Accessible Media

IT’S EVERYONE'S RESPONSIBILITY

Tracey Green @Crippit

TeacheroftheDeaf,LSLScert AVed

Chris Webb MathTeacher,JohnRennieHighSchool

As educators, we often find ourselves creating and consuming media. However, how often do we give consideration to the accessibility of this media and how its lack thereof can affect those who consume it?

The simple act of adding captions to a video, for example, not only allows those who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing to access the video but also benefits others, such as those up late at night with a small child or those who want to consume media on public transport. Similarly, adding ALT text to your images primarily enables people with vision loss to access the image, but it also benefits

ALT Text

ALT text is the writing that appears in place of an image to describe it.

those with poor internet connectivity or specific devices With Google Workspace tools, it has never been easier to add accessibility features to content as it is produced. As content creators, it is our responsibility to ensure this accessibility.

Let's take this image, for example. Writing ALT text for the images allows for a textbased description that enables people to access the image without needing to see it Here's an example ALT text: "A young boy in a red jumper has his fingers in his ears, and his face scrunched up. The background is a black chalkboard with a large chalk drawing of a yellow light bulb "

ALT Text is not only used by screen readers, which helps individuals with vision loss navigate devices with screens. While ALT Text is marketed as a tool for those with vision loss and is essential for them, it also benefits many others People with lowspeed internet access can turn off their images to reduce data transfer, for example.

ALT text can be enabled in several Google products, with the main ones being Google

Typefaces

The font used to create our content is also important. Some fonts are specifically designed for easier legibility, including for those who have vision loss or have certain learning disabilities such as dyslexia. Likewise, some fonts are designed to be weighted so that the words or letters are anchored to the page, while others have specific spacing requirements

The US Department of Education found that over 70% of the population has some form of reading difficulty.

Captions

When consuming video content, it usually comes with some form of audio, such as speaking, background music, or sound

Slides and Google Sites. In Slides, simply right-click on the image, choose "ALT Text," and then type in your title and description of the image In Google Sites, insert your image, click the three dots, and choose the "ALT Text" option effects. We often take this auditory information for granted until we are unable to access the content without sound, such as in a quiet space or when traveling on public transport. While using headphones is a possibility, it doesn't improve access to information for many people with hearing loss, as the clarity of the audio is often negatively impacted. We believe that providing captions is essential for some and beneficial for almost everyone On Facebook, over 80% of videos are watched without sound, and a recent study found that viewers were 80% more likely to watch a video to its end if captions were available.

This suggests that attention to typefaces should be a significant factor when creating content to maximise accessibility and increase engagement.

Google tools provide access to a few of these fonts, with the most accessible one being Lexend. It comes in multiple weights and spacing options and is available across all Google suite tools If you don't see Lexend in the list of available fonts, you might need to click the "More fonts'' option in the fonts menu.

Fortunately, Google tools make it really easy to caption your content YouTube has some built-in captioning tools, including the ability to automatically caption your videos. It is best practice to take the time to manually caption your content to ensure the accuracy of your captions and maximize access to the information in the video. Similarly, YouTube offers the ability to use the automatic transcription of your video and then edit the transcript to improve accuracy; this option saves time Sites such as Clideo and Descript allow users to produce SRT files (these are the files used by video players to provide subtitles or captions). SRT files are supported in both YouTube and Google Drive (yes, Google Drive supports captioned video!).

Finally, on the topic of captions, we'd also like to invite you to turn on the captions in your class the next time you watch a video with students. You will be surprised how

In Summary

Imagine asking the d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing to caption their own video or asking the Blind and those with low vision to provide a description of an image. Providing accessibility features is fundamentally the responsibility of the creator, but it does not have to be difficult or time-consuming There are many tools available to make this work easier, and these features are widely available across the internet within and outside of Google Workspace many students will benefit from this access.

With 1 in 8 individuals under 18 experiencing some form of hearing loss and considering poor classroom acoustics, maximising access for everyone is crucial.

Multiple studies have confirmed that the use of closed captions in the classroom supports early literacy development, including vocabulary acquisition, sight word recognition, word knowledge, and decoding, among other skills. However, it is worth mentioning that the research studies all discussed 'closed' captions that can be toggled on or off at the viewer's leisure. In a world where we know the incidence of hearing loss and the importance of protecting hearing is paramount, should we be moving towards the use of open captions (captions that are burned into the video and cannot be toggled on or off) when creating accessible content?

ChrisisahighschoolmathteacherinMontreal,Quebec HehasabackgroundincomputerscienceandisaGooglefor EducationCertifiedTrainer,Innovator,andEducator YoucanfindhimonTwitter@crippitandInstagram@edu 4 all TraceyisacertifiedAuditory-VerbalEducatorandworksasanItinerantEducationalSpecialistattheMontrealOralSchool fortheDeaf.HerbackgroundisinListeningandSpokenLanguage,andsheisalsoaGoogleforEducationCertified Educator.YoucanfindheronInstagram@listeningaccessibility,thesitethatsherunswithChris.