How are schools handling captions? How do captions improve learning for college students? Where does the budget come from? To what extent is captioning motivated by fear of litigation? Presenting on the results from two national research studies and a survey on closed captioning in higher education, Katie Linder from Oregon State University Ecampus Research Unit and Lily Bond from 3Play Media will look at the current state of closed captioning in 2017 at colleges and universities across the US. Together, these surveys provide a clearer picture of the benefits, solutions, complications, and direction of closed captioning in higher education. This presentation will cover: How and why students are using closed captioning Perceived benefits of captioning beyond accessibility How colleges and universities are handling closed captioning Current successes and limitations of captioning in higher ed Comparison of captioning practices for face-to-face, online, and institutional marketing content How colleges & universities perceive and react to legal requirements for captioning

1. The State of Closed Captioning
in Higher Education
www.3playmedia.com
twitter: @3playmedia
@ECResearchUnit
live tweet: #a11y
 Type questions in the window during the presentation
 This presentation is being recorded and will be available for replay
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Dr. Katie Linder
Research Director
Oregon State University
Ecampus
Lily Bond
Director of Marketing
3Play Media
lily@3playmedia.com

2. Presentation Objectives
• Data & results from the study including:
• How and why students are using closed captioning
• Perceived benefits of captioning beyond accessibility
• How colleges and universities are handling closed captioning
• Current successes and limitations of captioning in higher ed
• Comparison of captioning practices for face-to-face, online,
and institutional marketing content
• How colleges & universities perceive and react to legal
requirements for captioning
• Q&A
2

3. How and Why Students are Using
Closed Captioning
3

4. Student Respondents
4

5. Student Use of Closed Captions
Overall:
34.9% respondents noted that they “always” or “often”
use closed captions when they are available
In response to that same question,
26% said they never use them
5

6. Student Use of Closed Captions
The percentage of respondents who “always” or “often” use
closed captions when they are available was higher for:
• Students with other disabilities (41.1%)
• ESL students (44.1%)
• Students registered with an Office of Disability Services
(44.8%)
• Students with academic accommodations (48.2%)
• Students who have difficulty with hearing (50.3%)
6

7. Why do students use closed captions?
frequency
Helps me focus 1001
Helps me retain the information 963
Helps overcome poor audio quality 958
I watch videos in sound sensitive
environments (e.g. a library)
650
Helps me with difficult vocabulary 418
I have difficulty with hearing 288
My professor has an accent 285
Other (please describe) 155
English is my second language 112
7

8. Perceived Benefits of Captioning
Beyond Accessibility
8

9. Five main themes emerged:
1) Environmental
(quiet environments)
2) Video/audio quality
(poor quality, too quiet)
and/or instructor difficult
to understand
(accents, speaks too fast)
3) Convenience
(faster, saves time)
4) Accommodation
(disability accommodation)
5) Learning aid
(accuracy, comprehension,
retention, engagement)
Perceived Benefits of Closed Captions
9

10. Sample Comments of Perceived
Benefits of Closed Captions
• Environmental: “I don’t like playing videos with sound when
I’m in an environment where doing so would be disruptive.”
• Video/audio quality: “Helps when a video has poor sound
quality.”
• Instructor difficult to understand: “My professor has a slight
accent that makes her words fast and jumbled.”
10

11. Sample Comments of Perceived
Benefits of Closed Captions
• Convenience: “I find it easier to read along with the videos
rather than just sit there and listen to the professor talk.”
• Accommodation: “I’m dyslexic so it helps me to know that the
notes I’m writing down are both spelled correctly and in the
right syntax.”
11

12. Sample Comments of Perceived
Learning Benefits of Closed Captions
• Accuracy: “If I need to write down notes, I know exactly how to
quote a video.”
• Comprehension: “It can help me deeply understand the
lecture.”
• Retention: “By simultaneously reading and listening to the
content, I am able to retain the information better.”
• Engagement: “They help me to focus on the video instead of
just tuning out the noise.”
12

13. Helpfulness of Closed Captions
Respondents were asked about whether they perceived closed
captions and transcripts as being helpful to their learning.
As a percentage of the whole, closed captions were perceived as
more helpful with 59.1% of respondents noting that closed
captions where either “very” or “extremely” helpful to them.
Overall, 98.6% of student respondents find closed captions to be
helpful.
13

14. Helpfulness of Closed Captions
The percentage of respondents who stated that closed captions
where either “very” or “extremely” helpful to them was higher
for:
• Students with learning disabilities (60.6%)
• Adult learners (62%)
• Students who have difficulty with vision (64%)
• Students who “always” or “often” have trouble maintaining
focus (64.7%)
• First generation students (64.8%)
• Students who have difficulty with visual representations
(65.4%)
14

15. Helpfulness of Closed Captions
The percentage of respondents who stated that closed captions
where either “very” or “extremely” helpful to them was higher
for:
• Pell-eligible students (65.4%)
• Students with other disabilities (65.4%)
• Students registered with an Office of Disability Services
(65.8%)
• ESL students (66%)
• Students receiving academic accommodation (66.3%)
• Students who have difficulty with hearing (71.4%)
15

16. How Colleges and Universities are
Handling Closed Captioning
16

17. Video Creation Guidelines
17
Do any institutional guidelines exist to inform the creation of
videos that will be used at your institution?
13
17
12
18
14
11
8
15
20
0
5
10
15
20
25
Yes No Unsure
Face-to-Face Online Institutional

18. Video Inventory
18
Does your institution track or inventory in some way the videos
that are created at your institution?
11
19
11
13
16
13
7
16
19
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Yes No Unsure
Face-to-Face Online Institutional

19. Who can post videos?
19
Frequency
Designated offices only 18
Any faculty members 13
Designated individuals only 12
Any staff members 12
Any administration members 11
Other 9
Any students 0

20. At your institution, is closed
captioning ever created for any
videos?
Yes
87%
No
2%
I don't
know
11%
How much captioning is being done?
20

21. How much captioning is being done?
21
2
0
21
2
13
4
8
15
0
11
3
4
13
2
16
0
5
10
15
20
25
All Most Some None I don't know
For how many videos is closed captioning created?
Face-to-Face Online Institutional

22. Is the approach (including
process, staff, criteria) that is
used to create closed
captioning for a video the
same regardless of whether
the video is produced for
face-to-face traditional
classroom course purposes,
online course purposes, or
institutional purposes?
22
Percentage
Yes 37.5%
No 40%
Unsure 17.5%
Not applicable 5%

23. Are closed captioning efforts
centralized or decentralized?
23
Frequency Percentage
No aspects of captioning are centralized 20 42.55%
A centralized policy exists for captioning 13 27.66%
A centralized operations team exists for
captioning 11 23.40%
A centralized budget exists for
captioning 9 19.15%
I don't know about centralization of
captioning at my institution 3 6.38%

24. Are closed caption efforts
systematic?
24
When you think about implementation of closed captioning across your
entire institution, to what extent is it systematic?
Frequency Percentage
Not at all systematic 22 55%
Somewhat systematic 12 30%
Systematic 4 10%
Very systematic 1 2.5%
I don't know 1 2.5%

25. How are videos prioritized for captions?
25
Frequency Percentage
By request 25 53.19%
Based on whether there exists a need to create
equivalent access
22 46.81%
Based on the purpose for which the video will be used
(i.e., traditional classroom course vs. online course vs.
institutional purposes)
15 31.91%
Based on whether videos are public or only visible to
certain students
15 31.91%
Based on as much as the budget will permit 7 14.89%
Based on course enrollment 6 12.77%
Other 6 12.77%
Based on video popularity 5 10.64%
All videos are captioned 5 10.64%
By course content/subject matter (i.e. certain courses get
priority)
3 6.38%

26. Have criteria been articulated for what
constitutes effective closed captioning?
26
Yes, 48.90%
No, 36.20%
I don't know,
14.90%

27. Current Successes and Limitations
of Captioning in Higher Ed
27

28. Why are institutions captioning?
28
Is the creation of closed captions for videos at your institution part of a
campus-wide initiative?
No, 60.50%
Yes, 23.70%
Unsure, 15.80%

29. Why are institutions captioning?
29
Frequency Percentage
To be in compliance with the law 37 78.72%
To avoid potential litigation 35 74.47%
In response to accommodation requests 33 70.21%
To support the needs of all learners 29 61.70%
To create a learning environment that is aligned
with the mission of the institution
20 42.55%
To be in compliance with institutional policies 14 29.79%
Because research supports a connection
between caption use and positive learning
outcomes
13 27.66%
To address a significant need at our institution 11 23.40%
In response to faculty demand 11 23.40%
In response to student demand that is not
accommodation-related
4 8.51%
I don't know 1 2.13%
Other 0 0.00%

30. Why are institutions NOT captioning?
30
Frequency Percentage
Lack of general awareness 26 55.32%
A budget doesn't exist 23 48.94%
Staffing is inadequate 22 46.81%
Unclear whose responsibility it is 22 46.81%
Don’t have buy-in of administration to caption videos 20 42.55%
It’s too time consuming 19 40.43%
It’s too expensive 18 38.30%
Faculty won’t do it 18 38.30%
Currently not an institutional priority 15 31.91%
We weren’t aware it was something that should be
done
8 17.02%
We don’t know how to do it 7 14.89%
Lack technical capability 6 12.77%
Concerned about copyright infringement 6 12.77%
Other 3 6.38%
I don't know 1 2.13%
This is not a genuine need at our institution 0 0.00%

31. Are institutions monitoring
closed caption compliance?
31
No, 52.60%
Yes, 26.30%
Unsure,
21.10%

32. Who ensures the quality of captions?
32
Frequency Percentage
Office of Disability Services 22 46.81%
The creator of the video 21 44.68%
Staff who are dedicated to closed
captioning
18 38.30%
A third party outside of this
institution
18 38.30%
Office of Information Technology 8 17.02%
No one is designated to do this 7 14.89%
I don't know 5 10.64%
Other 5 10.64%
Automated software 3 6.38%

33. Comparison of Captioning
Practices for Face-to-face, Online,
and Institutional Marketing
Content
33

34. Do formal guidelines exist to inform the
closed captioning of videos?
34
15
14
10
14
15
9
14
8
16
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Yes No Unsure
Face-to-Face Online Institutional

35. Are closed caption guidelines systematically
communicated to potential video creators?
35
6
7
0
3
10
2
3
4
1
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Yes No Unsure
Face-to-Face Online Institutional

36. Who decides whether to create captions?
36
28
6
2
3
2
1
8
17
9
4
6
20
10
5
1 1
0
9
19
5
4
15
7
9
3
6
7
1
5
3
0
12
18
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
ODS OIT Provost VP of SA CIO CDO Deans or
Chairs
Faculty Students I don't
know
Other
Face-to-Face Online Institutional

37. Who decides which caption solution to use?
37
18
9
2
1 1
0
4
10
3
0
4
17
12
4
1 1
0
5
14
3
1
16
4
9
1
4
3
0
4
3
1
3
9
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
ODS OIT Provost VP of SA CIO CDO Deans or
Chairs
Faculty Students I don't
know
Other
Face-to-Face Online Institutional

38. Who creates the captions?
38
14
8
3
13
17
3
0
3
18
8
3
11
19
5
1
6
13
7
3
4
14
2 2
6
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
The creator
of the video
Staff who are
dedicated to
captioning
Office of
Information
Technology
Office of
Disability
Services
A third party,
external to
the institution
Automated
software
I don't know Other
Face-to-Face Online Institutional

39. How Colleges & Universities
Perceive and React to Legal
Requirements for Captioning
39

40. Are colleges and universities meeting
legal requirements for captioning?
40
Federal disability law Section 508 requires that online videos
comply with a set of accessibility standards that requires closed
captions for all pre-recorded videos.
Closed captions are blocks of text usually shown at the bottom
of a video that mirror the spoken audio. They capture not just
speech but also essential sounds, like, for example, [doorbell],
[laughter], or [applause]. They allow the viewer to read the text
and absorb visuals at the same time. Closed captions can be
turned on or off.

41. Are colleges and universities meeting
legal requirements for captioning?
41
How confident are you that you understand what it means for your
institution to be in compliance with federal and state accessibility laws
regarding closed captioning?
Frequency Percentage
Very unconfident 1 2.1%
Unconfident 3 6.4%
Neither unconfident
not confident
5 10.6%
Confident 18 38.3%
Very confident 20 42.6%

42. Are colleges and universities meeting
legal requirements for captioning?
42
Which best describes your understanding of what it means for your
institution to be in compliance with federal and state accessibility laws
regarding closed captioning?
Frequency Percentage
We are required to proactively caption all of our videos 24 51.1%
We are required to proactively caption most of our videos 9 19.1%
We are required to provide closed captions only in the
case of a deaf student or if a student makes an
accommodation request
9 19.1%
We are required to proactively caption some of our
videos
4 8.5%
I don't know 1 2.1%
We are not legally required to provide any closed
captions
0 0%

43. Are colleges and universities meeting
legal requirements for captioning?
43
To what extent do you
believe your institution is
meeting closed captioning
requirements?
not at all,
2.10%
partially
meeting
requiremen…
meeting
requirements,
14.90%
exceeding
requirements,
2.10%
unsure,
2.10%

44. Are caption efforts
centralized or decentralized?
44
In general, which of the following best characterizes your institution's
underlying approach to closed captioning?
Frequency Percentage
More reactive than proactive 16 40%
Primarily reactive (designing for accessibility is done
only after accommodations are requested)
9 22.5%
Primarily proactive (designing for accessibility is
prioritized even if it is not requested)
5 12.5%
More proactive than reactive 5 12.5%
Approximately equally proactive and reactive 5 12.5%

45. “The State of Captioning” Survey
45
45

46. Recruitment & Participation
• Reached out by email to 18,000 institutional representatives in higher ed
• Representatives were asked to complete a 53-question online survey
• 10 $50 Amazon gift cards and 50 $5 Starbucks gift cards from 3Play
Media as raffle
• 832 respondents from higher ed
46
46

47. Who Responded?
Enrollment:
Public vs. Private:
47
47

48. Who Responded (2)?
Region
Mid-Atlantic (131)
Midwest (198)
New England (65)
South (141)
Southwest (74)
West (181)
48
48

49. How much video is being produced or
published?
0
50
100
150
200
250
0-10 hours 11-100 hours 101-250 hours 251-500 hours 501-1000 hours 1000+ hours Not sure Don't produce
video in-house
Hours of video produced or published annually
49

50. Video Breakdown
What type of video are
you publishing?
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
No response
Not sure
We purchase video
Recorded video
Live video
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
No
Not sure
Rarely
Sometimes
Yes, always
Do you caption any of these videos? Do the videos you purchase have
captions?
50
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Yes No Not sure
Recorded
Live

51. Only 35% say captioning is centralized
No
No, but it's on our roadmap
No, but we're establishing
one
Not sure
Yes
Other
Is there a centralized process for captioning?51

52. Captioning needs are on the rise
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
Decreasing Staying the same Increasing
moderately
Increasing
significantly
How do you foresee your captioning needs changing in the next year?
52

53. 12% of respondents who caption
have $0 budget
$0
$1-$10,000
$10k-$50k
$50k-100k
$100k+
Not sure
What is your annual budget for captioning?
53

54. CAPTION QUALITY
54

55. 86% of respondents who have received
feedback about caption quality say captions
are “generally” or “consistently” high quality
No Not sure Yes
What was the feedback?
Consistently low quality 1
Quality varies widely 18
Generally high quality, but sometimes
inaccurate
82
Captions are high quality 74
Other 5
Have you received feedback about the quality of
your captions?
55

56. Most respondents would rate their
caption quality an 8 out of 10
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your
caption quality?
56

57. 40% always review their captions;
15% always or often edit them
0 50 100 150 200 250
Not sure
Never
Only for certain files
Sometimes
Always
Do you review your captions?
0 50 100 150 200
All the time
Most of the time
Some of the time
Never
Not sure
Rarely
How often do you edit your captions?
57

58. 21% use automatic captions for all or
some of their captioning needs
No
Not sure
We start with them &
edit
Yes, for all captioning
Yes, for some of our
captioning
Do you use automatic captions?
58

59. Do respondents who rate captions a
9 or 10 review or edit their captions?
Review captions Edit captions
Always (104)
Sometimes (93)
Only for certain
videos (19)
Never (11)
Not sure (6)
Always (9)
Most of the time
(13)
Some of the time
(72)
Never (22)
Not sure (17)
Rarely (101)
59

60. How did people who said their captions
were generally high quality or consistently
high quality rate their caption quality?
Rating # of respondents %
10 2 2%
9 43 43%
8 40 40%
7 11 11%
6 2 2%
5 2 2%
TOTAL: 100
Rating # of respondents %
10 28 38%
9 34 46%
8 10 14%
7 2 3%
TOTAL: 74
Generally high quality Consistently high quality
45% say 9 or 10
84% say 9 or 10
60

61. 17% of respondents who rated
captions a 9 or 10 use automatic
captions for all or some videos.
No (142)
Not sure (8)
We start with automatic
captions & edit them
(61)
Yes, for all videos (5)
Yes, for some of our
videos (38)
How many who rated
captions a 9 or 10 use
automatic captions?
61

62. LEGAL OBLIGATIONS
62

63. 70% are confident they know which
accessibility laws apply to them.
If yes, which laws apply?
ADA Title II 390
ADA Title III 308
Section 504 341
Section 508 371
CVAA 144
FCC 77
Not sure 43
No Not sure Yes
Do you know which accessibility
laws apply to you?
43 who responded yes were “not
sure” when asked to select the laws
63

64. 65% are “pretty” or “very” confident
they know what it means to be in
compliance with captioning
requirements
How confident are you that you understand what it means to be in compliance with the closed
captioning requirements laid out by accessibility laws?
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Not confident at all Not very confident Not sure Pretty confident Very confident
64

65. Only 19% of respondents have a clear
policy for captioning compliance
Do you have a clear policy for captioning
compliance?
No
No, but it's on our
roadmap
No, but we're
establishing one
Not sure
Yes
65

66. 26% who are confident they understand
caption compliance have a clear policy
Of people who said they were “pretty” or “very” confident they understand captioning
compliance, how many have a clear policy?
No policy
No, but it's on our
roadmap
No, but we're
establishing one now
Not sure
Yes
66

67. 50% who are confident they understand
caption compliance rate their caption
quality at a 9 or 10
How did respondents who said they were “pretty” or “very” confident they
understood caption compliance rate their caption quality?
67

68. 66% who said they had a clear policy
for caption compliance rated their
caption quality a 9 or 10
How did respondents who stated they had a clear policy for caption
compliance rate their caption quality?
68

69. DOES INSTITUTION SIZE AFFECT
BUDGET OR POLICY?
69

70. How does size correlate to budget?
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
$0
$1-$10,000
$1,001-$50,000
$50,001-$100,000
$100,000+
Student enrollment70

71. How does size correlate to the
existence of a clear captioning policy?
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
100.00%
Clear policy exists
No policy exists
Student enrollment71

72. Takeaways
• Most schools do not have a centralized procedure for captioning
• Almost universally, institutions see captioning needs increasing by next
year
• Disconnect between how people rate their caption quality and their
understanding of compliance or what “high quality” means.
• Disconnect between respondents’ confidence in their understanding of
accessibility laws and their corresponding caption quality and policies
• Slight correlation between institution size and captioning budget
• Clear correlation between institution size and existence of a clear
captioning policy
72

73. Q&A
Upcoming Webinars:
 Feb 16: Accessibility at Blackboard
 Feb 23: Best Practices for Accessible Videos
 Mar 9: Campus-Wide Response to Captioning
 Mar 16: Getting Faculty Involved with Accessibility
 Mar 30: Quick Start to Captioning
You can register for our free webinars at:
www.3playmedia.com/webinars/
Panelist Contact Info
Dr. Katie Linder
Research Director
Oregon State University
Ecampus
Kathryn.linder@oregonstate
.edu
Lily Bond
3Play Media
www.3playmedia.com
lily@3playmedia.com
Student Study Download:
www.3playmedia.com/stude
nt-research-study/
Institutional Study:
www.3playmedia.com/institu
tional-research-study
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