Overview
The closed captioning process will guide you through managing closed captioning on your videos stored in My Media. These videos can be accessed through either the Canvas/My Media integration or within MediaSpace.
Captions are the text equivalent of what is being said in a video and can include other auditory information or narration built within the video. Closed captions can be controlled by the viewer and are not turned on by default.
Considerations
Automatic Captioning Process
- Videos uploaded and saved in My Media are automatically captioned using Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR).
- Videos added from YouTube between January 5, 2025 and November 30, 2025 were not automatically captioned. Videos added from YouTube from December 1, 2025, are now being captioned. Learn how to reorder captions.
- ASR uses speech recognition technology to scan the audio track for spoken English.
- ASR captions are about 83-87% accurate, which does not meet ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) standards.
- ASR captions should be considered drafts and require proofreading and editing for accuracy.
- ASR captions are often labeled as “English (Auto)” or “English (Machine)” or “English (auto-generated)”.
- Compliance: It is critical to edit captions for accuracy and clarity to ensure accessibility and compliance with legal standards.
- Safari users: Captions may not appear within the player when viewing a video in Safari. It is recommended to check the captions within the Chrome or Firefox browser.
What should get captioned?
- Pre-recorded, time-based video (lecture capture, audio recordings, live video feeds like web conferences, screen casts, narrated presentations, and time-based media video quizzes stored within My Media.
- Third-party videos (such as YouTube or video streaming service videos) should also include captions. NOTE: The editing process for these captions may require further consultation and troubleshooting.
Responsibility for Caption Accuracy
· Video Creator/Owner/Instructor: A video creator, owner, or user is responsible for ensuring captions are accurate and clear. Video owners also need to provide equal access to captions to meet accessibility requirements. If a video is used in a course, the video user is responsible for verifying caption accuracy for all multimedia sources, including YouTube and other streamed videos.
Vendor (such as Kaltura): Vendors help provide synchronized, readable, and consistent captions. They also ensure the video player complies with WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines.
Additional considerations
Professional Captioning Services are available for student accommodations, but the university does not cover the cost of professional services for all instructors. To learn more, please see this FAQ on Professional Captioning.
Closed captioning process
Captioning a video is a three-part process, including determining if existing captions are ADA compliant, editing captions to ensure they meet accessibility compliance, and communicating to the viewer that captions are equitable for all.
- Review videos for accessibility compliance: This video provides a basic overview of various accessibility requirements, describes how to determine if captions are compliant, and explains the general guidelines for creating captions for pre-recorded video with audio. For a captioning style guide or to learn more about multimedia accessibility requirements, see the Captioning Key produced by the Described and Captioned Media Program (2025).
- Find and edit captions: These guides provide details about the Kaltura Closed Caption Editor and step-by-step instructions on how to edit captions.
- Change the SRT file name: The last step in this process is editing the caption file name. This guide contains detailed instructions on how to edit the name of the SRT file to signal captions that meet accessibility requirements.