Recorded Videos & Captions

Recorded videos are a common way of providing information and engagement in courses and include everything from live-action videos to recorded slide presentations. When using videos, it's important to remember that not everyone can or wants to take in the information auditorily. Captions play along with videos, syncing dialog and context-relevant sounds with visuals. Captions aren't just useful to those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing; they can also be useful for those with auditory processing issues, English language learners, people in noisy environments, or people who need to remain alert to sounds in their environment.

Main Considerations

Captions must be accurate to what is being said, as well as having accurate spelling and punctuation.
The correct caption must appear at the exact moment when the audio is heard.
If there are sounds or music that are important to context, they should be included in the captions. For example, if a character is reacting to the sound of glass shattering off screen, [glass shattering] should be included in the captions.
Speaker(s) should be identified...
- If there is only one speaker, identify them only at the very start of the video.
- If there are multiple speakers, identify them when the speaker changes and especially when there are off-screen speakers or overlapping speech.
Avoid including video that flashes more than three times per second. If it must be included, warn watchers ahead of time.
Narrate important visual content (ex: if you are demonstrating a chemical reaction, verbally explain what is happening)
Slideshows should leave a fifth or more of the bottom of the slide clear so that slide content and captions can exist side-by-side comfortably.
It's best if no content autoplays on pages, but if it is set to play automatically for more than three seconds, there must be a mechanism to pause, stop, or control the volume of the audio independently of the system volume.

When Using Audio from Other Sources

Instructors are responsible for providing accessible resources, including properly-captioned video and transcribed audio. Be sure to double-check captions and transcripts of content you didn't create before sharing it.

The following YouTube channels provide accessible captions: SciShowLinks to an external site., CrashCourseLinks to an external site., TED-EdLinks to an external site., and Kahn AcademyLinks to an external site..

Please note that most platforms will flag/delete copyrighted material. If you need to use copyrighted material, please link directly to the original source or reach out to the library for help.

Workflows

Scripted Video Recordings

This option uses ScreenPal to edit and then uses YouTube to add the captions. This is because ScreenPal has a more comprehensive and user-friendly recording and editing suite than YouTube, but YouTube will auto-sync uploaded transcripts while ScreenPal requires either a timestamped and formatted caption file or manual syncing. You can also record via Zoom or another video recording app and then upload directly to YouTube.

Unscripted Video Recordings

While auto-generated captions on their own aren't considered accessible, they can be a really useful place to start if you aren't already working from a script. Zoom, ScreenPal, and YouTube all provide auto-generated captions that can be edited. Zoom is a simple option, since many of us are familiar with it, but it doesn't provide video editing options. ScreenPal is an all-in-one recording, editing, and uploading platform with a very robust and easy-to-use editor. YouTube Studio provides basic video clipping.

Recording via Zoom (go to a list of Zoom's recording guidesLinks to an external site.)

1. 1. Record the video.
    1. Start a meeting with just yourself in the room, set up your screen sharing and camera.
    2. Click More > Captions, the Show Captions button should appear next to the More button.
    3. Click the Show Captions button.
    4. Click More > Record and choose to upload to the Cloud.
  2. Once you've ended the session, wait for the video to process.
  3. Go to the Zoom website and log in using the same account you used to record.
  4. Go to Recordings & Transcripts on the left and click on the name of the video you want to edit the captions for.
  5. An Audio Transcript bar should appear to the right of the video. Watch the video and click on the pencil icon beneath each section of captions to edit them.

Recording via ScreenPal

1. 1. Record the video: if necessary, download the recorder, launch it, adjust your settings, and record. Learn more about recording in ScreenPal here.Links to an external site.
  2. Edit the video as necessary. Guide: editing in ScreenPalLinks to an external site..
  3. Have the platform auto-generate captions. Guide: auto-captions in ScreenPal (choose the Speech-to-Text option)Links to an external site..
  4. Watch through the video and edit the captions. Guide: edit ScreenPal captionsLinks to an external site. (scroll to the "Edit existing captions" section).

Uploading to YouTube

1. 1. Record the video and save it to your computer or device or use ScreenPal.
  2. Upload the video to YouTube. Guides: uploading from ScreenPal to YouTubeLinks to an external site. and uploading from computer to YouTubeLinks to an external site..
  3. Wait for YouTube to process the video and generate the captions.
  4. Edit the captions. Guide: edit YouTube captionsLinks to an external site..

Captioning Videos from Other YouTube Channels

If there's a YouTube video that you'd like to use in your course that isn't from your own channel and that doesn't have accessible captions, you can use Captionfy to add your own. Captionfy creates an overlay that allows viewers to see and customize captions and it can even be embedded in Canvas like a regular YouTube or ScreenPal video.

How to Use Captionfy:

1. 1. Log into Captionfy or create an account (you can just log in with Google on your school account if you want).
  2. Get a link to the YouTube video you want to add captions to.
  3. Paste the link into the Captionfy homepage.
  4. When the new page loads, click the +Create Subtitles button.
  5. Click Create with Subtitles Editor. (There is an option for if you have an existing subtitle file as well)
  6. Select the language for the captions you'll be creating.
  7. Type your captions into the Edit me box at the top right of the page. As you type, your captions will appear over the video so you can see how long they are. Try to keep them to two lines or less.
  8. Once you've written two lines of text, click the small black-circled + (plus) button under the initial caption line to create a new box to type into.
  9. As you go, adjust how long each set of captions stays on the screen using the blue slider bar at the bottom of the page. This will ensure your captions are accurately synced to the audio they represent.
  10. When you're done, click on the Subtitle Settings button at the top right.
  11. Change the setting for Status to Finished and Visibility to Public and then click Save Subtitles.
  12. Click the Leave to the Video Page button (farthest right button at the top of the page, shaped like a rectangle with an arrow pointing out).
  13. Embed the video using the code found in the "< >" button under the video or just share the link using the chainlink symbol. (Here is a guide on embedding videos from YouTube and Vimeo into Canvas; the steps will basically be the same.)

Additional Resource - Special Cases & Google Drive

This course covers the most common types of audio and video and assumes that you'll be working on a platform that already has accessible caption design (color contrast, font, text size, etc). If you are interested in creating your own captions or have a special use case, Best practices in online captioning, by Joe ClarkLinks to an external site. provides a more in-depth and technical guides on captions. This includes special cases like sign-language video, audio-described video, dubbed videos, closed and open captions together, and multilingual video.

Learn how to add caption tracks to your videos in Google Drive.