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Video Content, Captioning, and Transcript Accessibility Guide

Overview

Videos are a great way to convey information to your students. To provide equal educational access for all, you need to make videos accessible. Like in Word, PowerPoint, and other instructional materials, many of the same practices apply to videos.

  • Do not use color to denote meaning.
  • Use large enough and clear enough fonts to be legible.
  • Color contrast should be at least 7:1.
  • In addition to those considerations, videos should have captions or a transcription.

Video Captioning

Captions allow a student who is deaf or low hearing to get the full effect of an instructional video and can also benefit other students in different situations, for example:

  • English Learners can see the words at the same time they are listening
  • In noisy environments, you can read the content
  • You can search terms in the caption text
  • Reading and listening at the same time increases the depth of learning and improves comprehension ( A Rising Tide' at educause.edu )
  • When the audio is not clear, reading the subtitles clarify content
  • Students with a learning disability benefit from the closed captions

Adding Captioning

There are different ways to add Closed Captions (cc) to your videos, here are some ideas:

  • A quick way to get started on creating captions is to upload your video to YouTube. YouTube will add cc automatically, however, you will need to edit the captions for accuracy.  Guides on using YouTube for captioning .
  • Canvas Studio is another choice for automatic captions which you can then later edit for accuracy.
  • To add captions to videos that have copyright, please contact the Academic Technology Center.
    • Note: If you are using a copyrighted video, you may need to pay an outside vendor to caption it for you. You cannot upload it to YouTube for captioning. 

Video Transcription

A transcript is a written version of an audio file, and a closed caption (CC) is a written version of a video. All educational videos need to include captions.

Transcript Considerations

If you are authoring a video or an audio file for your class, make sure your sound is clear and crisp, as this is vital to obtain an accurate transcript.

Follow these best practices to get good quality audio to help expedite the creation of the transcription and captions:

  • If possible, record in a soundproof room.
  • If you are recording at home, isolate yourself away from noisy distractions, street traffic, and interruptions from family and pets.
  • Use a stand-alone microphone instead of the microphone on your device, or use the headphones that come with your mobile device. Test before deciding what to use.
  • Consider using a script to ease the experience in front of the microphone and to stay on topic.
  • Speak clearly and slowly.
  • Avoid talking while shuffling papers. Stop speaking before turning pages.
  • Describe graphics, pictures, and your actions. Replace language such as: "As you can see here" with something like: "This graphic shows..." Or instead of silence, tell the audience what you are doing; for example, if you are writing something on the screen say: "Now I will add the 3,250 and the 5,460 amounts".
  • Test your equipment by recording a one-minute sample and playing it back to check for volume and clarity.
  • Practice, practice, practice.