Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), all recorded video content provided to students must include accurate closed captions.
While UAMS is continuously developing our internal policies, providing accurate captions is not just the best practice; it is a federal legal requirement to ensure equitable access to educational materials.
While automated captioning (auto-captioning) is a great starting point, it is not sufficient on its own. Automated systems typically achieve 70-80% accuracy and often struggle with punctuation, multiple speakers, and complex medical terminology. Therefore, instructors must review and edit auto-generated captions to ensure full accuracy before distributing videos to students.
Furthermore, UAMS policy requires that all AI-generated content be subject to human oversight. Because automated captions are produced by artificial intelligence, faculty review is required not only to meet federal accessibility laws but also to comply with institutional AI guidelines.
Why Captions Matter for All Students
Captions are essential for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, but research shows they dramatically improve the learning experience for the entire class.
According to a nationwide study of higher education students by Oregon State University:
- 98.6% of students surveyed found captions helpful.
- 75% of students use captions as a direct learning aid.
- The most common reason students use captions is to help them focus.
Beyond accessibility, captions benefit everyone by:
- Helping students learn complex terminology: Seeing medical or scientific terms spelled out reinforces comprehension and memory.
- Helping non-native English speakers: Reading along helps ESL students process spoken information more effectively.
- Helping students in difficult environments: Captions allow learning to continue in noisy areas or shared spaces where audio cannot be played out loud.
What Makes a Caption “Accurate”?
To meet federal accessibility standards, an edited caption file should ensure:
- Correct spelling, especially for medical, anatomical, and scientific terminology.
- Proper punctuation so the sentence structure and meaning are clear.
- Speaker identification when there are multiple people talking.
- Inclusion of non-speech sounds that are relevant to the video’s context (e.g., [machine beeping], [glass breaking]).
Caption Editing Guides
Below, you will find step-by-step video tutorials on how to easily check and edit captions on our supported platforms.
1. Kaltura
Kaltura automatically generates Mechanical Speech-to-Text (ASR) captions for videos uploaded to the platform. However, you must use the Closed Captions Editor to clean up these transcripts before publishing.
How to Edit and Check Captions in Kaltura
Learn how to access the Kaltura caption editor, make text corrections, and save your updated captions.
2. Class for Zoom
Class for Zoom utilizes built-in accessibility features to provide captions during live sessions and for recordings. Here is how to ensure those recordings meet accuracy requirements.
How to Edit and Check Captions in Class for Zoom
A guide to reviewing and adjusting captions for recordings made within the Class for Zoom environment.
3. Regular Zoom
When you record a meeting to the Zoom Cloud, an audio transcript is automatically generated. You can edit this transcript directly in the Zoom web portal, so it displays accurately as closed captions when students view the recording.
How to Edit and Check Captions in Regular Zoom
Step-by-step instructions on accessing your Zoom Cloud recordings and editing captions.