Closed Captioning is a process of displaying text on a television or video screen or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information. Closed captioning is typically used as a transcription of the audio portion of the presentation. Lane Community College must adhere to the Section 508 Guidelines of the Rehabilitation Act and therefore, all videos the college displays publicly must have captions or a transcript. Additionally, captioned media:
- is required for accessibility for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- is for anyone in noisy situations, when the audio quality is poor, or where noise isn't allowed.
- can make your video text searchable by search engines
- increases comprehension, especially for people with English as a second language
Start by submitting a request at our online form: Video Captioning Request Form
Who needs to do this?
Anyone creating media resources at the college that has audio information (both audio and video files).
Media Types We Can Support
Supported File types:
- Video files (.mov, .avi, .mp4, .qt*, .wmv, .webm, .m4v*)
- Audio files (.wav, .mp3)
Not Supported File Types:
- Flash video (.flv)
- Flash animation (.swf)
- PowerPoint with embedded audio (.ppt)
3 Steps for the Caption Process:
1. Get Your Media File Captioned
- The Lane employee gives the ATC a copy of the video that needs captioning.
- If the Lane employee already uses Moodle they can upload the video to Kaltura before putting in the request to speed up the process.
- The Lane employee will email the ATC@lanecc.edu or submit a request at our online form: Video Captioning Request Form
- The ATC will inform the employee that their video will reside on the college streaming server and will only be accessible to those that they give the URL to.
- The ATC will ask about the turnaround time for their request and let them know that captions will take 3-4 business days to be completed.
2. How the Request is Process
- The ATC will:
- Upload the file into Kaltura or find the file that is already uploaded to Kaltura.
- Categorize the video with our vendor so that it can be captioned.
- Make note of the URL and embed code for the instructor/ or department.
3. Finishing Up/ Closing Out the Request
- Once the video is uploaded, the ATC will email the submitted link to the video and an embed code that will work in Moodle or on the Lane Web Site.
- Captions will take 2-3 days to be completed. Once they are finished, the ATC will email you a link to the video and an embed code if you want to put the video player in Moodle or Drupal (the Lane website).
- If the video already existed in Kaltura they will notify the requestor the videos in Kaltura are being captioned and that captions will appear automatically on the already embedded videos.
- If the videos are already in Kaltura but are not posted in courses yet, you can follow Using Video in the Classroom: Kaltura to make your videos accessible to the students.
- The ATC can assist with embedding videos in your course on the Lane website if you prefer.
Decision Matrix for Captioning Media
Please note that this decision matrix is for content generated by employees of Lane and will be hosted in Lane sites (Moodle, Lane websites).
| Media Description | Should it be captioned? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Any streaming media content with audio embedded (duration is 20 minutes or shorter) | Yes, provided that it will be used in perpetuity and not just for one term. | |
| Any instructional streaming media content with audio embedded (duration is greater than 20 minutes) |
If there is a student in the course with an accommodations request, it should get captioned immediately.
|
Otherwise, the answer is maybe. Most content greater than 10 minutes generally doesn’t get sustained views beyond 10 minutes. If possible, a discussion with the instructor about the planned use of the content is recommended before captioning. |
| Streaming media content intended for the Lane website or other public facing Lane sites. | ||
| Interactive content such as audio embedded in powerpoints | Due to limitations, this isn’t always possible. A discussion with the instructor to explain the limitations of their content delivery vehicle should occur. It is possible a transcript could be generated, depending on the media type. |
FAQ
Q: Do ALL videos have to be captioned now?
A: Yes. In order to comply with both Section 504 and Section 508 Guidelines of the Rehabilitation Act, as well as titles II &III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, all online course content must be accessible to hard-of-hearing individuals.
Q: If I have videos already hosted, do I need to go back and change them?
A: No, it is not necessary to go back and change videos that have not been captioned, although it is a good idea.
Q: What about videos that I am currently working on?
A: Yes, if you are working on new content and future content for the classroom, they must be captioned.
Q: Do we have to use Kaltura, or can we use YouTube closed captioning?
A: Since YouTube is a video-sharing website at its core, individuals with an account can upload royalty-free videos for streaming to the public for free. This makes it a useful tool for teachers that use media as a part of their classroom instruction. The following steps take you step by step to add closed captioning to your video content. Before you begin, you must either have a formatted video ready to import to YouTube, or content already on YouTube ready to be shared.
Keep in mind!
Any captioning service is fine as long as the captioning is accurate. YouTube machine captions are not always accurate. If the producer is willing to correct the inaccuracies then Youtube is fine.
To add new subtitles or closed captions to a video:
- Go to your Video Manager.
- Next to the video you want to add captions or subtitles to, click the drop-down menu next to the Edit button.
- Select Subtitles and CC.
- In the drop-down menu, choose the language that's spoken most in the video and click Set language.
- Note: If you change the setting for the original language of your video, all future translated subtitles will use the new language as the source for translations (your published and draft subtitles and closed captions won't be affected).
- Click the Add subtitles or CC button.
- Choose the language for the subtitles or closed captions you want to create. You can use the search bar to find languages that don't automatically show in the list.
- If you choose a language that you've already started working on, this will take you directly to your draft and you can start adding content again.
- Choose how you want to add subtitles or closed captions to your video
If you want to use videos already on YouTube that are NOT your own personal videos, you can enable closed captioning by moving your mouse icon over the lower right side of the screen and click the CC icon next to the settings icon if available.
ATC Support & Hours of Operation
Weekday Support, Monday - Friday
- Phone (voicemail only): 541-463-3377 (8am-5pm)
- Email: atc@lanecc.edu (8am-5pm)
- Book a virtual appointment with the ATC (Summer term)
The ATC is open to in-person assistance. Support is available through the above remote options and on campus at CEN 208