“Photo”, “Audio”, “Video” and “File” question types

Last updated: 11 Sep 2023

With KoboToolbox, you can collect different types of media as part of your data collection project.

When you want to capture images as part of your submissions, use the “Photo” question type.

If a question requires that you record or attach an audio file, such as when a long explanation is expected from the respondent, use the “Audio” question type. The latest version of KoboCollect allows you to record audio within the app itself without opening a separate app.

With the “Video” question type, you will be able to record a video using the device’s camera or attach a video file.

If a question requires that you attach a file such as a PDF, you can use the “File” question type.

How to set up “Photo”, “Audio”, “Video” and “File” question types

Setting up in the formbuilder

Adding media questions is simple:

• Click the button to add a new question

• Type the question text, for example “Take a picture of the housing unit”, then click ADD QUESTION or press ENTER on your keyboard

• Choose the question type

Setting up in XLSForm

To add media questions in XLSForm, use the image, audio, video, or file question types as shown in the following example:

type	name	label	hint
image	house_photo	Take a photo of the housing unit
audio	impact	What has been the impact of the project on your household?	Record as audio
video	preparation	Record video of the respondent as they prepare the VitaMeal
file	CV	Attach your CV
survey

Appearance of “Photo”, “Audio”, “Video” and “File” question types

Default appearance

Advanced appearances for “Photo” question type

When adding the “Photo” question type, you can choose from a number of appearances (under the question settings). Appearances change the way the question is displayed in web forms and KoboCollect.

Adding advanced appearances in XLSForm

You can specify advanced appearances of the “Photo” question in XLSForm under the appearance column as shown in the following example:

type	name	label	appearance
image	sign	Sign here	signature
image	drawing	Draw here	draw
image	annotation	Take an image and annotate	annotate
survey

Background audio recording

You can record audio in the background when you open the form in KoboCollect. This can be useful in several data collection scenarios including focus group discussions and key informant interviews.

Turn on background audio recording in the formbuilder by clicking on Layout & Settings and enabling the feature.

Background audio recording is only available in KoboCollect and not in Enketo web forms.

In XLSForm, you can enable background recording with the background-audio question type. This is considered a “meta” question type and therefore no label is required, only a name. Audio quality can be configured under the parameters column, as explained here.

type	name	label
background-audio	background_audio
survey

It is not possible to record audio using "Audio" question type while background audio recording is underway on the form. When background audio recording is on, all "Audio" question types are deactivated.

You can read more about background audio recording here.

Lowering the file size of collected media

If you are collecting a lot of media in your project, you might have challenges uploading them to KoboToolbox depending on the speed of your internet connection. If you are using the Global Server or European Union Server, then you are also limited to only 1GB of free storage. It is a good idea to manage the file sizes of collected media files such as images, audio and videos.

You can define the maximum size of images you collect using the “Photo” question type by going to the question settings and setting the “max-pixels” setting in the formbuilder.

In XLSForm, you can do the same by adding “max-pixels” in the parameters column as follows:

type	name	label	parameters
image	photo	Capture photo	max-pixels=480
survey

In KoboCollect, you can also choose the video quality and photo size through the Form Management section of the project settings.

You can read more about how to lower file sizes here.

Limiting accepted file types for “File” question type

All file types are accepted by default for the “File” question type. In the formbuilder you can restrict this by doing the following:

• Go to the settings of the “File” question

• Under the “Accepted Files” box, enter the file extensions of the files you would like to allow, separated by a comma e.g. “.doc, .pdf, .xlsx”

In XLSForm, you can limit the accepted file types by specifying file extensions in the body::accept column as follows:

type	name	label	body::accept
file	CV	Attach your CV	.pdf, .doc
survey

Download an XLSForm with examples from this article here.