Accessibility Statement for Echo 360

Lecture Capture is the brand name King’s uses for our lecture capture tool Echo 360. Our aim is for Lecture capture to be accessible to all those that use the service, and we continue to work towards this.

We want to ensure as many people as possible can access Echo 360 to watch and understand the content.

Using Echo 360

Echo 360 is run by King’s College London IT and AV services, there are some additional features that will help individuals to navigate and use it.

For example, that means you should be able to:

• Zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen.

• Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard.

• Skip to main content using keyboard navigation.

• Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software.

• Use screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver.

• Collapse the course menu to reduce the clutter on the page and help you focus on the task at hand.

• Use a range of devices to access Echo 360 e.g. mobile phone, tablet or laptop.

Technical information about Echo 360 accessibility

King’s College London is committed to making Echo360 accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. We work to achieve and maintain WCAG 2.1 AA standards, but it is not always possible for all our content to be accessible.

Echo360 has been used for teaching & learning purposes since its launch in 2015, and we are aware that some parts of Echo 360 are not fully accessible. The complexity and volume of content available presents difficulties in identifying all accessibility issues, including captioning availability and accuracy for classes that are rolled over yearly. Overall, at King’s College London we are taking a holistic approach to improving our digital content and so intend to improve over time, the details are outlined below.

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)

Currently the Echo 360 lecture capture service does not include automatic captioning or transcripts, there are options that IT will need to explore fully, that will be both cost effective and practical to implement.

IT are currently testing and trialing the Echo 360 Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) solution, built on the Amazon Transcribe service, that provides a pathway to affordable captions when lecture capture use increases in the near future. The ASR will be tested over the summer 2021, in preparation for when the Echo 360 service usage increases.

What to do if you can’t access parts of Echo 360

If you need information on Echo 360 in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille email diversity@kcl.ac.uk.

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 7 days.

Reporting accessibility problems with Echo 360

We aim to make Echo 360 as accessible as possible. If you identify any issues that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements email diversity@kcl.ac.uk.

Escalation procedure

If you need to escalate your issue further, contact Sarah Guerra, Director of Diversity & Inclusion via diversity@kcl.ac.uk. You can expect an acknowledgement of your issue within 7 days and a full reply within 14 days. If your complaint raises complex issues that cannot be answered within 14 days we will keep you informed of progress until we can fully respond.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

How we tested this website

This website (echo360.org.uk) was last tested on 25/11/2020. The test was carried out manually by Charles Kasule from the Education Applications in IT Services team in King’s College London. We tested:

• King’s Lecture Capture service: echo360.org.uk

What we are doing to improve accessibility

King’s College London has convened a college-wide action group to address the accessibility of its digital information and actions are currently being undertaken around:

• Assessing, prioritising and improving the accessibility of the 100+ digital platforms in use at King’s and highest priority is being given to those holding student teaching materials;

• Improving the accessibility of online teaching materials;

• Ensuring all future purchases or development of digital platforms are accessible;

• Ensuring that all future teaching materials being developed and uploaded are accessible.

Platform-specific action plans to ensure accessibility will be developed by specialist action groups within King’s, but include: 

• Looking at Echo 360 closed captions (ASR) and transcription services on the platform.

• IT will continue to have regular meetings with the vendor to ensure any concerns are dealt with in a timely manner, along with ensuring that faculty staff and AV work together with the Diversity & Inclusion on future projects to improve the system.

This statement was prepared on 12th February 2021. It was last updated on 3rd March 2021.