Accessible Audio & Video

This page provides information about making your videos and audios accessible, ensuring equitable learning opportunities for all students.

To align with WCAG 2.1 AA standards and ADA Title II updates, all digital audio and video  shared with students need to be accessible: videos require captions, while audio-only content requires a text transcript. Fortunately, Kaltura (integrated with bCourses/Canvas) can do both. Kaltura automatically generates the necessary draft text for both captions and transcripts upon upload for all media. 

Resource: RTL Service Page for Kaltura  (UC Berkeley service description, documentation & support)

Note: Our Course Capture Service is powered by Kaltura, so everything mentioned below applies to Course Capture, as well.

Managing Captions & Transcripts in Kaltura

1. Confirming Captions and Transcripts Exist

Captions and transcripts are usually generated automatically upon upload. To verify:

For video

  1. Open the video in My Media, and select Play.

  2. Look for the CC button in the bottom right corner of the player.

  3. If the button is missing, captions failed to generate. See Regenerating Missing Captions & Transcripts below.

For audio:

  1. Open the audio file in My Media .

  2. Look for the three dots (More) button. 

  3. If the button is missing, a transcript failed to generate. See Regenerating Captions & Transcripts below.

2. Regenerating Missing Captions & Transcripts

If captions do not appear, go to your video in My Media, select the Actions dropdown below the player, and select Launch Editor. Then try one of these workarounds:

  • Option A (Trim & Request): Inside the editor, trim a tiny segment from the very end of the timeline and select Save. Once the save is complete, return to the Actions menu, select Caption & Enrich, and select the "Submit" button.

  • Option B (Save a Copy): Inside the editor, simply select Save a Copy (next to the Save button). This creates a duplicate file which forces the system to restart the captioning process. Note: You must replace the old video in your course with this new version.

For more detailed instructions for the above, please see "How can I generate captions or a transcript if my Kaltura media is missing them?"

3. Editing Captions

Review captions to ensure accuracy, checking for errors that might change meaning even if grammatically correct (e.g., 'can' vs. 'can't'). When appropriate, add Speaker IDs and denote meaningful sounds (e.g., [laughter], [door slams]). Note: all updates to captions appear in transcripts, as well. 

4. Accessing Transcripts

Kaltura auto-generates a transcript alongside captions.

  • Video Player: Select the “Show Transcript” button in the top-right corner.

  • Audio Player: Select the More (three dots)button > Transcript

  • Download: Select “More transcript options” > “Download current transcript.”

  • Non-English Audio: If your audio is not in English, update the language settings in Kaltura before editing.

Note: all updates to captions appear in transcripts, as well. 

Alternatives to Kaltura

While YouTube and Google Drive offer auto-captions, we strongly recommend Kaltura due to its superior features and seamless integration with the bCourses (Canvas).

Note: If you are missing a transcript, Google Gemini can produce highly accurate text from your audio files 

Best Practices for Content Creation 

Slide Design for Video

Ensure slides are legible when recorded and compressed:

  • Font Size: Titles 24pt+; Content 18pt+

  • Font Style: Use sans-serif fonts (Arial, Calibri, Verdana) and mixed case (avoid ALL CAPS).

  • Contrast: Use high contrast ratios. Compression often degrades quality, so aim for higher than minimum standards.

Use of Color

Never use color as the sole method to convey meaning.

  • Avoid Red/Green: These are difficult for color-blind users to distinguish.

  • Use Visual Cues: Add patterns, labels, or legends to charts and graphs.

  • Tools:Toptal Colorblind Web Page Filter

Narrating Visuals

To reach students with visual disabilities, read aloud important content written in your slides and describe figures and visual aids.  This allows the audio track, transcript or caption to offer another way to distinguish visual elements. 

  • How to do it: During your lecture, read important text aloud and verbally describe images, figures, or visual cues (e.g., "The blue line on this graph shows an upward trend...").
  • Benefit: This ensures the primary audio track—and the resulting transcript—captures all visual context for blind or low-vision students.

Going Further