Captions, which are text versions of the spoken word in videos, allow the content of video to be accessible to those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Captions benefit not only those with hearing impairments, but also people for whom English is a second language, people who learn by receiving information in multiple formats, and people who may be doing work/watching videos in public/noisy settings.
In order to meet accessibility standards, captions must be 99% accurate. This degree of accuracy can be achieved by editing automated (ASR) captions or by contracting with a third party captioning provider.
There are many options available for captioning content at Pitt, and certain options are better/recommended for certain scenarios. Below we summarize the most common scenarios and their corresponding captioning options.
Recorded video
Recorded video made publicly available
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Contact the Pitt 24/7 IT Help Desk, then complete a Panopto Captioning Request Form, and return it to the Pitt 24/7 IT Help Desk. Caption cost (to be paid by school/unit): $1.25/min.
Events
Live event (Zoom or Teams) - accommodation request for captioned media
- Complete this form to receive live captioning (CART) by 3rd party vendor (Verbit). Caption cost (to be paid by school/unit): $1.25/min
Live event (Zoom or Teams) - no accommodation request for captioned media
- Enable Zoom or Teams live captioning/transcription at the start of event
- Remind participants how they can turn off the captions if needed
Classes
Live class (Zoom or Teams), student with a documented accommodation need for captioned media
- Disability Resources and Services consults with faculty
- Live captioning (CART) provided by 3rd party vendor (Verbit)
Recorded class, student with a documented accommodation need for captioned media
- Disability Resources and Services consults with faculty
- Videos sent via Panopto to 3rd party vendor (Verbit) for 24-hour captioning
Live class (Zoom or Teams), no accommodation need for captioned media
- Enable Zoom or Teams live captioning/transcription at the start of each class
- During initial use, remind students how they can turn off the captions if needed
Recorded class or video, no accommodation need for captioned media
- Zoom recordings from the cloud will have AI-generated captions. Edit whenever possible.
- For non-zoom cloud recordings, import AI-generated captions from Panopto. Edit whenever possible.
- Send video out to 3rd party vendor (Verbit). Captioning cost (to be paid by school/unit): $1.90/min for 24 hr turnaround, $.95/min for 5 day turnaround