Closed Captioning

Closed captioning displays audio as text on-screen synchronized with the dialogue of the speaker and will allow you to: 

• Make your content fully accessible to people who have hearing loss.
• Reach all members of our learning community, including visual learners.
• Compensate for noisy backgrounds or where the sound isn’t allowed. 
• Provide a solution for poor audio quality.
• Provide additional support for people who are learning English as an additional language.
• View the correct spellings of people, places, and things.
• Catch details that normally go unnoticed.
• Browse the video by reading the associated text as you drag the controller 
• Meet or exceed compliance with the W3C Web Accessibility Guidelines adapted by the AODA in Ontario. 

 What is Described Video (DV)?

Described Video is a secondary audio stream that describes nonverbal actions and graphics displaying on-screen during a video and will allow individuals with visual impairments to understand actions, illustrations, and other visual elements of a media object.

 What do I do if Described Video or Closed Captioning is noted on an Accommodation Letter?

• You will be alerted to the presence of a student in your class who is blind or has low vision through an Accommodation Letter.
• The accommodation letter will request that all videos be reviewed by professors prior to showing in class, to ensure that described video or captioning is available.
• If described video or captioning accommodation is indicated by Accessible Learning Services, it must be turned on in every class.

Watch a quick video on the subject: Why Captioned Media?

Where do I get the videos that are already described or captioned on campus?

Humber Libraries houses Humber's on-site knowledge expertise with respect to Copyright and Captioning. Humber is committed to providing captioning and describing web videos and expects that:

• New videos are purchased with closed captioning and described video already embedded, or with the permission to add them
• Appropriate permissions are obtained from the copyright holder prior to downloading and/or captioning any video found on the Internet 
• Videos created in-house will be captioned prior to upload/distribution

Please see Humber Libraries’ information page on Copyright. 

Check Humber Libraries’ holdings to find out which DVDs and streaming videos are captioned by:

1. Using the Library's video search.
2. Typing "captioned" in the box.
3. Browsing the results list for what is available.

If a required video in Humber Libraries’ holdings is not captioned or is needed in another format, please contact Library staff at videonorth@humber.ca or videolake@humber.ca. 

Additional Support from the Faculty of Media and Creative Arts (FCMA) 

Since 2017, the FMCA has provided an in-house transcription and closed-captioning initiative through their Accessible Media Department that you can utilize to make your original audio-visual course content more accessible for your students. 

More information on this service can be found on the Request Closed Captioning page of the FMCA site.