Category: Events and Awards

In this session we demonstrated the functionality of Microsoft’s digital storytelling app.

• Quickly create interactive and accessible web content without needing to be a web developer.
• Create and/or share Sways with the rest of the web, just the University or select users.
• Sway Overview

We then presented a case study on how the software has been used to create Research Digistories as online educational resources for research students. In the case study, Sways have been created using past student work and focus not on the product of the research but on the externalisation of the hidden and personal knowledge involved in the research process itself.

• The Research Journey: Using digistories to unveil the hidden process (Dr Laura Delgaty, School of Medical Education)– Student example

Sway is available to all staff and students by logging into sway.com with their Office 365 credentials. (campusID@newcastle.ac.uk and your university password)

Additional resources

Sway Video Tutorials

Sway Quickstart Guide

Sway Online Course

We spend lots of time creating digital resources, how can we build in accessibility so that they can be used by the widest group of people?

In our 3P session we explored a few ideas

• documents are best when they have text (not pictures of text), structure, and a sensible reading order.
  – We explored this with a hands-on exercise looking at pdf accessibility.
• videos are much more accessible and useful when they have a transcript and subtitles.
  – We had a look at how easy it is to add transcripts to YouTube.
• Images can convey information powerfully, but how can we make these useful to people with little or no sight?
  – We explored the use of images in a Sway

As well as helping learners who are hard of hearing.  Captions and transcripts also help:

• non-native speakers
• people accessing resources on limited bandwidth
• those without soundcards or headphones
• people who prefer to read and annotate text

In this activity we’d like to show you how to add subtitles to a video on YouTube.  You’ll need a video, a script and a google account.

Feel free to use the following example files that we used in the Nutela session.

• Video: transcripts and subtitles (right click and selectvideoscript save as)
• the videoscript (right click and select save as)

Sign into YouTube with your own google account

• Upload the video to YouTube (look for the upload button in the top right), and click Publish when it is done
• Click on the Video manager button

• Click the drop down next to the video and select “Subtitles & CC”

• Next click “Add new subtitles or CC”

• The method we will use here is “Transcribe and auto-sync” as this will automatically set the timings of the text:

• Paste your text into the text box and then click “Set timings”

 

You will now see an option under “My Drafts”.

• Wait 30 seconds or so and then click the refresh button:

Now you can check that it has aligned it correctly by listening to the video and make any changes.

• To adjust the timings click on the phrase you wish to change and then drag the blue tabs:

• Once you are happy with the words, punctuation and timings click “Publish edits”

You should see the following video, click on the CC button to view the captions.

(Our demo video is about how we generate subtitles when we don’t have a script.)

YouTube also has a function which automatically generates subtitles

If you don’t have a script for your video you may be able to make use of the automatic subtitles which YouTube adds to all videos.

• In Subtitles & CC, instead of adding new subtitles you need to select “English (Automatic)”

• Listen to the full video to check if the text is correct and make any changes.
• Once you are happy with the words, punctuation and timings click “Publish edits”

 

[Huge thanks to Eleanor Lockhart for preparing these instructions and screenshots for the hands-on session.]