Captioning and Transcription for Online Materials

Last revised: 10/01/2019 by dsm.

Overview

This article explains the responsibility and technical and fiscal support for the creation of accessible audio and video content for online courses.

Title 5 of Americans with Disability Act (ADA) clarifies that online courses must meet the requirements of the ADA and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Distance education means instruction in which the instructor and student are separated by distance and interact through the assistance of communication technology. All distance education is subject to the general requirements of this chapter as well as the specific requirements of this article. In addition, instruction provided as distance education is subject to the requirements that may be imposed by the American with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. §12100 et seq.) and section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.



Captioning and Transcription Services based on Accommodation Request

When a student makes an accommodation request for captioning and transcription through the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD), UCIS (University of Connecticut Interpreting Services) will inform the faculty member of their responsibilities and work with the instructor to ensure all course content meets the federally required threshold of 99% accuracy. When costs are associated with captioning and transcription to meet accommodation requests, these costs will covered by the University.

Captioning and Transcription Services for all Students

Many faculty who use video content in their courses want closed captioning to be available to all students regardless of ability. A recent article in Educause discusses the relationship between closed captioning and comprehension, accuracy, engagement, and general student use of video content. For faculty interested in this option, we recommend they use Kaltura to create the video content and then follow the directions for how to add captions and how to edit captions. The “Mechanical 70 to 80%” option is free of charge and faculty can edit the captions after the mechanical process is completed to increase accuracy.

Though the mechanical captioning process is convenient for sharing with all students, it should not replace the creation of transcripts as described above through CSD when accommodation requests are made.

Who to Contact for Service

For in-person support on using Kaltura to create videos, refer to Educational Technologies.

For web-based guides and resources on using Kaltura, refer to Academic IT’s Kaltura Site.

For more information about meeting student requests for accommodation, refer to UConn’s Center for Students with Disabilities.


 

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