Closed Captioning

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Stephanie [00:03]: Welcome to Accessibility in 5. A series from UFIT, where we explore a quick tip on making your content more accessible in 5 minutes or less.
I'm Stephanie and today's topic is Using Captions for Audio Visual Content. Captions allow us to provide our content in an alternative method, that allow students who are deaf, hard of hearing, non-auditory processors or for who English is not their first language to be able to access the information presented via audio visual media. To go further into the importance of captions and what makes good captioning, we have Rachael Santarsiero with the UFIT captioning team. This fantastic group creates and applies captions to lecture videos recorded for all registrar courses at the University of Florida that meet the EITCA office's requirements for central funding upon the request of the instructor whose content it is. Hello, Rachael, and welcome to Accessibility in 5. We're excited to have you here.
Rachael [01:03]: Thanks, Stephanie. It's good to be here.
Stephanie [01:05]: So why are captions so important when using audio visual content in a course?
Rachael [01:10]: Well, first and foremost, it's the law. The American Disabilities Act requires not only physical access to buildings, but requires auxiliary aids be made available to anyone with a disability. And closed captions fall under auxiliary aids. Captions are also important because of their ability to make video content more accessible to so many, not just deaf/hard of hearing individuals. And while captions enable them to watch videos, it also assist with people having the ability to focus on and retain the information more easily. For example, people with auditory processing difficulties like me. Add to that people watching videos in sound sensitive or noisy environments, or those with English as a second language.
Stephanie [01:51]: So what does your department do?
Rachael [01:53]: Well, we used to transcribe each lecture video using transcription equipment, but now we tend to run the lecture videos through an AI speech software first, then edit those transcripts for accuracy. And we also do a lot of research work on terminology so that the students aren't left hanging for those correct words. In addition to that, we work hand in hand with the Disability Resource Center to caption lectures and courses with students that meet the DRC’s requirement criteria. And that's our highest priority work. We integrate those videos with one of our vendors for a 24 hour turnaround.
Stephanie [02:28]: Wow, that's so quick. So how can instructors contact your department for assistance with captioning?
Rachael [02:34]: Instructors can simply fill out a closed captioning request form at accessibility.ufl.edu. And if your request meets the requirements set by the EITCA office and you are approved, then we'll begin working on those captions.
Stephanie [02:49]: Thank you for taking some time to talk to us about captioning, Rachael.
It was great information. And thank you for watching Accessibility in 5. You can find this video as well as previous ones archived under resources on citt.ufl.edu. Tune in next month to learn about considerations when using color in your content.
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