Skip redundant pieces


closed caption symbols

 

Captioned Videos

Making Video Material 100% Accessible for Students who are Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing

Legal Mandate:

Watching a video without captions can not only compromise the education of students who are Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing (DHH), but it might also infringe upon their right to equal access as established by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (revised, 1973) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990, revised 1995).

Institutional Responsibility:

Disability Resources facilitates university-wide compliance with legal mandates, provides resource information, and coordinates some accommodations; however, every KU department and organization shares responsibility in making their programs and curricula barrier-free to students with disabilities.

What to Look for:

  • Check all currently owned videos for captioning.
  • Purchased videos will be labeled with one of the three symbols shown at the top of this page on either the case or center label of the video.
  • Self-recorded videos will need to be checked by viewing clips from each video with the captioning capabilities of the TV turned on.
    • Captioned TV programs/movies retain captioning when recorded.
    • Mark the captioned videos with one of the captioning symbols for future reference
  • When purchasing new videos, buy captioned.
    • If captioning status is not listed in the catalog or Internet ordering site, contact the company.
  • Check the TV you plan to use for captioning capabilities, and how to activate such capabilities.
    • Captioning can be turned on with either the remote control or on the TV set (usually under the menu option).
    • Occasionally the captioning option is only activated with the remote control.
    • If unable to find and activate the captioning, contact the office of Instructional Development and Support (864-2600) for additional A-V assistance.
  • Check captioned video loan library for the same or alternative video
    • See National Captioning Resources: Captioned Media Program

Getting Videos Captioned:

  • Seek funding from within the department to pay for captioning current videos.
  • Direct questions regarding this responsibility to the department chair, school, or Kim Bates, Interpreter Coordinator in Disability Resources (864-2620)

If funds are limited, prioritize videos to be captioned using the following as guidelines:

  1. Videos used every semester/year as a staple part of the curricula
  2. Videos used to present new information that will be tested
  3. Videos used to reinforce already presented material
  4. Videos used for enrichment purposes only (non-tested material)

Other Options:

  • If the video is nonessential consider not showing the video.
  • Provide a transcript of video to the student and interpreter at least one class period in advance of the class showing.
  • Offer to let the student watch the video in advance of the class showing.
  • Ask the interpreter to interpret the video.

Note: Much of the information can be lost in the interpretation of a video due to the density of information, rate of speech, and number of speakers at a given time.

Bottom Line:

  • Should a non-captioned video be shown, access to course content is compromised.
  • To the extent that the video material is used as a teaching tool for the hearing students, alternative and explicit teaching tools should be employed for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

Alternatives include but are not limited to:

  • Referral back to a specific section of the textbook
  • Referral to other print resources
  • Provide complete lecture notes if available
  • Offer a one-on-one meeting to discuss pertinent course content contained on the video

Resources for Captioning:

Note: The price range varies based on length of video and whether or not a transcript is provided on a disk. General range for a 30-minute video is from $105.00 to $450.00 or more. It may be possible to negotiate a price if captioning videos in bulk.

Local Resources:

The University of Kansas Life Span Institute, Media Services
Contact: Cynthia Huebner

Phone: (620) 421-6550 ext. 1734

Email: chuebner@ukans.edu

Captioning Services of Kansas
Phone: (785) 842-9994

http://www.captionservices.com

National Resources:

Captioned Media Program
Free captioned video loan library offered
Phone: 800-237-6213

http://www.cfv.org

The Caption Center
Phone: (617) 300-3600

http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/captioncenter

ClosedCaption Maker

“VHS videotapes used in the Classroom”

Phone: 1-800-527-0551

http://www.CCmaker.com

RAPIDTEXT

Phone: (949) 339-9200

http://www.RAPIDTEXT.com

For Everything You Wanted to Know, But Were Afraid to Ask, Go to:

http://www.robson.org/capfaq/overview.html