Using video in articles

Some journals want to use video, either on the abstract page or linked from content in the article. For us to publish video on FilMet for use in our journals, there are requirements regarding rights, consent, a publishing agreement, quality and duration, and that the video must meet accessibility (universal design) requirements. Since videos should generally be captioned, there is also a requirement to provide spoken narration that describes the video in cases where there is no speech in the video that covers the content.

Publishing video – publishing agreements

Before we can publish video in the film archive on FilMet, the person who created the video must sign a publishing agreement. Read about the publishing agreement on the About FilMet page.

Log in with FeideID or a Norwegian electronic ID to sign the publishing agreement at nettskjema.no.

Authors without FeideID or Norwegian electronic ID must sign the publishing agreement in PDF format. Sign directly in the PDF, or print the PDF, sign it, scan or photograph it, and send it to ojs@oslomet.no.

Download the publishing agreement (for users who cannot log in to nettskjema.no) (LINK TO THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT PDF WILL BE ADDED HERE).

Quality requirements for the video file

  • Resolution: Full HD (1920x1080)
  • Orientation: Landscape is preferred
  • Format/file type: Most formats work
  • Compression/quality: High quality with low compression is preferred

Video length/duration

As a general rule, we prefer short videos up to 2 minutes. There may be good reasons for longer duration, so use your judgment.

Producing and preparing the video

The video content must meet accessibility requirements. We must ensure that important content/information in the video is accessible to all users. This means we need captions for people who are deaf or hard of hearing and audio description for people who are blind or low-vision. We must also ensure the video is not harmful for, for example, people with epilepsy (i.e., the video must not contain strong flashes).

Captioning the video

All pre-recorded video must include both captions for speech and audio description if needed.

  • Captions must be delivered in .srt format.
  • If there are important sounds in the video that are not conveyed in speech, those sounds must also be included in the captions.
  • Note: Captions must not be burned into the video stream.
  • It is desirable that the journal can handle this itself using the service autotekst.uio.no (requires FeideID). This service lets you upload an audio or video file, and an AI language model auto-generates time-coded captions. The result is usually quite good, but you must review and quality-check it. Names, dates, numbers, and special terms often need correction. If you take natural pauses in your speech in the audio/video, the auto-captioning will be better at placing periods and starting/ending sentences in sensible places.
  • When capacity allows, OsloMet University Library can assist with producing/training for producing captions.

Audio description for people who are blind or low-vision

Visually important information in the image/video may be missed by people who are blind or low-vision. Such information must be presented with audio description. Audio description means describing, via text or speech, important information that blind or low-vision users would otherwise miss.

Integrated audio description or standard audio description?

With planning, you can meet audio description requirements through the video’s natural dialogue. This means phrasing speech in a way that describes important visual information so that a person who cannot see does not miss anything. This is called integrated audio description. Be mindful of avoiding ambiguous terms like “this/that” and describe things a bit more explicitly than usual.

If the speech/dialogue does not satisfy integrated audio description, you need a separate audio description track, called standard audio description. This involves someone watching the video and recording a commentary track that describes important visual information. This track can be auto-captioned and added to the video player as a separate audio description track. The user can then choose whether to enable the audio description track in the player.

Aim for integrated audio description whenever possible—it’s the least work.

See also:

Producing an audio file as the basis for standard audio description when integrated audio description is not feasible

One approach to creating the file format for audio description and subtitles (.srt format) is to use the service autotekst.uio.no, where you upload a video or audio file with speech. This audio or video file is automatically transcribed by an AI language model. Afterwards, you must proofread and correct the .srt files.

  • Put on a good headset that you can use to listen to the audio of the video being played—this lets you hear the video’s audio without it being picked up by the microphone.
  • As a recording device, you can, for example, use a mobile phone with a recording app/voice recorder app.
  • Start playback of the video at the same time as you start the audio recorder.
  • Speak into the recorder while the video is playing. Describe important information as it happens.
  • Try to make use of pauses in the dialogue.
  • Stop the audio recording when the video has finished playing.
  • Give the audio file a name that makes it easy to identify, such as article-number–author–video-number–type-of-file.file-extension.
    • If it is audio description, use the term “synstolking” or “described-video” for the file-type segment.
    • If it is subtitles, use the term “undertekster” or “subtitles” for the file-type segment.
  • Upload the audio file for auto-captioning at autotekst.uio.no.
    • If you have named the audio files as described above, the downloadable .srt file will use the same naming format, making it easy for the person who will upload the files to the FilMet video player.

Camera and lighting

If you are filming yourself, consider the following:

  • Raise the camera so the lens is at eye level.
  • Use a tripod if possible. Affordable phone tripods are available.
  • Ensure your face is well lit.
  • Avoid distracting backgrounds or backgrounds with strong light, such as a window. Otherwise the face is often underexposed.
  • Supplement with external light on your face if necessary.
  • If you use a newer phone, it may handle challenging lighting situations anyway.

Audio and speech in the video

Speak clearly at a calm pace and take natural short pauses between topics/sections. This makes it easier for the listener and helps auto-captioning start/stop sentences and place periods appropriately.

Be mindful of volume differences between speech and background sounds/noise/music. If the background sound is too loud relative to speech, it will be difficult to hear the speech.

Use a good microphone to record audio. If a poor microphone is used, it is hard to fix in post-production, and it is usually more effective to re-record than to try to fix the audio afterwards.