Captioning Course Media
The Provost has established guidelines for captioning media to ensure that RIT creates an educational environment that is accessible to all learners. To learn more, watch the Provost's Message on Why RIT Captions Media.
To encourage adherence to these guidelines Teaching and Learning Services provides a variety of resources. Detailed information about the TLS captioning process and support can be found below, if you have any questions related to course media captioning email TLS Media services.
TLS Captioning Service
Media used in credit-bearing courses may be submitted by faculty for professional captioning free of charge.
TLS Media Services can caption and stream english language media from a variety of formats, including websites like youtube, and host it on our streaming server for use in myCourses.
- Our captioning service turnaround time is 7-10 days. We encourage faculty to request captioning prior to the start of the term, this allows for adding time should captions need to be edited for improved accuracy.
- You may deliver your media files to our department in a number of ways, upon receiving your request we will coordinate with you to determine the most efficient method of transfer.
- To request captioning / transcription please complete our online request form.
- Once captioning is complete you will be notified via email and provided these instructions to insert your captioned media in myCourses.
Student Media Captioning
Teaching and Learning Services will caption student media for course-related activities with a turnaround time of 7-10 days.
- Students that plan to present media in class should coordinate with their instructor to submit the captioning request form.
- Requests for media captioning should be made early in the term, at least 10 days before the media is to be used in class.
- Once the request has been received Teaching and Learning services will coordinate with the instructor to provide a method to upload student video files for captioning.
- Once captioning is complete, media will be available for the instructor to insert within myCourses and share with the class.
Course Instructors: If you are an instructor that requires your students to submit media for course activities such as discussion, critique, or peer review, please complete our caption request form on behalf of your students. Requesting captioning early will ensure our department can provide you with an efficient method for transferring student media files to our captioning service.
Related resources:
Self-Captioning
Some faculty & students prefer to caption media themselves. This can be accomplished using a dedicated video editor such as Camtasia, or by using cloud-based tools such as YouTube.com or Amara.org.
You can request a 1:1 consult with a media captioning specialist to learn more about these options or receive guidance if you are new to the process.
Self-Caption via YouTube (for your own media)
- Follow these detailed instructions on how to upload / record videos to YouTube.
Captioning via YouTube can be accomplished in four ways: typing in captions, uploading a script and synching timing, editing auto-generated captions, or uploading a caption file. YouTube offers detailed instructions on how to create captions for your media.
If you want to edit the auto-generated caption on your youtube video, here is an excellent instructional video tutorial. (Note: you must be the video owner to edit youtube captions. If you want to edit the auto-generated captions on someone else's video, use Amara and follow the steps outlined below. )
Self-Caption via Amara (for external online media)
- Create a free account on Amara.org.
- Review the steps outlined in the Amara tutorials.
- Share the url of the video on Amara with others.
Software based self-captioning
Freely available software applications can also be used to caption media. Below are a list of those that we have tested, for assistance contact ol-media@rit.edu
Captioning Copyrighted Media
RIT has created official guidelines regarding Copyright, Fair Use, the TEACH Act and other accessibility laws and considerations. Please review the RIT Copyright Policy that addresses the use of all media at RIT before making a captioning request.
If your media adheres to the guidance of the RIT Copyright Policy, complete this request form for captioning.
If you are interested in captioning a copyrighted work such as a DVD, we encourage you to have it added permanently to the Wallace Library’s collection. For information contact Romea Montanaro at 585-475-2015.
Media Services does not have the legal expertise to advise faculty on the RIT Copyright Policy. If you have questions about the policy, we would recommend contacting the RIT Office of Legal Affairs.
