Captioning Procedures
Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ implemented the Accessible Technology Policy in 2018 as a way to strengthen our existing commitment to ensuring equal access as required under and the . The procedure below describes how our college will approach communication access for both live and pre-recorded offerings when there is not an active accommodation.
Overall approach
PCC is using a tiered approach to continue to ensure communication access and improve existing workflows. The tiered approach is as follows:
- The use of a professional live captioning or transcription services when:
- There is an active accommodation request by an individual.
- The event is being streamed live and/or when a high participant volume is expected.
- When the offering will be durable.
- Examples: Commencement, Anderson Conference, Powwow, and re-org informational sessions.
- When content is being adopted for a class or session from YouTube or is selected from an existing source, choose captioned media when possible and be ready to respond to accommodation requests for captions.
- The use of automatically generated transcripts and captions as a baseline to make events and sessions more accessible.
- Example: Department or identity center meetings.
What this means for PCC employees
Know that access and inclusion are a shared responsibility. Do your part:
- for all offerings where there is not already an existing professional transcriber in place.
- Always include an accommodation notice for events – see .
- Engage in training and other opportunities to proactively increase inclusive and Universal Design best practices.
Procedures for live events
- Provide event notice that include a description of accessibility features that will be in place, and clear contact information for any accommodation requests. See .
- Enable automatic transcription services (Google Meet provides this feature automatically, but for Zoom the host will need to enable the option).
- If the event is smaller in nature, there are some exceptions to consider where live captions should be used instead of auto-enabled captions:
- If there is an accommodation request.
- If the event is public facing and/or being streamed live.
- If the event is expected to draw a large number of participants or is interactive.
- If there is a desire to proactively make the event fully inclusive by providing accommodations, such as ASL interpreting, captioning, and audio description.
Please make a request 5 days in advance to cap@pcc.edu for ASL interpreters and/or professional live transcribers.
Current practices already in place
Creating content for the PCC website?
All public-facing media on the website must be captioned. Use the media production request form to get started on a new project or request captioning for existing media. See PCC’s for more information.
Creating recordings for use in a PCC course?
Work with Instructional Support and follow their guidance for audio and video accessibility and creating accessible content.
If you’re using existing media for use in a PCC course, the PCC Library offers collections of mostly-captioned videos, and faculty librarians are available to help find captioned media (or request that vendors caption on demand).
Working with Marketing?
Follow Marketing’s guidance or contact marketing-group@pcc.edu.
Working with Media Production?
Initiate a request via the media production request form.
Working with Media Services?
Specify on the media production request form if captioning is needed.
Not sure?
- Use automatic captioning as a baseline, but professional captioning is preferred if possible.
- Include an accommodation notice – see .
- Reach out to cap@pcc.edu for guidance.
Links to supporting technical documentation
- Automatic transcription in Google Meet:
- Automatic transcription in Zoom:
- Otter live notes and editing interface: contact cap@pcc.edu
- Other media related support pages: Kaltura, Camtasia, YouTube)
- Support for displaying captions in different media players: Media Services and
Terms requiring further definition
Effective communication allows the person an equal opportunity to participate in an informed capacity and enjoy the benefits of a service, program, or activity.
- Transcription: Professional or AI generated text for speech.
- Captioning and subtitling: Timed display of text for audio.
- Interpretation: Spoken or signed language.
- Translation: Written word.
- Audio-description: Narration of relevant visual information.
- Automatically generated transcripts and captions: A baseline to make events and sessions more accessible.