Multimedia can be an engaging instructional tool. Multimedia is increasingly delivered to students through CDs, DVDs, and streaming videos on the web. Multimedia, however, must be captioned and audio-described in order to avoid creating accessibility barriers for some individuals, including those with hearing impairments and those with blindness.
The audio content of multimedia presentations is inaccessible to people who are unable to hear. If there is content presented auditorially, the accessibility solution is captioning that provides a synchronized text alternative to the audio track. For additional general information about captioning, see How do I make multimedia accessible?
Multimedia presentations can be inaccessible to people who are unable to hear the audio content. The solution is to provide captions, a text version of the audio content that is synchronized with the multimedia presentation.
The technical standards and specifications for captioning video are well established and documented. For additional information relevant to online multimedia, consult the AccessIT Knowledge Base article What is the difference between SMIL and SAMI?
The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) is a standard template developed by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) in partnership with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). Information and communication technology vendors can fill out a VPAT to document the extent to which their products comply with accessibility standards.
The "effectively communicate" standard was used by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in complaint resolution agreements with postsecondary institutions to determine whether the means of communication (meaning the transfer of information, whether via media, print or the Internet) of the postsecondary institution satisfied the legal obligations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (§504) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
While many universities in the United States are still struggling to develop accessibility policies for websites and distance learning courses, the University of Minnesota took a broader view by developing an Accessibility of Information Technology policy that includes hardware and software in addition to websites. The policy was developed as part of efforts to promote equal access to information, technologies, and services offered by the university to students, staff and visitors.
For the World Wide Web to be accessible, several parties must support web accessibility guidelines and standards. First, web designers must develop content that follows accessibility guidelines. Second, both web browsers and assistive technology products must render this content appropriately. If any of these parties falls short in their support for accessibility guidelines and standards, the end result may be exclusion of people with certain disabilities.
Captions are necessary for people who are deaf and hard of hearing to access the audio portion of video presentations. Captions are either open (part of the video, therefore always visible) or closed (a separate text track, which can typically be turned on or off). Open captions are displayed in all video players. However, in some context there are advantages to closed captions as described in the Knowledge Base article What is the difference between open and closed captioning?.
Not yet, but it is only a matter of time. Although it is always hard to know with certainty what the results might be in a particular court case, it is well established that when a court is asked to decide a new issue, for example, obligations to provide accessible websites, it will look to earlier cases that have raised similar issues.
For individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, telephone communication involves communicating by text rather than by voice, typically using a teletypewriter (TTY), also known as a TDD (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf). A basic TTY consists of a keyboard, a display screen, and a modem, which operates over standard telephone lines. If a deaf individual is communicating with another TTY user, both users send and receive text. If a deaf individual is communicating with a hearing individual who doesn't have a TTY, they will use the Telecommunication Relay Service (TRS).