Provide Accurate Captions and Transcripts

Ensuring all videos and audio files include accurate captions or transcripts makes them accessible to students who are deaf, hard of hearing, or prefer text-based information. This approach benefits all students, especially in noisy environments or when video and audio are unavailable.

Quick Links: | Why This Matters | What You Can Do | Instructions |

Captions and transcripts are essential for accessibility in courses. Without these, students who are deaf or hard of hearing may miss critical information conveyed through audio or visual content. Captions and transcripts also support students in noisy settings or those who process information more effectively in text format. By embedding these tools in your course, you make the learning experience equitable and enhance comprehension for all.

Why This Matters

When captions or transcripts are unavailable:

• Students who are deaf or hard of hearing are excluded from accessing audio content.
• Visual elements described verbally are lost to students relying on text or subtitles.
• Students in noisy or audio-restricted environments cannot engage effectively with course materials.
• Information processing preferences (e.g., text over auditory input) are not accommodated.

These issues disproportionately impact students with hearing impairments, neurodiverse learners, and those in challenging viewing or listening environments.

What You Can Do

Providing accurate captions and transcripts ensures inclusivity and supports all students. Kaltura can automatically generate captions for media uploaded to your course, and these captions can be edited to ensure accuracy. Additionally, Zoom recordings saved to the cloud are transferred automatically to Kaltura for captioning. Linking to a transcript or embedding media with captions helps ensure all students can access and understand course content effectively.

This practice also helps:

• Improve engagement by offering multimodal content.
• Support students whose first language isn’t English.
• Allow flexible learning in varied environments.

Instructions

To add captions or transcripts, use the following resources:

• Upload media and generate captions in Kaltura
• Edit captions for accuracy in Kaltura

For longer media, consider embedding the video or audio in a Canvas page and adding a written transcript below. Ensure all captions are accurate and test the embedded media to confirm captions display correctly.