Getting Personally Acquainted with Proper Self-captioning Skills for Today and Tomorrow
Concurrent Session 1
Brief Abstract
Self-captioning can seem like a mysterious, unnerving experience. Yet, giving it a try may reduce hesitation and open UDL horizons previously unknown. Attendees will be guided to make a short “selfie” introduction video, upload it to their YouTube channel, and using their laptops, try self-captioning in Amara.org and/or YouTube.
Presenters

Extended Abstract
According to Ofcom, approximately 80% of those who regularly use captions are not designated as deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). The need for proper captions and transcripts is increasing for those who are in environments where they cannot hear well (airport terminals, busy restaurants), are not native English speakers, do not have ready access to headphones, or would rather read a transcript to save time. So, as the global use of video increases, what does this mean for captioning? The most common form of captioning on the popular YouTube platform is “English automatic.” However, it is likely not to be grammatically accurate enough for most, even native speakers of English, to understand and follow well after a few moments. One of the most frequent errors in automatic captioning is the misspelling of proper nouns or names. Ensuring the accuracy of names of specific people, places and branded things usually requires human review and editing. Yet, the idea of self-captioning can seem like a mysterious and unnerving experience. Giving it a try may reduce hesitation in the future, open personal Universal Design for Learning (UDL) horizons previously unknown, and build confidence to move forward on ensuring multimedia content is accessible to all. Non-native English speakers, or those who speak English as a Second Language (ESL), can improve the accuracy of their video content delivery regardless of accent or dialect through self-captioning. Attendees will be guided to make a short “selfie” introduction video on their digital devices using their titles and names as well as possibly their educational institution, department and the online course they are teaching. The video would then be uploaded to the respective owner’s YouTube channel. After uploads are complete, using their laptops or tablets, attendees can try self-captioning in Amara and/or YouTube. Strategy options will be offered of correcting the “English automatic” captioning in YouTube, uploading a script as a Word document in YouTube, and manually updating the captions in Amara. As takeaways, attendees will have reference guides for self-captioning, at least a good start on making their short “selfie” introduction videos more appropriately captioned, and increased confidence that self-captioning is personally achievable.