Captioning--Getting Assistance

Captioning is required on all educational media regardless of a request for accommodation.

While the Media Services team is not considered a captioning service, MDL can provide assistance for faculty to obtain and/or create their own captioned media. This page provides specific information about available services, and the process to request assistance.

Our video and captioning support services are designed to meet the varying needs of our faculty:

• assist faculty by providing general information and links to tools, tutorials, and vendors for those who prefer to caption on their own

• assist in helping faculty to acquire already captioned materials

• assist in getting faculty materials captioned if this level of assistance is needed

• video capture services, and tips for those faculty who prefer to create their own video content

• assist faculty in the DECT Grant process

If you need assistance, please submit a request to User Support Services. Provide specific detail about what assistance you need, and we will assign to a media specialist to your request.  Media and captioning services require time to process.  Please plan for a 2-4 week turnaround time for your request.

 

Captioning VHS, DVDs, or Blu-Ray Media

The easiest and most cost-effective method to obtaining captioned commercial video is to purchase already captioned videos. Because the time it takes to caption video content is lengthy (which includes the copyright requirement for us to obtain permission), it is recommended that faculty purchase only captioned DVD/Blu-ray when available, including replacing older non-captioned media by purchasing new.

If you choose to caption an older film, we legally must secure the permission of the distributor before captioning, to protect the copyright. Here is an example email for a captioning permission request for those who caption on their own.

 

DECT Grant

We assist faculty in obtaining DECT grant services! Please visit our DECT page for in-depth information and instructions on how we can help you obtain this service.  Allow 4 weeks for the entire process to be completed.

DECT is a grant managed by the College of the Canyons. The DECT grant is for educational material directly attached to curriculum and is intended to process the majority content of a course at one time.

 

Additional Captioning Resources

Butte College UDL

The Butte College Universal Design for Learning pages provides an excellent overview about accessibility and course design.

Free Tools/Tutorials:

• 3C Media - video hosting and DECT captioning requests
  
  

• Tools like Amara allow users to add captions to YouTube and Vimeo Videos.

• CCC approved captioning solutions -
  • Canvas Studio
  • CCC TechConnect Cloud
  • CCC TechConnect Zoom

• YouTube EDU - Collections of education videos, organized by level, topic, course.

• ViewPure - Paste your YouTube URL, and ViewPure will give you a URL to use without the distracting "related videos" that get displayed on the YouTube site

• TEDed: Transform your YouTube video into a lesson which assesses the viewer. Check out our example of a TEDed lesson here: http://ed.ted.com/on/7H7bty42

• Camstudio.org: Free screen recorder software for Windows.

• Screencast-o-matic.com: Free browser-based (no download) screencasting and hosting services

• Webinar: @One Captioning the DIY way

 

Video/Lecture Capture

Media services will work with faculty to capture lectures and create video course content. We will work directly with faculty to ensure that content is of professional quality, is captioned, and is available to their Canvas courses. 

Please submit a request to User Support Services to schedule. Please allow 4 weeks for this process.

DIY Video Capture & Captioning Tips

For those faculty who prefer to create their own video content, we recommend that you incorporate the following techniques to achieve the best quality content:

Microphone quality: You will likely get better results from the auto-transcription engines when using a better quality microphone.

Good Lighting: Make sure you have good lighting so that your video content is easy to see.

Using proper sentence structure: Another way to get better results form the auto-transcription engines is to use proper sentence structure and grammar in your recordings. This can be difficult to do in our normal speech patterns, but it does improve performance when it comes to the auto-transcription processes.

Using a script: One way to make the captioning process easier is to write out the script before doing the recording. The transcription step, then, is taken care of and it's just a matter of syncing it to the video afterwards. This can also be a good way to ensure that you cover everything that you need to in your videos, while keeping it short and focused. You can take the script one step further and use it to make it easier to maintain eye contact with the camera while reading your script.

Find a Workflow for You: You may find that you have several options when it comes to recording and captioning your instructional media. Don't let this be overwhelming. Find a workflow that you are comfortable with and that works well for you.

 

Additional Helpful Links

Be sure to check out our Helpful Links page for additional links to tutorials, information,  and other resources about captioning.