Menu

Accessible Video

Learn about video captioning resources at Mt. SAC

Accessible Video at Mt. SAC

By law, videos require accurate captions.  The Mt. SAC administrative procedure AP 5142: Students with Disabilities - Accessibility of Multimedia Instructional Material: Captioning translates the federal and state requirement for captions for all training and informational video and multimedia productions that contain speech or other audio information.

Captioning Services at Mt. SAC

Mt. SAC offers a free video captioning service to all employees including professors, managers, and classified staff. . Videos shared with students, employees, and the public must be captioned to meet accessibility regulations. Mt. SAC also offers video and captioning tools to aid you in creating accessible videos. See these options below.

 Mt. SAC Closed Caption Request Form

What videos can be captioned? This service can be used for videos that a Mt. SAC employee creates or for third-party videos that are used in instruction or for the purposes of the college, whether for internal use or for sharing with the public. Fill out the form below to request captioning. 

Turnaround times: Most requests can be completed within7-10 business days from the request. Please leave as much time as you can to ensure you have your video ready when you need it. Long or complex jobs may require additional time. 

What if I have quesitons? Mt. SAC Captioning is managed by Broadcast Services Department in the Technical Services unit. Captioning services are mostly outsourced to our vendor, 3Play Media. You can visit the 3Play Media to learn details about the services they offer. Our in-house team may expand upon 3Play Media's capabilities. Fill out the form to ask questions about what captioning services are offered. 

Additional Video Tools & Services

  • Canvas Studio

    Every employee with a Mt. SAC login can access Canvas Studio from the Canvas global navigation menu on the far left of the screen. Studio allows you to record your screen, your webcam, or from your phone using the mobile app. Canvas studio videos you create can also be edited and have automatically generated caption options that you can edit and download. The caption editing tool is probably the easiest to use among all of our video tools. Studio videos can be shared via link or embed both within and outside of Canvas. You can learn more about Canvas Studio in the Canvas Faculty Center Tools & Apps page. There are self-paced workshops on Studio available through POD and also listed in the Canvas Faculty Center workshop page. 

    Screenpal

     All Mt. SAC employees have access to Screenpal Team EDU account. To set up your account, go to Screenpal and create an account using your Mt. SAC email address.  To get started, follow these steps: 

    1. Visit https://ScreenPal.com/download and click on the blue “Download Install” button. Locate the installer (EXE file) after the download completes and run it by double clicking on it. Downloaded files usually go to your computer’s Downloads folder, but you may need to browse for the location the file was downloaded to.
    2. During the install you will be asked to choose the users. Select “install just for me”.
    3. When the setup completes, click the “Finish” button and ScreenPal should automatically launch.
    4. A pop-up will appear, select “I have a Team Plan”
    5. In the access URL type: www.ScreenPal.com/mt-sac and hit submit
    6. You will be taken to the Mt. SAC Portal login page. Login using your Mt. SAC credentials
    7. After you login, you will be redirected back to the ScreenPal page that says “Install Setup”. Click the blue “OK” button to complete the setup.

    Screenpal offers video recording and editing tools, along with automatically generated caption that you can edit. Videos can be stored in Screenpal and embedded or shared with a link.  Visit Screenpal tutorials to learn more about its features. 

    Zoom

    All employees have access to a Mt. SAC Zoom account.  Create a meeting and record it. Use the settings in Zoom to generate and retrieve an automated transcript that can be used for captions. Zoom allows you to record yourself and your screen along with anyone else who you invite to the meeting. However, it does not include video editing tools and should not be used for long-term storage. Download your video and transcript and use 3C Media for storage!

    • Record a screencast or webcam video using Tech Connect Zoom web conferencing software.
      • Our Zoom address is mtsac-edu.zoom.us/. Log in with your Mt. SAC credentials. 
      • Turn on the  built-in transcript function from the web page settings. This allows you to add captions to your recording.

  •  3C Media

    CCC system "YouTube" storage and streaming for all employees. 

    3C Media Solutions

    3C Media is integrated into Canvas, allowing professors to embed and stream videos in Canvas. Videos can be added to 3C Media from within Canvas and caption requests to videos in a 3C Media library can be made in Canvas.

    PlayPosit, an interactive video tool that is also integrated in Canvas, can pull in videos from 3C Media. Employees can also embed 3C Media-hosted videos to web pages, or share URL links. 

    3C Media is a versatile tool for video storage and sharing, but includes no video editing capabilities. 

    Turnaround times: for automated captions is 1 day. Captions edited by a human take approximately 5 business days from the request. 

    This service is paid by the Distance Education Captioning and Transcription (DECT) grant so long as funding remains. This is desirable for videos that meet the criteria to save Mt. SAC's funding for use in captioning all video types. 

    About Using 3C Media 

    More Video Tools at Mt. SAC

    Studio and several additional video tools - Flip, GoReact, PlayPosit, Padlet, and Pronto - can be used to make videos into interactive elements within courses in Canvas. These tools allow captions to be uploaded or create automated captions for student-made videos. Find more information about using these tools in the Canvas Faculty Center Tools & Apps page. 

    More Captioning Resources

    Automated captioning tools just keep getting better and better. Here are a few valuable captioning resources. Also see the Accessibility page on Canvas to learn more about the rules for accessible captioning and to find out more information about captioning and accessibility. 

Looking for fully-captioned videos at Mt. SAC?

The Mt. SAC Library feature several video databases that contain accessible, fully captioned videos. The two largest video databases in the Mt. SAC collection are Films on Demand and Kanopy.  Because the content is already licensed through our library, you can use it for employee-related training or in classes. You can embed video directly within Canvas. Students can also find it in our digital library collections.

  • Films on Demand is integrated into the Canvas LMS so you can easily add those videos to your courses without additional sign-in. You can find Films on Demand under the "plug" icon in the Rich Content Editor.
  • Videos from other video databases in the library can be embedded directly into courses. If you need assistance with finding videos, contact your Mt. SAC librarians. The Faculty Center for Learning Technology (FCLT) can also show you how to search and add videos into Canvas courses.   

Mt. SAC Libguides: Films and Streaming Videos

Captioning: Frequently Asked Questions

    • 1Which captioning option should I choose? 

      Which Captioning Option should I choose? 

      For short videos with minimal text, automated captions in video tools Canvas Studio, Screenpal and Zoom work well. However, captioning edits can become very time consuming, especially if a video is longer than a few minutes.

      For videos that you did not create (youtube videos, for example), for non-faculty employees, or for professor videos that are not used for a specific course, use our local Mt. SAC service. 

       For professors who have recorded their own videos, 3C Media is a great option. The turnaround time is fast, the CCC system pays for the captioning, and the video is then already in your 3C Media library, which is integrated into Canvas and works well with other tools such as PlayPosit.

    • 2What if my video is in a language other than English? 

      What if my video is in a language other than English?

      Our vendor, 3 Play Media, captions videos in many languages. According to 3 Play Media's FAQ page, they provide captioning and transcription in 25 source languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch, Italian, Russian, Turkish, Persian, Hindi, Hebrew, Thai, Indonesian, Czech, Bosnian, Croatian, Latvian, Polish, Romanian, Slovenian, and Swedish. Videos are captioned in the first language of the video. 

      Please inquire through the Mt. SAC Captioning form if a video includes multiple languages that you would like to appear as words in the captions. 

    • 3How do I find a video that may already be captioned?

      How do I find a captioned version of a video?

      If you are using a video or an excerpt from a feature movie, a popular documentary, or other content from television, film, a publisher, or from an education collection, this content is required to be captioned by law. It likely already exists in a captioned format.

      Please review our local library databases or ask for assistance from a librarian to locate a captioned version of the video. If the copy is not in our library collection, use the Mt. SAC Captioning form to make an information request. Technical Services may be able to help you identify an existing captioned copy of the video.

    • 4Where can I find more info on video options?

      Finding more info on video options

      Video tool information is included in the Canvas Faculty Center, which is an open course in Canvas. All employees can access this information, but logging in with your Mt. SAC credentials may be required. 

    • 5What information is required for 3C Media caption requests?

      What information is required for 3C Media caption requests

      When making your request, you need to provide:  

      • your name
      • the title of the video
      • the length of the video
      • the course where you will use it

      Here is a view of the caption request form in 3C Media. 

      The 3C Media captioning form asks for title, video lenght, author, CRN, term , notes and caption type
    • 6How do I start using 3C Media?

      How do I get started using 3C Media?

      Accounts are free for all California Community College employees, but you must register for a 3C Media account using the primary assigned Mt. SAC email address (do not use alias addresses if you have set any up).  3C Media will only sync with Canvas if you use the exact same email address in 3C Media that is listed in your Canvas account. 

      Those with a Teaching Role in Canvas can also sign up for 3C Media by accessing it within Canvas. In Canvas, 3C Media is found under the "plug" icon in the Rich Content Editor when in editing mode.

    • 7Why is 3C Media captioning limited? 

      Why is 3C Media captioning limited?

      Free captions with 3C Media are provided through a Distance Education (DECT) block grant provided by the Community College system. Even though the grant is for distance education, the account manager has clarified that they are for any digital video used in any class type, so you can request captions for any video you plan to share in a digital format for instructional purposes.  You will be provided with this information when you request captions within 3C Media. 

    • 8How do I use 3C Media with PlayPosit? 

      How do I use 3C Media with PlayPosit

      PlayPosit is an instructional tool in Canvas that allows videos to be converted into interactive activities for students. Questions, prompts, annotations, reflections and analytics on video viewing are all available, as well as a way for students to view interactive transcripts and take notes on video content.