If you are sharing videos with your students, you are most likely using the built-in video streaming platform in Sakai called Warpwire. If you have not heard of it but share videos or large images with your students, we recommend adding the Warpwire tool to your Sakai course site to securely share media with your students.
Fun fact: Warpwire was created by former UNC students – Go Heels!
Add Captions to Your Videos
When using videos, captions and a transcript should be included. Adding captions encourages an inclusive environment and promotes accessibility for all. You may have students who have been approved for accommodations by Accessibility Resources & Service (ARS) at the University, but the truth is, making your videos accessible helps everyone. According to Texas A&M University’s Division of Information Technology, providing captions and transcripts can:
- Enhance the educational experience for people who respond to different learning styles and preferences
- Allow content to be utilized by those in either extremely loud or extremely quiet environments
- Ensure non-native speakers have access to information in videos
- Facilitate understanding of vocabulary, or information presented in different dialects, as part of captured lectures or other video resources
Captions benefit all students.
Request Captions for FREE by April 12
If you are not using an automated captioning service, adding subtitles to your videos can be very time consuming or expensive. We have great news – ARS is currently accepting requests for closed captioning on Warpwire videos at no cost to you! Instructors can easily request closed captioning on their videos in just a few clicks. To request captions, you must be the owner of the video. Any course instructor may request captions, including faculty and student instructors.
On each Warpwire video that you’d like to request closed captions, all you have to do is:
- View Media Info (circle with 3 dots > Settings)
- Next to Captions, click + Add
- Click Request Caption
- Enter notes if needed and click Create
Pending approval, ARS will reach out to you after you have submitted the request. Approved requests will then be sent to a third-party subtitle vendor. Subtitle files will automatically be uploaded to the video in 3-5 days.
NOTES:
- Captions cannot be added to copyrighted videos
- A limited amount of resources are available for this captioning service
This is a great opportunity for instructors to easily take part in a global effort to make accessibility a reality for all. We highly encourage you to take advantage of this resource. Huge thanks to ARS!