Frequently Asked Questions
Which videos require captions?
Captioning videos is legally required for almost all situations at the college. There are a number of good reasons to ensure that videos used in your class are captioned:
- It's necessary for students who are deaf or hearing impaired to participate in the class.
- It helps students who may be watching your videos in noisy (and quiet) settings (e.g. the bus, at home after everyone else is asleep, at work, etc.);
- It's culturally responsive - English Language Learners can often use the captions to better understand your materials; and
- It's legally required for accessibility.
Which videos don’t require captioning?
There are a few cases where captions may prove impractical. However, if a student has a letter of accommodation, you must caption all videos that student will be using, even if they are considered optional to the class.
- Response to a single student or small in-class group of students, for instance personalized feedback on an assignment directed at a single student.
- Full lecture capture videos (e.g. Panopto) that are only going to be used for that one quarter.
But that's too much work!
It is some work. Consider the benefits, though, to students at Highline, so many of whom benefit from the addition of captions to videos. And, we have lots of resources to help!
What about videos in my textbooks?
Contact the publisher, and directly request captioned versions of the videos in their textbook resources.They should be able to provide this. Point out that you can't use their book if they don't have captioned video.
If you're reviewing books, get a confirmation in writing from the publisher representatives that all resources are accessible. You can even give them a copy of this document.
What's involved in captioning a video?
Captioning a video is basically a three-step process:
- Create a transcript of the video
- Synchronize the words in the transcript to the video
- Publish the captions with the video
There are step-by-step instructions for working through different videos, and a bunch of tools to automate the hardest work.
Why do I need to get permission to caption a video?
In some cases, we need to make a copy of the video, and then stream it either from within Canvas or the college's streaming server. In those cases, it's best to get permission, since making that copy may not be covered by Fair Use. There is no easy yes-or-no answer regarding permission or Fair Use.
- E-mail Us for help with making a determination about whether permission is required for your particular case.
- See the resources for obtaining permission to caption videos.
Do my videos already have captions?
By law, most commercial videos should be captioned, including those provided by the publishers of your textbooks. Below are some tips for ensuring your commercially provided videos are captioned:
First, check to see if the video you are using is already captioned.
- Turn on captions by clicking on the
icon in the lower right corner of most video players. - Watch at least five minutes of the video with captions turned on. Many YouTube videos will show captions, but the captions were created using a voice-recognition tool. The result is often badly garbled text. Often this is not evident until several minutes into the video.
If it's not:
- Directly request captioned versions of textbook videos from publishers.They should be able to provide this. Point out that you can't use their book if they don't have captioned video.
- Get a confirmation in writing from the publisher representatives when reviewing textbooks. You can even give them a copy of this document.
- Check out sources that provide captioned videos, such as Films on Demand from the Library. Learn more about library video databases.
- Contact the Library Reference Desk for help finding captioned videos.
- Contact the Help Desk for help displaying captions on classroom computers.
I have a caption file. How do I add it to a video?