Videos

Videos

Introduction

IMPORTANT: All videos hosted on KU CMS sites must include accurate captions - including videos with no talking. See "Video Captioning" and "Accessibility" below.

Like Images, videos are helpful in creating dynamic and effective websites. Videos within the KU CMS are hosted on either YouTube or KU MediaHub and displayed on your pages using the video's embed code.

Embedding videos is a two-step process:

  1. Configure and copy the embed code from YouTube or MediaHub
  2. Add the embed code to your page

Videos can be inserted using the following sections:

Video Captioning

Videos hosted on your KU CMS site must meet accessibility standards, including having accurate captions - including videos with no talking.

Captions Must Be Present on All Hosted Videos

Without exception, all videos hosted (i.e., embedded) on your KU CMS site must include captions - including videos with no talking. Additionally, to be accessible, those captions must be human-edited for accuracy (i.e., correctly transcribed including punctuation, lined up accurately with the video, and free of misspellings).

Your Videos
If you control the content, you are responsible for updating the video captioning prior to posting the video.

Someone Else's Videos
If you do not control the content, you have two options:

  1. Remove the video
  2. Reach out to the video owner to ask them to update the video with accurate captions.

IMPORTANT: You cannot leave an inaccessible video on a live KU CMS site while the content owner addresses accessibility issues. You must remove the video until it has been made accessible.

Captions Must Be Accurate for Accessibility

Both YouTube and MediaHub (Kaltura) offer auto-captioning for uploaded videos, which is a great first step. However, to be accessible, captions must be manually reviewed and edited to correct transcript inaccuracies, punctuation, timing issues, and misspellings.

See KU Media Production Studios’ Adding and Editing Captions in MediaHub for information about captioning in MediaHub (Kaltura)

See Accessible KU for information about captioning, including how to create and edit transcripts for captioning.

Video Captioning Tutorials

Instructions on how to edit video captions for videos uploaded via KU Media Hub and YouTube.

Transcripts for Videos with Little or No Talking

There are important considerations for videos with little or no talking to ensure that the captions you provide are meeting the needs of all users.

The Importance of Audio Descriptions

Audio descriptions give people with vision impairments access to the visual information presented in a video, performance, or exhibit. It goes beyond a transcript to include description of any content that is only presented visually. This allows individuals who are blind or visually impaired to understand what is happening in the video or performance. Ideally, audio description is provided on a separate audio track. However, adding audio descriptions to the caption transcript is sufficient.

Plan Ahead for Audio Descriptions

If you are creating the video yourself, consider audio descriptions when planning your video. Inserting audio descriptions of important visual elements into your primary narration script may be preferable to adding time/breaks after the fact to allow for proper audio descriptions for photographs, text as images, graphs/charts, etc.

Audio Descriptions for Music

People with auditory impairments have no way of knowing if a music soundtrack is present and providing important information unless a caption transcript includes explicit audio descriptions.

Examples of audio descriptions in caption transcripts when no talking is present:

  • [music playing]
  • [upbeat music playing]
  • [no music soundtrack]

In videos with little or no talking, transcript notations for music audio descriptions should be repeated as needed throughout the video to reaffirm the presence of music.

Audio Descriptions for Important Visual Only Elements

It is important to provide audio descriptions in caption transcripts for important visual-only elements in your video that are not explicitly described in your voice narration captions. Providing audio descriptions for visual-only elements in captions is similar to using alternative text to describe an image.

Examples of common visual-only elements:

  • Photographs
  • Text as images
  • Charts/graphs
  • Equations/formulas

Guidelines and Best Practices

  • Videos must meet accessibility requirements. See "Accessibility" below.
  • Videos must be high-quality. Avoid using inferior video content and risking damage to your site's credibility.
  • Videos should be current. The life cycle for most video content on a KU CMS site should be no more than 2-3 years. As your video content ages, consider what messages you are sending your primary audience(s) about the value and accuracy of your website.
  • Like all Images, video content should add value for your primary audience. Video content that does not add value is just getting in the way and making it more difficult for users to find what they are seeking.
  • You must have necessary rights to host images and video content. If you are not sure, you probably do not have the necessary rights.

Accessibility

How To's

Create Embed Code on YouTube

  1. Locate the video you wish to share
  2. Click Embed, then click the Show More button
  3. Select a size or enter a custom size in the Video Size popup menu
  4. Copy the iFrame code

Create Embed Code on KU MediaHub

  1. Go to MediaHub and login
  2. Locate the video you wish to share
  3. Select the size, and a video skin
  4. Copy the embed code

Adding a Video to a Page

See the documentation for individual sections for detailed instructions:

Uploading Videos to KU Media Hub

KU's MediaHub helps faculty, staff and departments manage and share videos that are not in Blackboard―especially for those who want to have group ownership of online video files. Described as a YouTube for campuses, this service uses a Web-based interface to post, manage and publish videos that can be shared with others internal and external to the University.

To Upload Videos:

  1. Go to MediaHub
  2. Log in with your KU Online ID
  3. Click on Media Upload at the left side of screen
  4. Click on the + Choose a file to upload button
  5. Select your video and click Open
  6. Give your video a Name, and (optionally) add a Description and Tags
  7. Click Save or add another file by clicking + Choose another file
  8. After progress bar completes your upload, click the green Go to media page link. Your video will begin transcoding. Depending on the length/size of your video, this could take anywhere from 30 seconds to 15 minutes. You may need to refresh the page (or click on My Media link) to see if your video is finished.

Resources

Video Captioning Tutorials