This webpage provides background information for the captioning accommodation and explains the responsibilities of students, faculty, and ODS staff to ensure that materials are accessible and available to students with this accommodation in a timely manner. The Frequently Asked Questions section provides added detail.
Background Information
The Accessible Media program (AcMe) in JMU’s Office of Disability Services (ODS) provides captioning and/or transcription for any video or audio class materials used by registered students with an approved accommodation for “Accessible Media/Captioned videos.”
Because of the time involved in captioning/transcribing materials, ODS modifies the usual procedure of students bringing Accessibility Letters to faculty at the beginning of the semester to initiate accommodations. Instead, AcMe contacts faculty in advance to coordinate captioning for the coming semester. This timeframe is often before students have the ability to send their Accessibility Letters in Accommodate. To be clear, students should still submit their Accessibility Letters to their faculty as they are able.
With JMU’s implementation of the updated ADA Title II web accessibility regulations and Virginia Information Technology Access Act, you may already be working to make your audio/visual materials accessible. We appreciate these efforts!
To ensure that the specific requirements of a student’s accommodations are met, Accessible Media needs to review all audio/visual materials for accuracy and completeness. Accessible Media will also do any additional captioning, transcription, or correction that is needed to meet the student's accommodation.
Note that this is not an audit of the accessibility of your course materials. Accessible Media is supporting accommodations for individual students in the same way we have always done.
For background information regarding higher education’s obligations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), please reference the U.S. Department of Education document and JMU Policy 1331.
Please note: These policies and procedures apply only for faculty who are teaching students who are registered at ODS with an accommodation for “Accessible Media/Captioned videos.”
Roles & Responsibilities
Student Responsibilities
- Meet with AcMe staff to discuss details of accommodations.
- Notify AcMe of need for captioning.
- Provide Accessibility Letters to professors and discuss accommodations.
- Contact AcMe promptly if any problems arise.
Faculty Responsibilities
- Provide audio materials, video links, or the videos themselves to Accessible Media for captioning/transcription, along with a list of due dates.
- Follow AcMe deadlines and proactively communicate about problems.
- Make the captioned materials available to students with the captioning accommodation at the same time as the material is provided to other students. When showing videos in class, use the captioned version so the students with the captioning accommodation can participate fully.
Accessible Media Responsibilities:
- Coordinate with faculty and receive lists of videos or actual videos from faculty.
- Caption video materials or provide transcripts of audio materials for qualifying students.
- Return videos to faculty in a timely and agreed upon manner.
Frequently Asked Questions for Faculty
Accessible Media staff will contact faculty prior to the start of the semester. We will request basic information about your course via email and supply an Accessible Media Bulk Request Form for you to order captioning/transcribing services.
- Please use the Bulk Request Form to submit a list of all videos and/or audio materials that will be used in the course.
- To request captioning for additional materials during the semester, submit requests at least 5 business days before the video will be shown in class or used as homework.
- ODS will send an email confirming receipt of the Bulk Request Form and requesting any additional information.
- ODS will caption the videos and email you with instructions to retrieve the captioned/transcribed materials.
You can submit materials to AcMe throughout the semester. When requesting additional materials for captioning/transcription, please submit requests at least 5 business days before the video will be shown in class or used as homework.
Any materials that include audio should be captioned or transcribed. This includes audio recordings, podcasts, videos or movies, recorded lectures, recorded group presentations, PowerPoints with embedded audio or video, interactive media, etc. This applies to videos shown in class, online, or for homework.
AcMe staff will work with you to determine the most effective way to access the video or audio files that need to be captioned or transcribed. Faculty have used Google Drive, Sharepoint, Dropbox, YouTube, Illumira, DVDs, or USB drives to transfer files to us.
It is most helpful to complete and send us the Accessible Media Bulk Request Form provided in the captioning accommodation email you received. At minimum, you will need to provide a date by which each piece of media is needed and where/how Accessible Media staff can access that media.
For Canvas & Illumira
Accessible Media staff in the Office of Disability Services can be added to the Canvas site for a course using a special designation created by Learning Technology Services (Libraries’ Canvas support team). This “ODS Staff” designation allows Accessible Media staff to download class videos and audio materials in order to caption, transcribe, or describe them. The “ODS Staff” status does not allow access to the gradebook or communication with individual students.
If you have video content on Illumira, the same terms apply. AcMe staff work with the JMU Libraries to gain access to media and will only download videos to caption, transcribe, or describe them. We will not make any changes to your Illumira account.
ODS will only be added to a Canvas or Illumira site in order to fulfill an accommodation request for a qualifying JMU student.
Canvas Studio
We recommend utilizing Canvas Studio in your Canvas course for the hosting of videos. Instructors can upload their own videos into the Studio Library, as well as add YouTube and Vimeo videos. Please note that this is different than uploading video files to your Files tab or directly to a Canvas Page.
Our staff are able to add captions to any Canvas Studio video for which we have access. Staff who are in your Canvas course as “ODS Staff” have these permissions built in for that course’s Studio Library. Personal Studio Libraries, other course libraries, or any individual videos not in the course’s Studio Library can be shared with individual AcMe staff.
AcMe staff will work with you to determine the best return method for your media. Our preference is to have the instructor incorporate the captioned media into their course materials. In the spirit of Universal Design, we recommend replacing or supplementing the original, uncaptioned media with the captioned media. Below are some common ways we return captioned media to instructors (and/or the student). This is not an exhaustive list.
Canvas Studio
We recommend utilizing Canvas Studio in your Canvas course for the hosting of videos. Instructors can upload their own videos into the Studio Library, as well as add YouTube and Vimeo videos. Please note that this is different than uploading video files to your Files tab or directly to a Canvas Page.
Our staff are able to add captions to any Canvas Studio video for which we have access. Staff who are in your Canvas course as “ODS Staff” have these permissions built in for that course’s Studio Library. Personal Studio Libraries, other course libraries, or any individual videos not in the course’s Studio Library can be shared with individual AcMe staff.
All viewers of these videos will have access to viewing the captions.
Google Drive
Our Google Drive system allows the streaming of videos via link or shared folder. Google Drive allows us to share videos privately and all in one place. Please note that captions do not download with videos from the Google Drive. This system only allows for streaming of the videos.
You do not need a Gmail account to use Google Drive; however, upon your request, we will add your Gmail email so you can save videos to your Gmail account.
OneDrive/SharePoint
Similar to Google Drive, OneDrive allows for the streaming of videos on the OneDrive platform. The OneDrive platform is within the JMU IT security environment and requires instructors and students to log in in order to stream the captioned videos.
Captions cannot be downloaded with videos and the downloading of videos can be restricted for individual users.
YouTube
YouTube is a highly flexible and familiar platform for sharing videos. While we can provide some videos through our AcMe YouTube channel, copyright and content restrictions can complicate sharing videos. In those instances, we may have to use a different platform (Google Drive, OneDrive, Canvas) for video sharing.
Our first preference is to receive a list of all video and audio materials and the dates they will be used prior to the start of the semester. We understand that this may not be possible; however, it is extremely helpful to receive a schedule, even a rough one. This allows us to plan the semester and ensure that deadlines are met without stress for you or the student.
Our deadline is 5 business days in advance of when the video will be available for students (e.g., posted on Canvas, used in class, assigned for homework, etc.).
Please inform AcMe in advance of any planned recordings of live lectures/classes, whether in-person or online.
We are working to manage cost, quality, and timeliness. Captioning is a job-order process that requires multiple steps in order to provide quality content. The transcribing process in particular can be very time-consuming.
We also have multiple students with accommodations for captioned videos. Each of them is enrolled in multiple classes. Since students with this accommodation need all course-related video and audio captioned or transcribed, this can be a significant quantity of material.
AcMe does use outside captioning vendors in addition to in-house production; however, vendors also require multiple days to process videos.
Faculty members share the responsibility with ODS to include students with captioning accommodations in the learning experience and to provide equal access to learning materials.
If the 5-day window is too narrow, here are some options to consider:
- Choose a different video with accurate captioning that covers the same content. Please reference our webpage for finding media that is already captioned.
- Choose a later date to show the video. In a class that meets two or three times a week, will the video content still be relevant if it is shown in the next class instead?
- Learn to do your own captioning.
- You may also contact AcMe directly to see if special arrangements can be made for rush turnaround.
More and more online content is captioned, but please don’t assume. We are often surprised at how much material is not adequately captioned. Additionally, any platform’s “automatic captioning” is not accurate enough to meet the requirement that student accommodations provide equal access,
Even some human-created captioning may not meet the specific requirements of an individual student’s captioning accommodation.
Considering this context, it is best to still submit media you think might already be adequately captioned to Accessible Media. Exceptions include media from most paid subscription streaming services, such as Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max.
Content that AcMe has captioned previously is most likely still adequate. As general practice, we do like to review content that was captioned 5+ years ago to ensure that it still meets current standards.
If AcMe has previously captioned material for you but you no longer have access to the captioned version, we may be able to pull it from our archive.
Yes! Please let us know of any errors or problems with captions we have provided. It will likely be easy for our team to provide a corrected version. While we do our best to quality check all the content we produce or receive from vendors, some mistakes may still slip by us.
The “Accessible Media/Captioned videos” accommodation refers only to post-production captioning, meaning recorded content. It can include shared recordings of your live lectures, but does not include captioning of the lectures in real-time.
The captioning of live, real-time lectures is a separate accommodation and appears on a student’s Accessibility Letter as “Assistive Technology/Assistive Technology: CART”. If a student chooses to utilize this accommodation, you will receive a separate email with more information from ods-cart@jmu.edu.
Students registered with ODS who have captioning accommodations may have hearing or sensory considerations that necessitate the captioning/transcription of auditory media. Not all students with captioning accommodations have a hearing impairment. It is the student’s choice to disclose their disability if they so choose.
Students with hearing impairments may have other accommodations listed on their Accessibility Letters. You will receive separate emails from our staff if a student uses live captioning or ASL interpreters in the classroom.
Students who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing may rely on lip reading, body language, and/or other visual cues to communicate. The following are suggestions to consider incorporating into your teaching. Not all of these options will fit your circumstances, and likewise, they may not meet every student’s needs.
- Provide written instructions for assignments given verbally.
- Face students when speaking.
- Emphasize keywords.
- Reduce background noise.
- Speak at a reasonable pace – not too fast and not exaggeratedly slow.
- Use a microphone and amplification system if available in the classroom.
- When facilitating in-person discussions and Q&As, be sure to repeat or summarize what’s been said before responding.
- For Zoom sessions, consider enabling automatic captions. Please note that automatic captions are not used for accommodations, but can be helpful for some situations.
For faculty who do not have a student with a documented need for captioning, but still wish to be inclusive, please visit our How to Caption at JMU webpages for more information about captioning, DIY resources, and vendor information.
The Accessible Media (AcMe) program in the Office of Disability Services coordinates alternative format production for students with various disabilities. We caption and describe videos, transcribe audio files, create tactile graphics, and convert text into Braille, audio, accessible Word documents, etc. We also work closely with faculty and students to ensure that accommodations for accessible formats are provided successfully.
AcMe strives to make this process as easy as possible both for faculty and for students with disabilities. We are always available to discuss challenges and collaborate on solutions.
ODS Accessible Media Contacts
For questions about captioning accommodations, please email captioning@jmu.edu. This account is monitored by Accessible Media’s senior staff.
Christina Wulf
Assistant Director of ODS
& Coordinator of Accessible Media & Technology
Email: wulfcx@jmu.edu
Phone: 540-568-6705
