Web and New Media Blog

Learn accessibility best practices

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Join us for the first Web Accessibility Summit, a conference about all things website accessibility for professionals in higher education and beyond.

Details

When: May 30, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Where: University of Missouri, Columbia
Cost: $25

Workshops and track sessions will focus on how to make your web presence more accessible with technical and non-technical solutions. Networking opportunities will encourage sharing of information and resources with colleagues from around the state.

Register today

Seating is limited. On-campus lodging is available.

Organizers

Several Missouri higher education institutions are organizing this event:

Social Media Kit: Collaborative Diversity Conference

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Learn how to grow diversity networks.

Help recruit and retain underrepresented professionals, faculty and students within Missouri.

You’ll discover how, and more, at this year’s Collaborative Diversity Conference. It takes place April 25-27 at Plaster Student Union on the Missouri State University campus.

MSU employees can attend for free, but registration is required through MyLearning Connection.

The three-day event includes a pre-conference session on April 25.

April 28: Just for students

Students lead the way on April 28. The student summit is a student-only conference and part of the Collaborative Diversity Conference.

Workshops for MSU students, led by other MSU students.

Separate registration is required for the #MoStateStudentSummit.

Key details

Share your story

Help us spread the word about the Collaborative Diversity Conference. Share it with Missouri State University and local communities on social media.

If you attend the event, we want to hear about your experience! We encourage you to join the online conversation during the Collaborative Diversity Conference by posting about it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and tagging your posts with the official hashtag: #Diversity18.

Make your post social media savvy

Photos

Sample social media posts

Sample tweets

  • The Collaborative Diversity Conference is April 25-27. Plan your events: https://bit.ly/2GcDdiw #Diversity18
  • How to be a #CitizenBear: Attend the Collaborative Diversity Conference: https://bit.ly/2HUb9wE #Diversity18
  • The Collaborative Diversity Conference will explore the value of community. Registration: https://bit.ly/2HUb9wE #Diversity18
  • The Collaborative Diversity Conference welcomes Dr. Damon A. Williams on April 27. https://bit.ly/2pHhSDs #Diversity18

Review our steps for turning a link into a tweet.

Sample Facebook posts

Sharing about the Collaborative Diversity Conference on Facebook allows for some additional customization. The sample posts provide content recommendations based on our best practice tips for optimizing link sharing on Facebook.

Review our tips for making the most of a Facebook post.

Example 1

URL: https://bit.ly/2pHhSDs

Headline: Keynote speaker Dr. Damon A. Williams presents the business case for diversity and the value for cultural consciousness for all campus and community stakeholders.

Text: The Collaborative Diversity Conference is your opportunity to engage with diversity professionals, share best practices and gain creative ideas.

Example 2

URL: Division for Diversity and Inclusion Facebook event

Text: Learn about inspiring commitment and driving collaboration at the Collaborative Diversity Conference.

Building our team: Looking for the next new media specialist intern

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#GoMaroon and apply to join our team

 

Being a new media specialist intern has changed my life.

How, you may ask?

Well, for starters, I grew up.

I had never been in a position where I was given so much freedom. This internship has allowed me to grow in ways I never thought possible.

Amanda Isaacs, first new media specialist intern, truly says it best.

“Whenever I spoke, they not only heard what I had to say, but really listened. So much so that whenever I had an idea for something, instead of turning it down or just nodding their head, they found ways to help me bring my projects to life.”

I have worked on numerous projects, including the Be A Bear T-shirt campaign. With this, I devised a strategy for the development and promotion of the campaign.

The Be A Bear 2018 T-shirt

I also have complete control over the Missouri State Snapchat and Instagram account. Yes, I am that cool. Finally, I develop various communication plans and write blogs on a weekly basis.

And, I have loved every second of it, which is why I plan to continue to be a new media specialist intern in the fall.

What do you need to be?

Undeniably, you.

Bring your personality to this position and put your touch on all things Missouri State. Besides that, you need to love social media and engaging with others, like enjoy using social media so much that you’re interested in pursuing a career in social media and video production.

As the new media specialist intern, you will get the chance to contribute to a variety of university projects.

  • You’ll be producing videos to engage with MSU students through the Missouri State Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
  • We are looking for versatile storytellers who can record, edit and produce videos about current students, faculty and alumni.
  • You’ll attend university events such as Welcome Weekend, Bears Homecoming and commencement.

What are the qualifications?

Well, you’re going to be working with me occasionally, so just be prepared to listen to me talk. A lot.

Mary Kay Gagnepain eating a cupcake.

But seriously, here’s a list of the desired skills and experience we are looking for:

Education

You have to be an MSU student, for starters, and at least in your second semester of your freshman year. Ideally, you are pursuing a career in video production, social media or related fields.

Skills

The point of your whole job is to create videos for social media, specifically. So, one to two years of experience editing and recording video is needed. You also must be able to carry and handle video equipment for filming on location.

Other

You should be prepared to complete many of the internship hours in the evenings and on the weekends, but don’t let that stop you from this great opportunity. A majority of the events you will be filming are exciting and you will get to experience Missouri State from a whole new lens. Additionally, the students, faculty and alumni you will be filming will open your heart to so many different viewpoints.

Finally, you must also be committed to working with our diverse audiences and community populations, while demonstrating cultural competence.

Applying for the job

Okay, so if you’re reading this, it means you are probably a little overwhelmed. But, trust me when I say that applying for this internship is one of the best decisions I have ever made. I hope you make it, too.

And if you do, fill out an application and email these things to ErikaBrame@Missouristate.edu prior to April 23.

  • Resume
  • At least three examples of your video work

Interviews will be from April 30-May 4.

I can’t wait to work with you. Oh, and Go Bears!

Accessibility series: Video captioning

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Welcome to our series of posts called, “How to make your website accessible.” We have discussed the ethical and legal reasoning behind accessibility, how to write alternative text, checking color contrast, how to write descriptive links, how to create accessible headings, limitations on using color to convey content and how to create tables.

The accessibility journey continues with the discussion of video captioning.

We love videos

Videos are engaging, effective and entertaining to watch. From Mind’s Eye, FAFSA on fleek and Onward, Upward: What’s new at Missouri State (below) — some of the greatest moments at Missouri State are best captured and shared through video.

I sat down with skilled videographer, Chris Nagle, to learn more about video captioning.

Video captioning is important for accessibility

As a federally-funded institution, we are required to conform to certain accessibility guidelines. Video captioning is included in these guidelines. Once you have a completed a video, adding captions should not be overlooked. Video captioning increases accessibility by reaching audiences regardless of environment, ability or language. With a few quick tips, you can make your video accessible to everyone.

Who benefits from video captioning?

There is a wide range of audiences who enjoy video captioning. Some of these include:

  • People who are deaf and hard-of-hearing.
  • People with cognitive and learning disabilities who need to see and hear the content to better understand it.
  • People who are not proficient in the video’s spoken language.
  • People using a mobile device on silent.
  • People accessing a video in a loud environment or have defective audio.

Even more, content in text form like caption files are better indexed by search engines. Video captioning is effective, and it provides equal opportunity for everyone.

What is video captioning?

Captions are a text form of audio information in video and animations. Captions should include dialogue and non-speech information such as sound, sound effects and identify who is speaking. Captions are essentially transcripts synchronized with the visual content. As you can see in the screenshot below, there is captioning for the dialogue spoken by the narrator.

student hugging professor at graduation

Quality matters

Keep these guidelines in mind as you create captions:

  • Accurate: Captions must match the spoken words (either verbatim or in essence) in dialogue and convey background noises and other sounds.
  • Synchronous: Captions must appear at approximately the same time audio would be available and displayed at a speed easily read by viewers.
  • Complete: Captions must run from the beginning to the end of the program to its fullest extent possible.
  • Properly placed: Captions should not block other important visual content, overlap one another or run off the edge of the video screen. They should also comply with color contrast guidelines.

What’s an easy way to make video captions?

Luckily, there are service providers that do most of the video captioning work.

Nagle suggested using Rev or 3Play Media for affordable video captioning needs. Nagle often uses Rev, which returns video captioning within 24 hours after uploading a video. He said it is important to be mindful of two things when uploading a video.

First, make sure you are uploading the final, completed video. Secondly, attach any details that are needed such as names and unique spellings.

Upon uploading a video, you can dictate the returned file format depending on the location of your video. For example, you would select SubRip (.srt) for a YouTube video or Facebook ready BubRip (.srt) for Facebook captioning. When the file returns, you can download the file and edit any elements necessary.

Adding captions to YouTube videos

To add captions to YouTube videos, you can use the YouTube Caption Editor or do it yourself.

Using the YouTube Editor

YouTube automatically generates captions for most videos, but they are rarely fully accurate. If there are only a few mistakes, captions can be perfected by making corrections directly in YouTube. YouTube offers instructions for editing captions.

Doing it yourself

If you would rather caption your own video for free, there are several online tools, including:

The process for creating these captions is similar to the process we learned earlier. You will need to upload the video to the web, provide the video’s URL to the captioning service, review and edit the captions and download the caption file in an appropriate format. Lastly, you will want to add the caption file to the YouTube video.

Ask the Web Help Desk

Where can I get more information about making accessible videos?

Nagle gave me an updated WCAG 2.0 for video accessibility document that he uses to answer compliance questions.

Where can I find more information for how to edit YouTube captions?

Social Media Kit: Spring 2018 Public Affairs Conference

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The Spring 2018 Public Affairs Conference theme is Sustainability in Practice: Consensus and Consequences. The conference will help all of us explore best practices for a sustainable future.

Key details

  • What: Public Affairs Conference
  • When: April 10-12, 2018
  • Where: Plaster Student Union and Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts at Missouri State
  • Who: Plenary speakers, guest artists and presenters
  • No tickets required
  • All events are free and open to the public

Share your story

Help us discuss the Public Affairs Conference by sharing it on social media. Posts with the #CitizenBear hashtag will be pulled to the #CitizenBear Tagboard.

Make your post social media savvy

  • Tag your posts with the official Public Affairs Conference hashtag, #CitizenBear
  • Follow Missouri State University on Facebook or @missouristate on Twitter
  • Tag your posts with the Springfield, Missouri hashtag: #SGF
  • When you post to Facebook and Twitter, boost your status update by sharing it with a photo or video
  • Nothing beats a first-hand perspective. Share a photo from or quote about your experience

Visual Assets

Video

Live video

The university will live stream four conference events on YouTube.

Watch Ron Ireland plenary

Watch Brady Deaton plenary

Watch Majora Carter plenary

Watch Vivian Carter plenary

Facebook images

These images are cropped and ready to be your Facebook cover photo.

Students at a conference event for Facebook Students at a voter registration table for Facebook Students walking by colorful international flags for Facebook The Bronze Bear statue with international flags for Facebook

Twitter images

These images are cropped and ready to be your Twitter cover photo.

Students at a conference event for Twitter Students at a voter registration table for Twitter Students walking by colorful international flags for Twitter The Bronze Bear statue with international flags for Twitter

Instagram

Share these images on your Instagram account to share the Public Affairs Conference.

Students at a voter registration table for Instagram Students at a conference event for Instagram The Bronze Bear statue with international flags for Instagram Students walking by colorful international flags for Instagram

Sample social media posts

Sample tweets

  • Join the @MissouriState community for its Public Affairs Conference April 10-12. http://bit.ly/1HFHLnl #CitizenBear #SGF
  • What does it mean to live in a sustainable world? http://bit.ly/2mOlgNe #CitizenBear #SGF
  • These events at @MissouriState will help you become a more informed citizen. http://bit.ly/1BM0PvB #CitizenBear #SGF

Sample Facebook posts

Pair either of these suggestions with a photo from the Facebook section.