Creating Accessible Videos: Captioning

Overview

Videos are becoming more and more common as we move material and lectures/presentations online. On this page, you'll learn about the different ways in which to caption videos as well as some best practices for making instructional videos. 

You have a choice as to how to engage with the material in this lesson. Remember, the key concepts are always addressed in the text. If you need more info or learn by watching, the videos and resources are great supplements.

 Read: Making Effective & Accessible Videos

Before You Start Filming

When making videos for your course, chunk the material into short segments rather than one long video. Most people tune out around the 5 - 10 minute mark.

Depending on the type of video you are creating, if possible work from a script. Using a script will make you talk clearer, slower, and keep you to the point at hand. If you take the time to write a script, not only will your video sound better, but you can load the script into YouTube, where it will automatically be synced to the audio. Win. Win. 

If you're doing a screencast or narrating a PowerPoint, keep in mind that captions display at the bottom of the screen. Try to keep the bottom of your screen/slides clear so that you are not covering important info with the captions. 

When making a video or hosting a webinar, try your best to use descriptive language and don't rely on your viewers to read the screen (read it to them). If a viewer has impaired vision then descriptive language will add more value to the video. Avoid statements like "when I click here this happens" and instead describe what is happening (e.g. "when I click on the page refresh icon from the navigation bar, the webpage refreshes and displays the updated information"). 

If filming yourself, make sure you're in a quiet and clean/simple environment.

Adding Captions in YouTube 

Once you've made your video, it's time to add captions. You can do this a variety of ways - most depend on the type of video and whether or not you used a script. The easiest way to make captions requires either money or YouTube - you pick your approach. (If you don't want to use YouTube, but don't have money, create a private YouTube channel and make sure your videos are unlisted - this will keep your videos from being searchable in YouTube).

Adding Captions Instructions from YouTube Help Links to an external site.

NOTE: Many people will simply rely on YouTube's machine generated captions. These are not reliable and do not protect you from an OCR violation. While they do improve when you speak clearly and slowly, they never contain punctuation, which makes it a confusing reading experience for the viewer. 

If you used a script:

If you used a script and have published your video to YouTube, creating captions will be a piece of cake.

  1. Go to the Video manager, and in the edit dropdown menu next to your video, select Subtitles and CC.
  2. Select video language. 
  3. Select Add new subtitles or CC (and select the video language again).
  4. Select Transcribe and auto sync. 
  5. Paste your script into the box, then click Set timings. 

Wait a few minutes while YouTube runs it's magic!

If you did NOT use a script:

One option is to follow the steps above, but for step #6, you will listen to your video and transcribe it yourself before hitting "set timings" (anticipate transcription to take 3 - 5 times the length of the video). 

The other option is to use YouTube's machine generated captions, then to go through and edit them (this may take less or similar time than transcribing... so, again, start with a script if you want to do this the quickest way).

  1. Upload your video to YouTube.
  2. One your video is done processing, go to your video and select the Subtitles & CC button (looks like to Cs).
  3. Eventually, you will see English (automatic) next to your video -- this sometimes takes a while and may not happen at all if there is a lot of silence at the start of the video.
  4. Click on English (Automatic) to review the machine generated captions. 
  5. To edit the captions, click Edit in the top right corner. 
  6. Click in the caption boxes to add punctuation (a must) and correct errors. While you type in your changes, the video will pause.  
  7. Once you are done, click Publish edits in the top right corner. 
  8. You will now see two sets of captions. Click on English (Automatic) again. In the Actions dropdown menu, select Unpublish. 

You can also use this approach to create a caption file - which can then be downloaded and uploaded into Canvas directly for those videos created there.

Editing Captions in Panopto

Automatic captions are turned on in Panopto, so whether you record a  video using Panopto or upload a video file to it, it will have automatic captions after it is done processing. What is left to do is check and edit the captions content to ensure it is accurate:

  1. Locate your video and click on the Edit icon.
    Panopto video showing the edit icon

  2. The video will be processed for editing. When ready it will open.
  3. Select Captions [ 1 ] from the video menu, then check caption text. To edit captions, select any section of text [ 2 ] and make changes as needed.
    When finished checking and editing, then select the Apply [ 3 ] button to save changes. The video will reprocess once more to include changes.
    Panopto edit video interface highlighting the Captions menu option (1), the caption text area (2) and the Apply button (3)

  4. In the pop-up window that opens, select OK to close the video editor.
    Pop-up window message: uw.hosted.panopto.com Changes applied to video. Close the editor? Button options: Cancel and OK

When watching the video, viewers will be able to turn captions on/off as well as  change the location, color, and size of the captions if desired.

Videos Made in Canvas

If you made a video in Canvas, you can still add captions using a free program called Amara. I will warn you, this is not the easiest approach. It involves transcribing and manually setting timings (which chunks the text so that a readable amount displays at just the right time. To learn how to use Amara to caption videos within Canvas, check out this Canvas Guide on using Amara Links to an external site..

Uploading a Caption File

If you have already created your own captions in YouTube or other tool, you can export/download the file (preferred format is WebVTT, extension .vtt, for Canvas) and upload it directly to the video in Canvas. Instructions are located in the How do I add captions to new or uploaded videos in Canvas as an instructor? Links to an external site. Canvas Guide.

Caption Quality

When checking your captions for quality and accuracy, there are a few basic guidelines that may help:

  • Captions should be no longer than two lines, when possible.
  • Captions should stay on the screen for a minimum of four seconds, and a maximum of six seconds. 
  • Captions should be aligned with the audio they represent. 
  • Error-free captions are the goal. 

Generally, these issues are taken care of by auto-syncing and captioning services, but mistakes do happen. It's worth checking your captions for timing and errors. Quality recommendations are frequently very detailed, but these are the basics. If you'd like to see an example of a captioning key, the Described and Captioned Media Program's Captioning Key Links to an external site. is a good one.

Captioning via 3rd Party

Departmental Funds

If your school has money to put towards captioning, there is another very simple option: use a captioning vendor. There are many captioning vendors on the market that will deliver you a caption file that can be uploaded to YouTube, Vimeo, Panopto, Canvas, etc. However, these services usually run over $2.00 per minute. 

Public higher education institutions in the State of Washington, including the University of Washington, have a contract with 3PlayMedia for captioning services. Their services include seamless integrations with YouTube, Panopto, and other platforms. For a list of discount prices and to sign up for an account, see 3PlayMedia’s Washington Higher Education Captioning Contract Links to an external site. page.

Speak with your dean to see if your division or department might have money to go towards captions. Explain to them that captions are simply for people that are deaf or hard of hearing, they help people whose native language is not English. They help people if the presenter speaks with an accent. They may help people who need to view the video in public or noisy spaces. Video transcripts can also be helpful for people who have poor internet connections and may prefer to read the transcript over attempting to stream a video.

UW-IT Captioning Service

Accessible Technology Services (ATS) will caption a limited number of UW video presentations without charge through a service supported by UW-IT. Individuals, departments, and other units at the UW are encouraged to apply for funding to caption highly-visible, high-impact, multiple use, and/or strategic videos. Examples include:

  • Videos available to the public on a high-use website
  • Videos that will be used multiple times in a course
  • Videos developed by several faculty members to be used in several different classes

If you are interested in applying for this service, please complete the Captioning and Audio Description Service Application. For more information, please refer to the UW-IT Accessible Technology Help page Links to an external site..

NOTE: Captioning videos is required when students who are deaf enroll in your course; captioning in this case is provided by Disability Resources for Students Links to an external site. (DRS). However, ATS promotes captioning as a teaching best practice that benefits many students, including English Language Learners, students who wish to see the spelling of technical terms, and students who need to search for specific content in a set of videos.

ATS is available to provide technical support or training to UW faculty and staff who wish to caption their video products and otherwise make IT accessible. Contact Doug Hayman at dhayman@uw.edu for assistance.

Excerpts were retrieved from the Creating Accessible Videos page at University of Washington Links to an external site.

Watch: How (and Why) to Caption a Video

Making Videos Accessible (9:34)

Excellent video created by the DO-IT Center at the University of Washington. This short video addresses topics from preproduction techniques to captioning and audio description.

How to Edit Auto-Captions in YouTube (4:34)

A helpful video showing how to edit the machine-generated captions in YouTube.

Does closed captioning still serve deaf people? Gary Robson at TEDxBozeman (10:06)

This is a really great TEDx Talk addressing the importance of accurate and high quality closed captions. If you want to make a case for your school or program setting aside a budget for captions, watch this video and begin crafting your case.

Explore: Captioning Instructions & Resources