Audio
Basics of Audio with
Pressbooks
Embed audio rather than store these file types within Pressbooks. The Pressbooks platform has storage limitations (2MB per image and 20MB for other content) that are unsuited to large media files.
How to?
Adding audio is easy. Audio stored on an online repository can be embedded. Using the Visual text editor (not the Text/HTML editor tab) > Click on add media > Insert from URL: paste URL.
Accessibility matters
A transcript is often the only way some individuals can interact with the content unless the audio displays the text.
Copyright matters
Check the licence details for all third-party content. The author and project lead are responsible for ensuring that their Open-Textbook project does not infringe on any third party’s proprietary or intellectual property rights.
Example
The following music clip example highlights an example from the Open Music Archive. “Open Music Archive is a collaborative project, initiated by artists Eileen Simpson & Ben White, to source, digitize and distribute out-of-copyright sound recordings.” The lyrics for this song and others can be found on Genius. “Genius celebrates More Than The Music—the lyrics, the stories behind the songs, and the creative connections that meaningfully drive culture.” Notice how the attribution statement includes the song’s source, the title, the creator, as well as a link to accessing the lyrics.
Audio: Court House Blues written and performed by Clara Smith, 1920s (Public Domain), Court House Blues Lyrics.
Additional Resources
- To find audio that can be used within open textbooks, consult Rosemary Burgos-Mira’s OER libguide listing of Public Domain Audio resources.
- “Video and Audio in Pressbooks” in Accessible Digital Content Training by Jessica Blackwood and Kate Brown.
