Crii: HCC: making videos accessible by design

DePaul University received a $174,176 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (CISE program, CFDA 47.070) beginning September 1, 2025, and concluding August 31, 2027. This CRII (Computer Research Initiation for Early-Career Investigators) award supports research into making videos accessible by design through the development of responsive video frameworks. The project will produce three primary deliverables: (1) a taxonomy of common audiovisual components in videos that require adaptation across varying display sizes and modalities (audio, visual, and text-only); (2) empirical findings from interviews and co-design sessions with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) and Blind and Low Vision (BLV) users regarding their specific needs and requirements for video responsiveness; and (3) design recommendations informed by ethnographic research and interviews with video creators exploring opportunities within the video creation and editing workflow.

These research outputs will collectively establish evidence-based recommendations for designing and evaluating responsive videos that are inherently more accessible and adaptable for individuals with sensory disabilities and the general population alike. By addressing video accessibility at the design stage rather than through post-production modification, this research aims to mitigate challenges introduced by playback contexts such as small screen sizes or inadequate audio levels, ensuring that viewers with disabilities can access critical information without missing essential content.

Abstract

Videos are a popular way to consume information online. However, their audiovisual content is often inaccessible to a whole range of people (e.g., those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing or who are blind or have low vision. While methods for making videos accessible exist, videos are often created first and then modified to make them accessible. In addition, even when video files include appropriate accessibility features, playback contexts may introduce new challenges. These include small screen sizes or low volume in devices with small speakers. Expanding a recent concept of responsive videos, this project seeks to extend video responsiveness to encompass and mitigate a range of challenges. This should allow people with sensory disabilities to watch, listen or read the content of a video without missing critical information. The research will result in recommendations for responsive videos, which can be, by design, more accessible, adaptable, and useful for people with and without disabilities alike. The project aims to achieve three main objectives. First, the project team will employ content analysis to create a taxonomy of common audiovisual components in videos. These would need to adapt to variations in display sizes and changing audio-visual modalities (e.g. audio and visual modalities alone, and text-only modalities) to ensure accessibility. Second, a series of interviews and CO-design sessions with DHH and BLV participants will explore these types of viewers' needs and requirements for video responsiveness. Third, the team will use design ethnography and interviews with non-disabled video creators to explore opportunities in the video creation and editing process. This process will generate the information needed to address the needs and requirements of viewers. Together, these efforts will help establish recommendations for the design and evaluation of responsive videos, leading to a holistic approach to making videos accessible by design. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.