If you are a government agency or a federally funded program that uses online video, you are probably familiar with Sections 508 and 504. However, these laws are incredibly broad, and it can be difficult to discern which requirements pertain specifically to your organization. If you are looking for an in-depth understanding of your organization's video accessibility requirements as set forth by the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA, this webinar is an indispensable resource. We cover: - Section 508, 504, and ADA closed captioning requirements - How to tell whether your organization is implicated by accessibility laws - Pertinent case law - Best practices for captioning and transcription - Tools for automating the closed captioning workflow

1. 1
Section 508 and 504 Video Captioning
Requirements, Workflows, & Best
Practices
Josh Miller (VP of BD)
VP of BD
josh@3playmedia.com
Tel: (617)764-5189
Lily Bond
Marketing Manager
lily@3playmedia.com
Tel: (617) 764-5189

2. Agenda
‣ Introduction to captioning
‣ Benefits
‣ Accessibility laws
‣ Captioning products + services
‣ Demo
‣ Q&A
2

3. Accessibility Is a Growing Concern
‣ Worldwide: 1 billion people have a disability
‣ U.S.: 56.7 million have a disability (48 million
related to hearing)
‣ U.S.: 11% of higher ed students have a
disability
‣ U.S.: 45% of 1.6 million veterans sought
disability (177,000 related to hearing loss)
‣ Growth rate of people with disabilities
outpacing population growth
3

4. What Are Captions?
4
Text that has been time-synchronized with the media

5. What Are Captions?
Captions convey all spoken content and sound effects

6. What Are Captions?
6
Originated in the early 1980s for broadcast TV

7. Terminology
7
‣ Captions vs. Transcript

8. Terminology
8
‣ Captions vs. Transcript
‣ Captions vs. Subtitles

9. Terminology
9
‣ Captions vs. Transcript
‣ Captions vs. Subtitles
‣ Closed vs. Open Captions

10. Terminology
1
‣ Captions vs. Transcript
‣ Captions vs. Subtitles
‣ Closed vs. Open Captions
‣ Post Production vs. Real-Time

11. Caption Formats
SRT
Example
01:02:53:14 94ae 94ae 9420 9420
01:02:55:14 942c 942c
01:03:27:29 94ae 94ae 9420 9420
SCC
Example

12. How to Associate Captions with
Video
‣ Sidecar file
‣ Encode captions with video
‣ Open captions (burned in)

13. Benefits
‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing
48 Million
Americans with hearing loss

14. Benefits
‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing
‣ Better comprehension
‣ Flexibility to view in noise-sensitive
environments
80%Of people who use captions
don’t have hearing disability

15. Benefits
‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing
‣ Better comprehension
‣ Flexibility to view in noise-sensitive
environments
‣ Video search
97%Of users said searchable
transcripts enhanced experience

16. Benefits
‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing
‣ Better comprehension
‣ Flexibility to view in noise-sensitive
environments
‣ Video search
‣ SEO: more inbound traffic
7.3%
Increase in views
from captions

17. Benefits
‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing
‣ Better comprehension
‣ Flexibility to view in noise-sensitive
environments
‣ Video search
‣ SEO: more inbound traffic
‣ Reusability
50%
Students who use
transcripts for study guides

18. Benefits
‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing
‣ Better comprehension
‣ Flexibility to view in noise-sensitive
environments
‣ Video search
‣ SEO: more inbound traffic
‣ Reusability
‣ Translation to foreign languages

19. Benefits
‣ Accessibility for hard of hearing
‣ Better comprehension
‣ Flexibility to view in noise-sensitive
environments
‣ Video search
‣ SEO: more inbound traffic
‣ Reusability
‣ Translation to foreign languages
‣ May be required by law

20. Accessibility Laws
Rehabilitation Act: Sections 508, 504
‣ Covers federal agencies and orgs with federal funding

21. Accessibility Laws
Rehabilitation Act: Sections 508, 504
‣ Covers federal agencies and orgs with federal funding
ADA: Titles II, III
‣ Covers public and commercial entities
‣ Netflix case: What is a “place of public accommodation”?
‣ Pending cases: Time Warner, FedEx

22. Accessibility Laws
Rehabilitation Act: Sections 508, 504
‣ Covers federal agencies and orgs with federal funding
ADA: Titles II, III
‣ Covers public and commercial entities
‣ Netflix case: What is a “place of public accommodation”?
‣ Pending cases: Time Warner, FedEx
CVAA
‣ Covers Internet content that aired on TV
‣ Includes video clips
‣ Copyright owner bears responsibility

23. The Rehabilitation Act
‣ Enacted in 1973
– Federal and federally funded programs
‣ Section 504
– First statute to declare civil rights for individuals with
disabilities
– Extended to the public sector by the ADA in 1990
– Gov’t, airports, higher ed, K-12, libraries, housing
‣ Section 508
– 1998 Amendment
– Federal programs in regards to electronic and information
technology
– Accessibility to web content

24. Section 508 & Web Accessibility
‣ Section 508 & Assistive Technology Act
– Debate over Section 508’s direct influence
– Department of Education requires states receiving funding
under the ATA to comply with Section 508
– Extends web accessibility to many colleges & universities
‣ Section 508 & State Law
– Many states have imposed laws referencing Section 508
– Extends web accessibility to the state level
‣ Closed Captioning Requirements
– All television displays and computers must be equipped with
technology to decode and display closed captions
– Anyone implicated by Section 508 must provide closed captions
for video programming (online or otherwise)

25. Future of Section 508
‣ Section 508 Refresh
– February 23, 2014: proposed rule to refresh &
expand Section 508 standards
– Directly references WCAG 2.0 level A and AA
success criteria
‣ WCAG 2.0
– World Wide Web Consortium’s collection of
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
– International standard for web accessibility
– Section 508 refresh would be the first legal
backing of WCAG 2.0 in the US
– Specifies levels of compliance and testable
provisions

26. Section 508 Lawsuits
‣ US Department of Education
– National Federation of the Blind (NFB): U.S.A. Learns is inaccessible to blind people who
use text-to-speech screen access technology or Braille (2009)
– NFB: Direct Loan Program denied plaintiff’s request for monthly student loan statements in
an accessible format (Braille) and phone assistance in filling out a student loan form
(complaint filed 2011; settlement reached 2014)
‣ Social Security Administration
– NFB: Web site prevents blind people from filling out necessary forms on the site; it is also
difficult to access information about benefits (2009)
‣ Small Business Administration
– NFB: Web site is inaccessible to blind people who use assistive devices and software; blind
people cannot fill out online forms or access online courses (complaint filed 2009;
agreement reached 2014)

27. About 3Play Media
2
‣ Captioning + transcription + translation
‣ MIT spinout in 2007
‣ Based in Cambridge, MA

28. About 3Play Media
2
‣ Captioning + transcription + translation
‣ MIT spinout in 2007
‣ Based in Cambridge, MA
‣ 1,000+ customers in government, higher education, corporate, & media

29. Products & Services
2
Captioning
Subtitling
Transcription
Transcript Alignment
(Automated)
API
Video Search Plugins

30. Accuracy and Quality
3
Multi-Step Human Review Process
‣ More efficient, cost-effective
‣ At least 99% accuracy
‣ All work done in U.S.
‣ Consistent transcription standards

31. Flexible Upload + Turnaround
3

32. Platform Integrations
3
‣ Round-trip integration with many platforms
‣ Out-of-the-box compatibility with most players
Video Player / Platform Integrations

33. 50+ Output Formats
3
‣ Wide variety of output
formats
‣ Intelligent keyword
extraction
‣ Automated vertical
caption placement
‣ Encoded closed/open
captions

34. Caption & Translation Editor
3

35. Interactive Transcript
3

36. Demo
3

37. Customer Support
3
“…The IRS Office of Chief Counsel selected the right
partner in 3Play Media. They’ve exceeded our
expectations in terms of the quality of our captioned and
transcribed files, turnaround time, ease of account
management, and customer service.”
- Eric Granum, Internal Revenue Service
“…They made the extra effort to make sure we were
satisfied.”
- Marty Bennett, EducationUSA

38. 338
Presenters
Josh Miller
VP of BD
3Play Media
josh@3playmedia.com
Lily Bond
Marketing Manager
3Play Media
lily@3playmedia.com
Q&A
Resources
Sections 508 and 504: Closed Captioning & Web
Accessibility Requirements
http://info.3playmedia.com/wp-section-508.html
How to Select the Right Closed Captioning Vendor:
http://info.3playmedia.com/wp-10-questions.html
Case Studies:
http://www.3playmedia.com/customers/case-studies/
Plans & Pricing:
http://www.3playmedia.com/plans-pricing