Introduction
Post-Production captions are a text alternative to video content that contains all auditory information included in the video. For pre-recorded videos like news announcements or course lectures, post-production captions are legally required. As of December 21, 2020, Zoom cloud recordings are automatically captioned using machine-generated captions (70-90% accuracy rate). Any recordings that will be shared through a public-facing website or Canvas course should be edited for accuracy using the Captioning Key Guidelines and built-in captioning editor in Kaltura or by requesting 99% accurate professional captioning. Machine-generated captions are generated by default for any video uploaded to Kaltura, and can be edited by following the self-service instructions.
This article covers post-production captioning. For other types of captioning, please see:
- Captioning Services - Ordering Closed Captions, Live Captions, and Transcripts
- Captioning Services - Ordering Live Captions
- Captioning Services - Ordering Post-Production Captions
- Captioning Services - Ordering Transcripts
Contents
Instructions
Choosing Caption Type
Free, machine-generated captions
- All Zoom Cloud recordings are captioned when they are transferred to My Media.
- My Media and YouTube both have free captioning generators and editors.
- Caption files can be downloaded from one tool and uploaded to another, so you can use one tool for caption editing and another for video playback.
See Free self-service below for instructions on using free captions.
Professional captions
- Before requesting professional services, creators should check the accuracy of the machine-generated captions. Sometimes quicker turnaround can be achieved by editing the machine captions.
- Current Faculty, Staff, Instructors of Record, and Graduate Teaching Assistants may request professional post-production closed captions for Virginia Tech courses.
- Employees who are content managers for public-facing content may also request post-production closed captions.
- Professional captioning services using the centralized fund cannot be used for research.
By default, creators of all videos used to support a student or employee with an accommodation for captions can obtain 99% accurate professional captioning with turnaround time determined by the SSD captioning manager. See Ordering Post-Production Captions to submit a request.
Other instructors creating pre-recorded course videos qualify for the “best effort” service (five business-day turnaround time) at no cost. Professional captions can be ordered directly through Kaltura.
If you’re not sure if (1) your video requires 99% accurate captioning or (2) if it qualifies for central captioning funding, submit the Captioning Services request form to discuss it with a captioning specialist. Please note that the default turnaround time for post-production captioning is 5 business days.
Captioning Costs
Free self-service
All available free captioning tools create machine-generated captions. Accuracy typically does not reach 90%. Machine-generated captions for publicly-shared recordings or recordings for coursework should be edited for accuracy using the Captioning Key Guidelines.
Below is a table of approved, free captioning tools:
|
Captioning Technology (all machine-generated) |
Caption Type |
Includes Caption Editor |
Instructions |
|
Zoom Cloud recordings* |
Post-production |
Yes |
|
|
My Media/Media Gallery (Kaltura) Captions |
Post-production |
Yes |
|
|
YouTube |
Post-production |
Yes |
*All Zoom Cloud recordings are automatically captioned when they are moved to the meeting host’s My Media. The host can hide the captions while they are being edited.
Centrally-funded
Captions and transcripts made by a human captionist are are 99% accurate. They are ordered through a third-party vendor. The following event and recording types qualify for central funding:
- Accommodations for students with disabilities.
- Recorded teaching materials (not recordings of live lectures) that will be used for multiple semesters.
- Live, digital, public-facing events across the university (e.g., webinars, seminars, and town halls).
Videos stored in locations outside of Kaltura (such as YouTube or Vimeo) can leverage the capabilities of those systems to create captions or use the Kaltura captioning output and upload it to another location.
Ordering Post-Production Captions
- Submit a request through Services for Students with Disabilities for:
- Accommodations for students with disabilities
- Submit a Captioning Services request form for:
- Accommodations for faculty/staff
- Captions for public-facing digital events such as webinars, seminars, and town halls
Viewing Post-Production Captions
Videos stored in Kaltura
You will be notified via your 4Help RITM or Incident when your captions are complete. You can locate your videos in Kaltura by going to My Media in Canvas or My Media at https://video.vt.edu.
Videos stored elsewhere
If content is posted online and frequently updated, create a Verbit account so that captions get added automatically. Otherwise, the caption file that was created from your request needs to be uploaded to your video on the platform you're using.
Editing Post-Production Captions
Videos stored in Kaltura
Please check your captions for accuracy. See Editing Captions to learn how to use Kaltura's captioning editing tool.
Videos stored elsewhere
Videos stored in locations outside of Kaltura (such as YouTube or Vimeo) can leverage the capabilities of those systems to edit captions or use the Kaltura captioning editor and upload it to another location.
Getting Help
- For help with accommodations for students with disabilities, contact Services for Students with Disabilities.
- For help determining whether your captions qualify for central funding, submit the Captioning Services request form.
- For help determining whether your event or recording requires captioning, submit the Captioning Services request form.
- For help ordering and editing machine-generated captions, see Editing Captions.
- For any other question about captioning, go to the 4Help Portal and click Get Help.