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Overview
In this article, you will learn how to upload and create audio descriptions to your Panopto videos in the Panopto Editor. Audio descriptions provide visually impaired viewers with visual context of what is being presented in a Panopto video. These descriptions will be read out loud during the video's playback. Note: Panopto supports extended audio descriptions. For more information on writing audio descriptions, please visit the W3C: Web Accessibility Initiative's article, Audio Description of Visual Information.
Prerequisites
- Creator access to Panopto
Procedure
1. Manually Add Audio Descriptions
1.1. In the editor, select the Audio Descriptions tab from the left-hand navigation. Select the point in the timeline where you want it to be read (Fig. 6a). Then, enter the audio description in the textbox that states Enter an audio description and hit enter (Fig. 6b). Note: The entry will be read at its corresponding timestamp. You can edit the timestamp by following the instructions in step 4, below.
Figure 6a
Figure 6b
1.2. Select Apply in the upper-right corner of the editor to apply your changes (Fig. 7). To listen to the audio descriptions, follow step 5, below
Figure 7
2. Edit or Delete Audio Descriptions
2.1. Edit an Audio Description: On the Audio Descriptions tab of the editor, hover over the entry you want to edit, select the three vertical dots that appear to its right, and on the drop-down menu that appears, select Edit (Fig. 8a). A pop-up window will appear where you can edit the audio description's text or the timestamp at which it appears. Select Save to save your changes (Fig. 8b).
Figure 8a
Figure 8b
2.2. Delete an Audio Description: On the Audio Descriptions tab of the editor, hover over the entry you want to delete, select the three vertical dots that appear to its right, and on the drop-down menu that appears, select Delete (Fig. 9).
Figure 9
3. Preparing Audio Descriptions
3.1. Panopto supports ingestion of .vtt files as audio descriptions for a video. These descriptions can be written in a regular text editor, such as TextEdit or Notepad. These files can be formatted in the following manner. Note: WEBVTT must be on the first line of the .vtt file.
WEBVTT
00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:07.980
<v Audio Descriptions> The lecturer appears at the podium and begins presenting their slides
00:00:17.260 --> 00:00:20.780
<v Audio Descriptions> On the slide shown, a video is playing of a bee under a microscope
00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:23.140
<v Audio Descriptions> The bee under the microscope is moved to a different part of its body
00:00:26.880 --> 00:00:29.620
<v Audio Descriptions> The lecturer appears on the screen
4. Upload Audio Descriptions
4.1. Navigate to the video you will be adding audio descriptions to, hover over it in the Panopto library, and click Settings (Fig. 1a).
Figure 1a
4.1.a. Alternatively, you can select the Audio Descriptions tab in the editor, then select the dropdown menu for Import audio descriptions, and then choose to Upload audio descriptions (Fig. 1b).
Figure 1b
4.2. On the Audio Descriptions tab, you can select the language that the audio descriptions will be in and whether or not the Audio descriptions are based on the edited video (Fig. 2). Note: If they are not based on the edited video, leave the checkbox deselected.
Figure 2
4.3. Select Choose File to locate and select your audio descriptions file, and then select Upload Audio Descriptions (Fig. 3).
Figure 3
4.4. Under Available Audio Descriptions, you will see the language listed for its corresponding audio descriptions. Select the drop-down arrow to its right to expand the details, and the options to change the audio description's language, delete the audio description file, and download either the file or the unedited audio description file (Fig. 4).
Figure 4
4.5. Select Apply in the upper right-hand corner of the editor (Fig. 5). To listen to the audio descriptions, follow step 5, below.
Figure 5
5. Using Audio Descriptions
5.1. To hear the audio descriptions that have been added to a video, select the Audio Descriptions icon in the lower right corner of the player controls on either the Panopto Editor or Viewers. The icon will turn green when audio descriptions are enabled and will be read aloud to the Viewer (Fig. 10). Note: The audio descriptions icon appears as a small rectangle with rounded ends and the letters AD appear inside of it.
Figure 10