Captions are the text representation of the audio in a video. Captions are legally required for course material. Some learners are deaf or hard of hearing and require captions to access the learning materials, but in fact most students watch videos with the captions on. Some watch videos in noisy environments, others watch course videos in the evenings after their kids are asleep. Others find it easier to process the material presented in the the video if they can read and listen to the words at the same time.
When you consider whether a video needs to be captioned by a paid service or by the free machine service through Kaltura, the question is whether it’s a one-time use, just-in-time video in your announcements, or whether you intend to reuse the video year after year.
One-Use, Just-In-Time Videos
When you record an informal video for use in your announcements using Kaltura My Media (click here for directions for recording a video through My Media), machine captions will automatically be applied.
However, machine captioning is not accurate enough to meet accessibility standards, so you should then edit those captions for accuracy. See Kaltura (Captioning) – Editing Captions from the UW System KnowledgeBase for directions on how to edit your videos through Kaltura.
Formal Videos to be Included in Course Content
If your video will be used every semester and included in the course content, talk with your instructional designer first. They should be aware of whenever something is included in the formal course content, and they will also order manual captions for your videos. Your video will be captioned by a skilled human at a 99 percent accuracy rate.
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