles as accessible as possible it is important to respect certain basic rules for subtitling. The most important thing is the number of characters per block and the number of characters per line. The maximum number of characters per line should not exceed 32 characters and there should be a maximum of 2 lines per block. The general rule for timing is that a text block should not be shorter than 2 seconds or longer than 7 seconds.

Remember that the university's guidelines for writing rules, plain language, and translations also apply to subtitling.

Don't feel like putting in the effort to create your own subtitles? There are both free and commercial tools available to assist you.

In GU Play, you have the option for both manual and automated transcription. With the manual option, your film will be subtitled by a professional transcriber, which takes some time. With the automated option, an AI listens to the audio in the film and tries to determine what is being said.

Here is information on how to order subtitles in GU Play.

A dedicated audio track or version where a narrator's voice guides through the content visible in the imagery, not conveyed by the regular audio of the film. Creating effective audio descriptions for video is, much like subtitling, a skill in itself. There are training programs for audio describers but even without formal training you can accomplish a lot on your own.

Focus on what the website visitor cannot perceive by listening to the audio but is necessary to understand the content and context of the video. This is what needs to be supported through audio descriptions. A helpful tip is to close your eyes and listen to see if you can still follow along or if there are crucial parts of the film that you completely miss by not seeing.

Verbalization involves including necessary descriptions within the regular audio of the film. This means that individuals speaking introduce themselves and explain what they are working on and any on-screen text is more detailed than usual. For example, they read out web addresses displayed on the screen. In a lecture the lecturer might provide additional information about a displayed diagram, particularly the conclusions that can be drawn from it. It's less important to describe the colors and shapes of the bars than to explain the content of the diagram.

Sometimes the term "text-based audio descriptions" is used, which refers to audio descriptions provided in text format intended to be read aloud by a screen reader instead of being displayed as captions like traditional subtitles.

For video, this is not yet an option we can utilize at the University of Gothenburg as a substitute for audio descriptions or verbalization because there aren't enough screen readers that have the proper support for it to function effectively.

Avoid situations where audio descriptions is needed for a film. It may seem contradictory but often the best accessibility adaptation is achieved through thorough planning before filming begins and, as much as possible, working with verbalization. This involves creating a script that includes everything necessary for website visitors to follow the content of the film in an equivalent manner even without seeing the visuals.

Therefore, verbalization is the primary choice for us at the University of Gothenburg. If audio description is still required, ensure that the script allows enough time for the audio descriptions and that the content of the audio descriptions is also included in the script. Adding audio description afterward and trying to figure out what needs to be said after the film is both recorded and edited usually yields poorer results.

Avoid uploading two separate video files, one with audio descriptions and one without. Requiring users to click on an additional link or open a separate window is itself a barrier to accessibility and should be avoided as much as possible. If the platform you're publishing on doesn't support switching audio tracks for audio-described content, ensure that the regular audio includes the audio descriptions/verbalization.