UNC Greensboro Captions and Describes Videos to Improve Access to Online Courses

The Situation

As a public entity that receives federal funding, UNC Greensboro strives to uphold accessibility standards such as WCAG 2.1 and requirements of federal laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act (Sections 508 & 504).

UNC Greensboro recognizes that accessibility is important because it benefits all students. On one hand, captions, transcripts, and audio description allow students who are blind, low vision, deaf, and/or hard-of-hearing to access video content in online courses. On the other hand, people without disabilities benefit from these accessible features, too:

Students can use captions in a noisy or very quiet environment. Students who are learning English may prefer reading the narration rather than listening to the audio. Instructors and staff may find it helpful to pull quotes from transcripts. The use cases are endless.

UNC Greensboro’s Division of Online Learning needed a video accessibility vendor that would provide high-quality services with flexible turnaround times for varying volumes of video content. That’s where 3Play came in.

The Approach

By partnering with 3Play Media, UNC Greensboro’s Division of Online Learning was able to ensure that multiple divisions within the university could conveniently access captioning, transcription, and audio description services for their video content directly through 3Play’s account system.

UNC Greensboro has no shortage of online video to caption and describe, and it requires varying turnaround times for files depending on the course. A single semester-long course at UNC Greensboro can contain upwards of 30 videos, ranging from brief 1-2 minute clips to feature-length films or documentaries. It quickly discovered that 3Play was up for the challenge to meet flexible turnaround requirements:

In the case of DCE200: Dance Appreciation, 3Play provided captioning, transcriptions, and/or audio description for 70 videos within about 2 months. In the case of BIO105: Introduction to Biology, faster turnaround time was required, and 3Play provided captioning, transcriptions, and/or audio description for 22 videos within 2 weeks.

The Results

3Play consistently returns captioning, transcription, and audio description files within the desired turnaround time, which helps ensure video projects are developed and tested before being offered to students.

UNC Greenboro Divison of Online Learning’s partnership with 3Play has allowed UNC Greensboro to fulfill its commitment to support students of all backgrounds and abilities by helping them to learn through multiple modes of media.

When a student with a documented visual impairment enrolled in the BIO105 online course, offering audio description for videos through 3Play meant that this student was able to have the same learning opportunities afforded to other students. 3Play’s rapid turnaround time made it possible for the student to take this online course and learn from the videos instead of having to drop the course. By having these courses’ videos now captioned, transcribed, and audio described, future students with and without documented disabilities will receive a more enriched educational experience.