Accessibility at TU Wien not only affects the infrastructure and classroom teaching, but also scenarios created by the digitalization of lectures. Depending on the type of impairment, there are different requirements that must be taken into account when creating lecture videos. In addition to accessibility, important information on data protection and copyright will also be included.

A .dcall 2021 project in detail

As part of the .dcall 2021 project "Providing accessible lecture videos", a guide is created to present lectures with an overview of the process of creating accessible lecture videos - from planning and recording to post-processing and subtitling. Thereby, lecture videos can be created in a barrier-free and inclusive version more quickly and easily and thus enable all students to use digital lectures.

Furthermore, videos and instructions will be developed in the course of the project and made accessible to lecturers at TU Wien. An e-learning course will also be available to lecturers so that they can complete it at their own pace.

As a final task, a pilot lecture will incorporate the guidelines and recommendations into its lecture concept.

What does the term “barrier-free lecture” mean?

A lecture is barrier-free if it can be accessed and used in the usual way, without particular difficulties and generally without outside help, by people with disabilities. Accessibility is also established in law in the equal rights principle in Article 7, Paragraph 1 of the Federal Constitutional Law.

TU Wien is committed to equality and inclusion of people with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses and has set itself the goal of creating a framework for the equal participation of people with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses in all teaching, research and administration.

The .dcall 2021 project is the first building block to develop general guidelines on the subject of "accessibility in teaching" and to help  design the lectures at TU Wien even more accessible and therefore more inclusive.