5 Media Best Practices

Pressbooks enables you to include three types of media in your book: images, audio and video. These media types are different than interactive elements built with H5P, which engage readers in an immediate call to action.

Supported media file types

Many types of media can be uploaded into your book. These files can be uploaded directly into the chapter using the Add Media feature or through your Media Library.

Storage

• All media file uploads must be under 10 MB, but we recommend keeping them under 2 MB.

Adding Media

Please reference the chapter on Media in the Pressbooks User Guide to learn how to add, edit and delete media.

Accessibility

• Always give your photo a caption. Photos without captions will not render properly in all e-readers.
• Always add a title and description for your image.
• Do not use colour as the only visual means of conveying information.
• If an image is intended to serve educational purposes, it’s best practice to write Alt Text, which will be read to visually impaired readers by a screen reader or accessibility device. The Alt Text should serve as the equivalent purpose of the non-text material. Sound practice limits the alt text to 100 characters.
  • If the diagram/image/photo is complicated and requires a lengthier description, add a brief description in the alt text field and add a [Long description available]. Add a Long Description section at the end of the chapter. Link [Long description available] to the Long Description section.
• If an image is purely decorative or if the descriptions or surrounding text adequately explain the same content, put “””” in the alt text field. The screen reader should just say “graphic” and move on rather than read the file locations.
• Any media with audio should have captioning or a supporting transcript, including:
  • speaker’s name
  • all speech content
  • relevant descriptions of speech
  • descriptions of relevant non-speech audio
  • headings and subheadings