Web Accessibility FAQs
Yes.
In general, we recommend that faculty post their class videos within the Warpwire Video tool in their course Isidore site. All videos added to Warpwire are centrally managed and captioned automatically by a human with a high degree of accuracy. Faculty can post videos on YouTube but the university needs to make sure they are captioned if they will be used to deliver course content. It is not good enough to use YouTube’s automated captions as they still lack a high degree of accuracy for all videos (unless the time is taken to proofread and correct the automated captions generated by YouTube). Faculty using YouTube should work with the Office of eLearning to get captions for these videos, but it is the faculty member’s responsibility to make sure it happens.
That third-party’s video must be captioned; the University does not have the ability to add captioning to such material. Also, any third-party’s video must be used consistent with any copyright considerations that might apply.
You need to take additional steps to ensure its accessibility. Go to https://udayton.edu/olr/disability/sensus-access.php and follow the steps there. Also, the explanation that applies to Isidore (Q3) also applies to Cascade. Any materials (docs, ppts, pdfs, etc.) uploaded to Cascade and posted to a University webpage will need to be accessibly built. Alternatively, you can include the content in Cascade directly (i.e., as web content), and then also post a PDF that is better formatted for printing purposes, in which case you do not need to do the extra step of making the PDF itself accessible (since the web content is accessible).
Live stream events should be captioned live to ensure they are accessible. Many platforms, like Zoom, can utilize a live captioner to transcribe the event. Live events can also be recorded, downloaded, and captioned after the fact for sharing. Individual University units that stream events are encouraged to use vendors that have live-captioning capabilities.
When uploading an image of any kind to a University webpage using the content management system (Cascade), you will be provided fields to enter “Alt Text” for the image. You should enter text that describes the images and what they convey as specifically as possible, but keep in mind a 125 character limit. Don’t include “image of” or “picture of” as it’s already assumed the Alt-Text is referring to an image.
Yes. All social sites have alt-text for pictures now, and most are moving toward captions for videos.
As of September 2019, with respect to alt-text, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn will allow you to add alt-text for pictures. Twitter and LinkedIn must have alt-text added before the picture is posted; images on Facebook and Instagram are able to be edited to add alt-text (although the platform will add alt-text for you). Regarding captions, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube have the ability to upload video captions. Twitter users with Twitter Media Studio (only verified accounts) are able to add video captions. Because accessibility is changing so rapidly, different platforms’ capabilities are evolving, so you should not rely on this answer as containing the most up-to-date information.
Yes, particularly if its service is made available through a University webpage (e.g., the Porches intranet or any udayton.edu webpage). The Appendix to the Web Accessibility Policy contains language to include in any agreement with such a service provider, to help ensure their compliance with University requirements. If you submit the agreement through the University’s required contract review process, that language should be added as part of the review and approval process.
No. You should take steps to make sure the vendor’s services are accessible, particularly if their services are used by students or employees (e.g., for people to enjoy their UD existence).
If you are directing students or UD employees to that site for education or work purposes, you should take steps to ensure that vendor’s product or services are accessible. The obvious tie to UD is not required for you to take steps to help make sure everyone has access.