Captioning

Captioning adds a text transcription of audio content to a live event or recording, either at the bottom of the screen (closed captions) or in an adjacent window or display. Captioning provides an accessible way for people who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing, people who have an auditory disability, and people viewing with volume off and in noisy environments to have equal access to the content. Captioning can also help increase comprehension for all reviewers. 

Captions for Recordings and Video

Captions for pre-recorded audio or video can be produced by automatic speech recognition (ASR) software or by human captioners. Although ASR-generated captions can help with comprehension and enable viewers to watch with sound muted or in noisy environments, they typically do not meet the 98% accuracy level required for ADA compliance without additional human editing.

Recordings must have ADA-compliant captions if:

• Captioning is needed as a disability accommodation
• They will be used in a course (for more information, see Accessibility Policy for Classroom Instruction)
• They will be published on a College website (for more information, see Web Accessibility Policy)

You can use Panopto (the college’s lecture capture and video-streaming service) to produce ADA captions by:

• Contracting with a third-party captioning service, such as Karasch, to produce and upload ADA-compliant captions for you. 
• Correcting the ASR captions that Panopto creates until they are at least 98% accurate. See Panopto: Captions for details.

Languages other than English

By default, Panopto applies English ASR captioning, but Panopto supports captions and ASR captioning in multiple languages: 

• See How to Use Multiple Language ASR Captioning for languages supported and how to apply ASR in languages other than English. 
• See How to Add Translated Captions for instructions on adding translated caption files to Panopto video to create subtitles. Recordings can be captioned in multiple languages, which viewers choose from in the playback window.

Caption live events

College policy requires event organizers to state that disability accommodations will be made upon request when advertising any college event, whether in-person or online. Captioning is one type of accommodation that could be requested. For more information, see Accessibility Policy for College Events. 

• Arrange CART (Human-Generated) captioning if someone requests or you know that a participant needs captioning as a disability accommodation.
• Consider using Live ASR (Computer-Generation) captioning if your event is online and no one requests or needs captioning as a disability accommodation. Live ASR captioning will assist with comprehension, enable viewing in noisy environments, and produce a transcript.

CART (human-generated) captioning

Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) captions are produced by trained professionals who attend the event and type captions in real-time using special hardware and/or software platforms.

• CART is the standard for disability accommodation and aims for 98% accuracy and above. The captioner must be able to hear speakers clearly to attain this level of accuracy.
• CART is available for in-person and online events.
• Services must be scheduled in advance; vendors may need up to 3 weeks’ lead time due to increased demand.
• Zoom works well for online events, as it can show CART as subtitles in the meeting window. See Captioning in Zoom.
• Access Services will schedule CART captioning for course meetings when needed for students with documented disabilities.
• Other event organizers should schedule CART services themselves and ask providers to invoice them directly (not Access Services).

The following CART vendors are currently active in eMarket and have been used by campus event organizers:

Karasch & Associates

• Service: Remote audience CART (e.g., for Zoom event, etc.)
  • Fees: $135 per hour; 1 hour minimum, then billed in 30-minute increments
  • Scheduling lead time: Minimum 24 hours in advance; but contact as soon as possible, especially for complex events or those requiring specialized knowledge
  • Cancellation policy: Cancel more than 48 hours (two business day) in advance to avoid being billed for the total scheduled time. (For recurring classes, 24 hours in advance of a meeting.)
  • How to schedule: Email jalberici@karasch.com
  • Billing point of contact: Please direct your bills to your department and NOT to Access Services.
    
    
• Service: On-site CART
  • Fees: $175 per hour for an individual consumer, and $210 + travel expense for an audience; 2 hour minimum, then billed in 30-minute increments
  • Scheduling lead time: Minimum 24 hours in advance; but contact as soon as possible, especially for complex events or those requiring specialized knowledge
  • Cancellation policy: Cancel more than 48 hours (two business days) in advance to avoid being billed for the total scheduled time. (For recurring classes, 24 hours in advance of a meeting.)
  • How to schedule: Email Joe Alberici (jalberici@karasch.com) or call 800-621-5689 opt 5 for any needs.
  • Billing point of contact: Please direct your bills to your department and NOT to Access Services.

Live ASR (computer-generated) captions

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) software uses algorithms to analyze audio and generate caption text. ASR captions can be produced quickly and inexpensively and — if audio quality is decent — can produce text that is accurate enough to greatly assist listeners with comprehension, compensate for background noise, and enable viewing with volume muted. For instructions on how to turn on ASR captions, see Zoom: Captioning and Microsoft Platforms: Accessibility Features for captioning in Microsoft Teams and PowerPoint.

Best practices for events

When setting up captioning for an event, there are a few steps you should consider. 

First, when you advertise your event, please include the following language:  

Bryn Mawr College welcomes the full participation of all individuals in all aspects of campus life. Should you wish to request a disability-related accommodation for this event, please contact the event sponsor/coordinator. Requests should be made as early as possible.     

Also, while advertising the event, please clearly list what accommodations you will be providing.  If you say that you will be providing captioning, please clearly state what kind of captioning it will be: CART or ASR. If you are using ASR, encourage people with need for CART to please let the event organizer know so it can be secured in a timely manner. Contact accessservices@brynmawr.edu as early as possible if someone requests captioning or an interpreter in order to allow for the service to be scheduled in time. 

Second, as you choose your layout, make sure that seating is such that everyone is able to see where captioning will be projected.  Consider how you will market additional captioning features for the day of the event. Will you provide guides, signage, and assistance if you are using an app like Microsoft Translator or Ava to provide captioning?  Will you reserve seating in the room for those who might have special accessibility needs? 

Lastly, remember to provide captioning for all media! For example, if you have an event that involves a speaker presenting, a brief film clip in the middle of the presentation, and a breakout session, make sure to provide captioning for all three.  

Improve live caption accuracy

Some simple best practices can improve the accuracy of both ASR- and human-generated captioning:

• Use a good microphone, especially if there is background noise.
  • Use a headset or unidirectional USB desktop microphone instead of a laptop’s built-in microphone.
  • In an event space, make sure that the microphone provides sound to the captioner (and any recording software) as well as the room speakers.
• Face the microphone and stay in range while speaking.
  • If you need to move around, a wired or wireless USB lavalier microphone may help.
  • However, you should still turn to face your audience when speaking so they can read your lips and facial cues.
• Practice good public speaking skills.
  • Speak clearly and deliberately. (For most people this means slow down!)
  • Pause between phrases and sentences to allow the captioner and your listeners to catch up.
  • Practice speaking with Live Transcript turned on in Zoom to get a feel for proper pacing. Since ASR technology mirrors the contextualization process that human listeners use to understand speech, improvements in ASR accuracy should translate into improved listener comprehension as well.
• Provide contextual information for listeners in advance and/or during the presentation:
  • Provide a CART service with an abstract of your presentation abstract (or the script if using) and a list of proper names, specialized vocabulary, or other tricky words in advance.
  • Include proper names, specialized vocabulary, and important points on slides so that listeners can hear AND read them simultaneously. Share slides or an abstract with the audience in advance whenever possible.
• Repeat or summarize audience questions and comments before responding.
  • Repetition by a presenter ensures the captioner and audience members can both hear AND see your lips and facial cues, which may be necessary for full comprehension. (Audience microphones can help with audibility, but facial cues are typically lost.)
  • Speaker repetitions and summaries can be included in recordings even if privacy concerns or the logistics of securing consent prevent recording audience members directly.
  • Repetition/summarizing can help questioners or commenters feel heard and give them an opportunity to correct any misunderstandings.

Questions?

If you have any additional questions or problems, don't hesitate to reach out to the Help Desk!

Phone: 610-526-7440 | Library and Help Desk hours
Email: help@brynmawr.edu | Service catalog
Location: Canaday Library 1st floor