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Media Captioning

If you use videos in your course or on the web, quality captioning is required to ensure equal access to all course content. Captioning can be useful not only for those with disabilities but also for those who speak English as a second language, non-traditional students taking courses, etc. For more information, please contact AccessMU@MiamiOH.edu.

Different Types of Captioning

Captions are the text of spoken words time-synchronized with video or a live speaker. They allow viewers to see the words and are used by people who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing. Many students also use captioning as a learning aid. Captions should include relevant sound effects, identify the speaker, and describe other non-speech elements (e.g. people dancing).

Types of Captioning

Auto Captioning

Auto captioning uses automatic speech recognition to display captions. This captioning type should only be used as a learning aid. It is not fully accessible for d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing people due to inaccuracies, poor punctuation, and not referencing non-speech elements. However, if the captions are edited for accuracy, they can be used to meet accessibility standards.

Closed Captions

Closed captions are text versions of the audio content (including dialogue, speaker identification, and non-speech sounds such as [music] or [applause]) that viewers can turn on or off.

Open Captions

Open captions are captions that are permanently visible (or "burned in") to the video file and cannot be turned off by the viewer.

Real-Time Captioning

Communication Access Real-Time Translation (CART) provides live, real-time captions of spoken content. A professionally trained captioner transcribes the audio as it is spoken, and the resulting text is immediately displayed to a d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing viewer.

What are Transcripts?

A transcript is a complete, written text version of all spoken audio content from a video or audio file. For videos, a descriptive transcript also includes important visual information needed to understand the content.

What are Subtitles?

Subtitles are the text display of spoken dialogue intended for viewers who can hear the audio but do not speak the language being used. They assume the viewer can hear sound effects and non-speech information.

Videos on Miami University Webpages

Cascade users must ensure that any posted video is captioned. Videos can be captioned using a number of tools, including Kaltura and YouTube. However, keep in mind that YouTube's automatic closed-captioning tool is only a starting point. Once YouTube has processed automatic captioning, the captions will need to be edited. See YouTube Videos below for more information.

If you have further questions about website accessibility within the Cascade CMS, please contact any member of the UCM web team at WebAdmin@MiamiOH.edu. The AccessMU Center can provide consultation and training to make your materials accessible.

YouTube Videos

How to Check YouTube Videos for Auto-Generated or Human-Generated Captions

  • Turn captions off/on and look to see what is designated in the upper left corner of the video.
  • Alternatively, open the video settings and see which caption track is selected. Auto-generated tracks will say "English (auto-generated)."

Adding/Editing Captions on YouTube

Once your video has been uploaded, YouTube will automatically generate captions for your video. Depending on the length and complexity of the video, this could take minutes or a few hours. Once your video’s automatic captions have been completed, you’ll see a draft in YouTube Studio to “duplicate and edit. 

  1. From your user profile, select YouTube Studio.
  2. From the left menu, select Subtitles.
  3. Select the video that you'd like to edit.
  4. Click ADD LANGUAGE and select your language.
  5. Under "Subtitles", click ADD.
  6. Add your subtitles and captions. Read more: Add Subtitles and Captions.

Downloading and Editing Caption Files

You can also edit captions by downloading the caption file and using a plain text (.txt) editing program like TextEdit or Notepad to edit the captions. This is helpful for running a spell checker or performing other editing tasks.

  1. Go to your Video Manager.
  2. Next to the video you want to edit captions for, click Edit, then Subtitles and CC.
  3. Select the caption track you want to download.
  4. Click the Actions drop-down menu.
  5. Click the caption file format you need. Learn more about caption file formats
  6. Your browser will download a file containing the captions track. Edit the file and save it.
  7. Follow the instructions to upload the captions to your video again.

How to Search for YouTube Videos with Captions

Videos with captions available will have a “CC” icon underneath the video summary in search results. If you’d like search results to only show videos with captions available, enable this search filter:

  1. Enter your keywords in the YouTube search bar.
  2. Click the Filters button.
  3. Click CC (closed caption).

Kaltura Videos (MyMedia)

Machine Translation (MT) is automated translation. It is the process by which computer software is used to translate text from one natural language to another.

Kaltura uses Machine Translation and enables fast translation results with a Turn Around Time (TAT) that is less than the media length. The translation file's accuracy is around 85%. The captions' file should be edited after the translation is completed to increase accuracy. Visit the Kaltura Editing Captions page to learn more.

When you upload a video to Kaltura, automatic or machine captioning is added to your video within a few hours. Once the automatic captions have been edited, you’ll want to review and edit the text and timing for accuracy:

  1. Click the video title in MyMedia.
  2. Click the Actions button and select Edit from the dropdown menu.
  3. Move your mouse to each text box, locate any errors, and correct them. When you are done making edits, be sure to click the Save button in the top right corner.
  4. Return to the Captions settings and click the Show on Player button to enable captions to appear on the video player. Without this step, edited captions will not appear on the video.

Watch the Kaltura: Editing Automatic Captions video for a step-by-step overview of editing captions.

Embedding Your Kaltura Video in Canvas

Once your captions are done, you’re ready to embed your video on your Canvas page:

Embed Kaltura media in Canvas 

Copyright

Material Submission

Copyrighted materials that are submitted for remediation should be lawfully made and obtained under US copyright law. If you have questions about identifying and obtaining lawful copies of works, please reach out to MU's copyright librarian, Carla Myers, at myersc2@MiamiOH.edu, or 513-529-3935.

Kanopy and Swank Licensing Requests

Faculty and students can submit licensing requests through either Kanopy or Swank to request documentary, rare, or arthouse titles. These requests come to Miami’s subject librarians for review. Alternatively, faculty and students can contact their subject librarian to request the titles.

Providing Students With Access to Remediated Copies

In those situations where vendors do not provide accessible copies of works, the AccessMU Center may be able to create a remediated version of the work for the student to use. In order to promote compliance with US copyright law these accessible copies should only be made available to the student who required the accommodation. Students with Captioned Media accommodations will be granted access to these resources through Kaltura.

Instructors will need to enable "Media Gallery” in their Canvas course navigation. This will allow the eligible student(s) to view these captioned resources. Please visit Canvas Guides for assistance in managing Canvas Course navigation.

Request Captioning Services

Captioned media requests for students with accommodations should be submitted via SAM. Instructors will receive an email titled "[SDS] Captioned Media Instructions" with a link to the SAM captioning request form. If you are an Instructor and you did not receive this email, please contact the Miller Center for Student Disability Services at 513-529-1541 or SDS@MiamiOH.edu.

Miami University departments can also submit files for captioned media services. Each department will be responsible for the cost of these services and must provide a Cost Center code at the time of the request. Captioned media requests start at $1.00/per minute. Please allow 7-10 business days for these services.

Contact the AccessMU Center at 513-529-0200 or AccessMU@MiamiOH.edu for pricing if your captioned media is needed sooner than 7-10 business days.

Captioned Media Request Form

Podcasts and Other Audio Files

All audio files, including podcasts, should be accessible. The easiest way to make your content accessible is by providing a transcript. Providing transcripts for your audio files will benefit several individuals: people with disabilities, non-native speakers of English, people in noisy environments, fast readers, and people with low-bandwidth or poor connections. Additionally, make sure your website and the media player are accessible. Contact the AccessMU Center at 513-529-0200 or AccessMU@MiamiOH.edu for more information.

For more information about captioning and audio description, please visit the resources below: