How can I learn more about UM's campus captioning and media conversion services?

UM IT: Accessible Technology Services

  • Accessible Technology Services provide captioning services to UM members for audio recordings, video and screencasts. Captions are prioritized according to a video’s use in a course (whatever is needed soonest is captioned first). Most work includes Moodle and/or YouTube content. 
  • In general, ATS does not caption 3rd party media (commercial). ATS checks with the Library for a captioned copy or to request a purchase. 
  • ATS (Timothy McHenry) provides media conversion services with or without copyright approval for media that needs to be captioned. Once he’s performed the conversion process, ATS captions the converted media.

Office for Disability Equity

  • Office for Disability Equity (formerly DSS) provides captioning services for courses with identified students. 
  • ODE sends out letters to faculty, asking them if their media is captioned - can go through library for library owned or for commercially produced media, or through ODEfor free online or self created media.
  • First ODE asks the library to purchase the media in DVD format. 
  • Faculty inform ODE about the media content. ODEcaptions that media using Camtasia Studio and sends faculty the link.
  • If not available in DVD format, ODEuses Career Services conversion equipment to convert VHS to DVD. 
  • Sometimes the Library can find transcripts.

Mansfield Library 

  • Mansfield Library provides access to commercially produced media for check out or classroom use and will work with faculty, ODE, ATS and/or other 3rd party vendors as necessary to ensure those commercially produced media materials are accessible.
    •  Classroom scheduling of media is completed via an online form. Please indicate on the form if there are any known accessibility related needs.
    • Course reserves makes physical items such as textbooks, library books, videos, CDs and copies of readings or exams available for check out. Instructors specify the checkout period for items placed on course reserve. Reservations are scheduled via a form; please indicate on the form if there are any known accessibility related needs.
  • The library will verify the level of accessibility of the media being used in class or placed on reserve.  If a title does not have captions the library will first try to purchase a captioned version.  If a captioned version is not available for purchase the library will:
    • Contact ODEto provide captioning if there is an identified student in the class
    • Provide the material as is for a one time use if there are no identified students in the class. Once the material is no longer needed for the current class the library will utilize 3rd party vendors to create a captioned version to have on hand for potential future use.
  • In the event that a media item is only available in an obsolete format, such as 16 mm film, or VHS the library will attempt to purchase a captioned version in an updated format such as DVD.  If the material is unavailable for purchase in an alternate format, the library will refer the instructor to  Presentation Technology Services (PTS) for necessary audio/video equipment. 
  • If the faculty member intends to continue to use media only available in an obsolete format, the  library will utilize a 3rd party vendor to convert the material to DVD and will then add captioning as appropriate.  Format conversion is allowed under copyright if it is done for preservation purposes, and if the library retains the original purchased material and only circulates one copy of the title. 

UMOnline 

  • Captioning and media accessibility information is incorporated into UMOnline trainings
  • During the course development process, UMOnline educates faculty one-on-one about DCMP Guidelines and helps them submit a ticket to the Solutions Center if they need their videos captioned.
  • Questions related to copyright and placing full-length commercial or library-owned videos in Moodle needs further discussion.

3rd Party free online videos (Ted Talks, YouTube videos, etc.)

  • If these videos are not captioned and are going to be used more than once, send link(s) to Solutions Center (one ticket per course, no more than five videos a ticket). 
  • ATS will contact Library if content seems like it might be easily purchased with a captioned version.
  • ATS will decide if the captions are created in house or sent out via REV. 
  • ATS will send instructor back the caption .srt file and it is the instructor's responsibility to contact the owner and request that they upload the caption file. If the owner of the video does not respond or will not do this, we download the video, re-upload to UMTV and add caption file. 
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Captioning is a verbatim rendering of the words, speech sounds and non-speech sounds that appear with the visual recording in synchronized fashion. Captioning makes it possible for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to access audio information.