Instructor Toolkit: Accessible Course Materials

Including audio content, such as podcasts and lecture recordings, are a great way to cater to diverse learning preferences and enhance engagement using a convenient format. However, it’s essential to ensure that all learners can access and comprehend the material.

Good quality audio with text-based transcripts benefits students who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as learners who have difficulty focusing on or comprehending auditory information.

If you’re allowing students to submit audio, such as a podcast, for an assignment ask them to provide a transcript as part of the submission. Embedding this in the assignment is a great way to reinforce the importance of accessibility in the creation process.

We’ve included some tips adapted from the Web Accessibility Initiatives’ Making Audio and Video Media Accessible guide. This resource explains how to create accessible audio experiences whether you’re creating the audio content yourself or providing access to third-party content.

Tips for creating accessible audio

• Create high-quality audio.
• Speak slowly and clearly.
• Ensure low background noise.
• Give students time to process information.
• Make sure instructions are clear and detailed.
• Provide accurate transcripts.
  • Share a verbatim transcript of the audio, including speaker labels and nonverbal cues (e.g., “[music fades in]”).
  • Make transcripts easy to find. Transcripts should be available in a text-based format and linked near the audio.

Manual accessibility checks for audio

The following checks are helpful whether you’re providing access to your audio content or third-party content.

• Verify the presence and accuracy of transcripts:
  • Confirm transcripts match the audio verbatim.
  • Clearly identify speaker changes and non-speech information.
• Ensure the transcript is a usable document:
  • Use logical paragraphs, lists and sections.
  • Add navigation such as headings and links.
  • Provide clarifying information when needed, just ensure you use [brackets] to differentiate the information from the dialogue.
  • Use timestamps only when it is useful.

Resources for creating accessible audio