The way we consume media content has changed with the arrival and spread of multimedia in the late twentieth century and early part of this century.
For example, audio books were first intended to be an accessible format for blind people to consume the content of books.
But they have become so popular they are now a mainstream media format that millions of non-disabled people around the world also use every day.
Audio books are so popular because they offer people the chance to consume the content of a book in a way that works best for them – normally played on a mobile device, anywhere, anytime.
Media consumption has changed
The change in the way we consume media content isn’t restricted to audio.
Facebook video statistics show that Facebook users watch 100 million hours of Facebook videos per day.
And research shows that over eighty per cent of videos viewed on Facebook are accessed with the sound off, which highlights how important audio captions have become for consuming content.
We also use voice enabled audio features in a wide variety of ways, with everything from audio to consume while we travel (e.g. Sat Nav) to voice recognition features like Siri on iPhone now widespread.
This change in consuming content applies to your students as well: they want to be able to access the content of academic text books, studies and websites, where and when they want to.
Think bus and train journeys, making or eating dinner, or doing another practical task like housework, all whilst multitasking and also consuming academic content via audio access.
Recite Me can make your academic web content accessible
To meet this need, Recite Me offers a broad range of accessibility and language features to students on mobile devices, because it’s what they want and need.
Recite Me is cloud-based accessibility software that will let your students access websites anytime, anywhere, on any mobile device or PC.
Your students can use Recite Me to have the content of any website read out aloud to them.
They can also choose to download and save the content as an MP3 recording so they can listen to it where and when they want to.
Recite Me also offers a range of other accessibility options that help the near ten per cent of higher education students who are known to have a disability.
These include the option to customise the text colour and background colour of your website, and increase the font size, which are both extremely helpful for people with dyslexia and other learning difficulties.
If you want to make your academic content more accessible book a free trial for your university now.
