✅ An accessible video includes:

• Accurate Captions – Automatically-generated captions are a good start, but you must review and edit auto captions to ensure:
  • Spelling, punctuation, etc. is accurate.
  • Text matches spoken words and relevant sounds.
  • Text is correctly synchronized with the video.
• Clear Visuals and Contrast – PowerPoint slides in the video meet accessibility standards. 
• Descriptive Narration – Important visuals or on-screen actions are described aloud so that students who can’t see the screen still get the same information.

Tip:  My Media automatically generates a transcript from your captions. Students can read or download a transcript directly from the My Media video player. 

🚫 Inacce:

• Videos without accurate captions.
• Videos uploaded directly to Canvas Files rather than My Media. (Videos in Canvas Files can’t be captioned.)
• Videos that contain important visuals without an audio description. (E.g., In a lecture video, the instructor refers to a chart on a PowerPoint slide but does not describe what information the chart contains.)

✅ My Media (Kaltura)

My Media is the correct place to store all your videos.

My Media is the streaming video server that is integrated with Canvas.

My Media is the right place to store your videos because:

• My Media automatically generates captions for videos and allows you to edit captions to meet accessibility standards. 

• My Media videos have no impact on your course’s storage quota.

🚫 Canvas Course Files 

The Files area in your Canvas course is the incorrect place to store videos. 

Video files should not be stored as Canvas course files because: 

• They cannot be captioned, so they are not accessible to all students.

• They take up your limited course file storage space.

Important:  Any video files stored in your Canvas course’s Files area must be moved to My Media so they can stream properly and include captions for accessibility. For more information, see Move Your Videos to My Media. 

To Do Right Now

1. ✅ Move your videos to My Media – Make sure your video files are stored in My Media and not in Canvas. See Move Your Videos to My Media.

2. ✅ Review and edit captions for accuracy – Review and edit your My Media video captions to ensure the spelling, punctuation, timing, etc. is accurate. See Edit Video Captions for Accessibility.

To Do in the Future

1. ✅ Update PowerPoints and other visuals, if necessary – If you review your video and determine that it does not have clear visuals and contrast, redo it now if you have time, or put it on your schedule as something to redo in the near future. See PowerPoint slides in the video meet accessibility standards. 
2. ✅ Redo video to include descriptive narration, if necessary – If you review your video and determine that it does not have important visuals or on-screen actions described aloud so that students who can’t see the screen still get the same information, redo it now if you have time, or put it on your schedule as something to redo in the near future. (E.g., In a lecture video, if you refer to a chart on a PowerPoint slide, you must describe what information the chart contains.)

TidyUp is a cleanup tool inside Canvas that helps instructors declutter and streamline their Canvas courses by removing unused or duplicate files. To use TidyUP, you must first enable it in your Canvas course. 

Video Procedure – Enable TidyUP

Written Procedure – Enable TidyUP

1. In your Canvas course, go to Settings.
2. Then select Navigation.
   
   
3. Scroll down the page. Locate TidyUP.
4. Click the kebab to the right of TidyUP.
5. Select Enable.
6. Click the Save button. 
   
   
   
   TidyUp will now appear in your course's left-hand navigation. 
   
   

For more information, go to TidyUP Resources.

Once you have enabled TidyUP in your Canvas course, you can use it to scan for video files stored in your Canvas course.

Video Procedure – Enable Find Video Files in Canvas with TidyUP

Written Procedure – Find Video Files in Canvas with TidyUP

1. Once TidyUP is enabled in your Canvas course, click TidyUP in the course menu.
2. Click Authorize to give TidyUp access to your course.
3. Under the Scan Course button, click Custom. 
4. Uncheck all boxes except Video (MP4, MOV, etc.). 

5. Click the Scan Course button to scan your video content.

6. Once the scan is complete, go to the Files tab.

7. Do one of the following:
   • If no video files appear in the TidyUP search, you're done! This means you don't have video files in Canvas that you need to move. Skip to Edit Video Captions for Accessibility to learn how to edit captions in your My Media videos.
   • If video files appeared in the TidyUP search, proceed to the next step.
8. Review the list of video files:

• • Check when each video file was last updated.
  • Look in the Used In column to determine where each video file is used in your course content. If the Used In column in blank for a video, it means the video is in the Canvas Files area but is not linked or embedded anywhere in your Canvas class.

Now that you've identified the video files stored in your Canvas course, use TidyUP to download them all at once. This saves time and helps you prepare for uploading to My Media in the next step.

Video Procedure – Enable Download Video Files with TidyUP

Written Procedure – Download Video Files with TidyUP

1. In TidyUP, review the list of videos and determine which files you want to download.

2. Check the box next to each video file you want to download.

3. Click the Download Selected button at the bottom of the page.

4. Click the Download button.

5. Select where you want to save the files on your computer, and click Save.

6. Your browser will download a ZIP file containing all the selected videos.

7. Locate the ZIP file on your computer and extract (unzip) the contents to a folder that you can easily locate:

• • PC file extract/unzip procedures
  • Mac file extract/unzip procedures

Once you've downloaded your video files from Canvas, upload your videos (one at a time) to My Media, the streaming video server that is integrated with Canvas. 

Video Procedure – Upload Video File to My Media

Written Procedure – Upload Video File to My Media

1. In Canvas, click Account and select My Media.

Your list of My Media videos appears.

2. To upload a new video file to your account, click Add New and select Media Upload.

3. Read terms and conditions and click the "I agree to the above terms and conditions" disclaimer.

4. Click Choose a File to Upload.

5. Select the file to upload.

My Media file size upload limit -  Try to keep video files under 2 GB because the larger the file is, the longer it takes My Media to upload and process it.

Audio and video file formats you can upload to My Media - AVI, ASF, FLV, MP4, MP3, MPG, MOV, M4V, QT, M4V, WMA, WMV, and more. Click here for a full list of file formats My Media supports. 

6. Once your media uploads, do the following:

A. Name - Give the video a meaningful name. Note that this name appears to all your media's viewers/listeners.

B. Description - Optionally enter a brief description.

C. Add Collaborator button - Optionally add collaborators (for example, you might want to add co-instructors or TAs as collaborators so they can link to or embed this video in Canvas. See Kaltura - Media Collaboration: Changing media ownership, adding co-editors, co-publishers, and co-viewers.

D. Publishing Status - Leave the video status as Private. Do not change it to Public.

E. Save - Click the Save button to save your changes while your video uploads. 

 

Repeat this process for each video you want to upload to My Media.

Tip: When you upload videos to My Media. They are stored in your private My Media library. In the next steps, we'll show you how to share your videos in your Canvas class.

Now that you've uploaded all your video files to My Media, you're ready to share the videos in your Canvas course by doing one of the following:

• Add a video link to a Canvas Module
• Add a video link in the text of a Canvas Page, Announcement, Assignment, Quiz, Discussion, etc
• Embed the video and its player in a Canvas Page, etc.  

Add Video Link to a Canvas Module 

This is an example of a video link that has been added to a Canvas Module.

Use the following procedures to add a video link directly to one of your Canvas Modules.

Video Procedure – Add Video Link to Canvas Module

Written Procedure – Add Video Link to Canvas Module

1. Copy the Link to Your My Media Video:

1. In Canvas, click Account and select My Media to go to the library of videos you uploaded to My Media.

2. Locate the video you want to link and click its title to open the video.

3. Press Play to briefly play the video, and then press Pause. Doing this makes the video's Share icon visible.
   
   

4. In the top right of the video player, click the video's Share icon . 

5. Click the Copy icon to copy the video's URL.

2. Add the New Video Link to a Module:

1. In your Canvas course, go to the Modules area.

2. Find the module where the old video link exists.

3. Click the module's + (Add) button.

4. In the Add Item window:

   1. Choose External URL from the drop-down menu.

   2. Paste the My Media URL into the URL field.

   3. In Page Name, enter a meaningful name for the video link (e.g., Week 1: Lecture Video: [Title]).

   4. Leave Load in a New Tab unchecked.
   5. Click the Add Item button.
5. In your module, click and drag the video link to move it to the correct location. 

3. If you previously linked to the old .mp4 video files in your Canvas Modules, remove the Old Video Link:

1. While in the same module, locate the old video's link.

2. Click the kebab to the right of the link.

3. Click Remove.

4. Click OK.

Add Video Link to Canvas Page, Announcement, Assignment, Quiz, Discussion, etc. 

This is an example of how a link to a video appears in a Canvas Page.

Use the following procedures to add a My Media video link to the text in your Canvas Pages, Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes, or Announcements. 

Video Procedure – Add Video Link to Canvas Content

Written Procedure – Add Video Link to Canvas Content

1. Copy the Link to Your My Media Video:

1. In Canvas, click Account and select My Media to go to the library of videos you uploaded to My Media.

2. Locate the video you want to link and click its title to open the video.
3. Press Play to briefly play the video, and then press Pause. Doing this makes the video's Share icon visible.
   
   

4. In the top right of the video player, click the video's Share icon . 

5. Click the Copy icon to copy the video's URL.

2. Locate the Canvas content where you want to insert the video link:

1. Open your Canvas course.

2. Navigate to the content area where want to insert the link (e.g., Pages, Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions, or Announcements).

3. Open the item and click Edit.

3. Add a link to the My Media video:

1. In the Canvas RCE, place your cursor where you'd like to insert the My Media video link.

2. In the RCE menu bar, click Insert > Link > External Link.
3. In the Insert Link window:
   1. Text field - Type a meaningful name for the video link. 
   2. Link field - Paste the URL to your My Media video. 

   3. Click Done.

4. If you have a link in the text that links to your old video saved in Canvas, delete that link.

5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save.

6. Click the link to ensure the video appears and plays correctly.

Embed Video (and Player) in a Canvas Page

The best way to share a My Media video in a Canvas class is to embed the video in a Page. This is an example of how an embedded My Media video appears in a Canvas Page.

Use the following procedures to embed a My Media video in a Canvas Page.

Video Procedure – Embed My Media Video

Written Procedure – Embed My Media Video

1.  Go to the module where you want the video to appear, and click +Create a page in your Canvas class. 

2.  In the Add field, select Page.

3.  Click Create Page, type the name of the page in the Page Name field, and click the Add Item button.

4.  Locate the page in your module, and click the page to open it. 

5.  Click the Edit button to edit the page.

6.  In the Rich Content Editor (RCE), click the My Media button.

7.  Locate your video, and click the Embed Settings button. 

8.  Adjust the embed settings, as necessary.

Choose Player field values:

• Default - Player displays the standard player options.
• Download and Share - Player displays video download button.
• Simplified - Player removes the Playback Speed button from the default player.
• Transcript - Player displays the text transcript in a window below the player. 

Max Embed Size field values:

• 900x507 - Largest size
• 608 x342 - Medium size
• 400 x 225 - Smallest size

Start & End Time field values:

1. To set a different start time for the video, select the Start at button and enter the time code for the point in the video you'd like students to begin watching.
2. To set a different end time for the video, select the End at button and enter the time code for the point in the video you'd like students to stop watching.

9.  Click the Embed button.

10.  Click Save and Publish to publish the page to students.

Tips:

• If you have Pages with old embedded Canvas videos, make sure to edit the Page, delete the old video player, and save the Page.
• You can use steps 6 - 10 of this procedure to embed My Media videos in any Canvas element that has the Rich Content Editor (RCE).

After uploading your videos to My Media and embedding or linking them in your course content, you can safely delete the original video files from your Canvas Files area. This frees up storage space and ensures students aren’t accessing outdated or inaccessible versions.

Video Procedure – Use TidyUP to Delete Video Files

Written Procedure – Use TidyUP to Delete Video Files

1. In your Canvas course, click TidyUP in the course menu.
2. Click Authorize to give TidyUp access to your course.
3. Under the Scan Course button, click Custom. 
4. Uncheck all boxes except Video (MP4, MOV, etc.). 
5. Click the Scan Course button to scan your video content.
6. Once the scan is complete, go to the Files tab.
7. For each video, review the Used In column to confirm the file is no longer in use (i.e., the old videos should no longer be embedded or linked in your course). If a file is marked as Used, double-check that you’ve replaced it with the My Media version before deleting.
8. In TidyUP, select the video files you want to delete by checking the boxes next to them.
9. Click Delete Selected, and then click Delete.

Important: Deleting files through TidyUP is permanent and cannot be undone. Be sure you’ve uploaded the video to My Media and linked or embedded it in your course before removing the original.

Tip: You can always download a copy of a video before deleting it

After you upload a video to My Media, it automatically generates captions for your video; however, these auto captions are not 100% accurate.

Important: For your video to meet accessibility standards, you must review and edit its auto captions for accuracy.

Tip: When you edit a My Media video's captions, the captions update wherever the video is embedded or linked.

Video Procedure – Review and Edit Captions in My Media

Written Procedure – Review and Edit Captions in My Media