Multimedia

      Accessible guidelines work for learners with various impairments, including sensory, hearing, and visual impairments. They are useful means of communicating a message. For example, when a learner uses multimedia and audio, there are several options. The audio enables interactive components such as text narration and provides instructions.

      There is also a transcript, which makes communication easier.

      It prompts interaction by indicating who is narrating, includes speech content that is easy to follow, and provides descriptions of relevant speech and non-speech elements that help the listener understand the audio fully. A YouTube video can include headings and subheadings that provide a clear guide to what it conveys.

      Captions

      Are texts that are synchronised with the audio in a video presentation.

      They are important when people need to see what’s happening in the video. Work put into creating video transcripts can be repurposed to provide captions.

      It’s important to include a description of speech content and non-speech contributions in the video.

      An audio description is a multimedia resource that is helpful if visual content is not provided.

      It’s important to bear the following in mind when deciding which multimedia resource to use:

      When no contextual visual content is shown on a screen, the content is not described.

      Be proactive when recording and remember to provide captions for hearing-impaired learners.

      These accessibility features will benefit all learners who have difficulty interacting with texts or in the classroom and can serve as learning aids to overcome barriers to learning.

      Having a learner persona helps prepare in advance to support learners with a learning disability. The guidelines are useful and offer options that accommodate individuals’ diverse needs. Learners can be supported with their resources; in some cases, a technician can provide additional training to implement guidelines.