Closed Captions in Canvas

Being committed to having a course designed so that all learners can access all course content can be a daunting task. If you have created a video and it is hosted on a supported third-party media site (such as YouTube or Vimeo), you can easily add subtitles to the video. Check out this great Canvas Guide for more information: How do I create a caption file for an external video?

However, if you simply want to add some feedback to a discussion forum or a short announcement, you may not want to go to all the trouble of uploading it to your media site. Also, if accuracy is an issue, you can create your own closed caption video/audio file directly in CANVAS using the media tool in the Rich Content Editor. It's a bit of work, but easy enough to add subtitles for short clips that you don't want to upload to YouTube or Vimeo.

Check out the Canvas Help Guide How do I create captions for new or uploaded videos in Canvas?

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I've FLIPPED 4 UDL!

As I read through a magazine with the words "FLIP IT" on the cover, I got so excited about the concepts inside, that I had to share! You've probably heard about "flipping your classroom", but if not, take a few minutes and check into it. There's a ton of information but here are a few sites I liked:

• http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/the-flipped-class-conversation-689.php
• http://janediner.blogspot.com/2012/05/udl-science-and-flipping.html
• http://www.emergingedtech.com/2011/09/7-stories-from-educators-about-teaching-in-the-flipped-classroom/

In a nutshell, teachers have discovered that students are often more engaged, more active, and learn more in a flipped classroom environment than in a traditional one. By having students watch videos, read articles, or study on their own time, they can use classroom time for things like group projects, discussions, experiments, or practice work. Imagine actually being able to help them with the math problem they were stuck on?! Or watching them work it out with a peer?!


And the super cool part of this concept? It totally embraces UDL (Universal Design for Learning)! Many of our students need a little more time to process or digest the information, or watch the video/read the material/etc. multiple times, taking as much time as they need. How great is that?  If you decide you're ready to FLIP, let us know! We'd be happy to help and cheer you on!

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Google Docs Videos

Google recently announced that you can now add captioning to your Google Docs videos and embed the video in your Google Site.

I usually store my videos and add captioning via YouTube, which Google also happens to own, so I was wondering what the advantage could be to using Google Docs for this process. To test this out, I tried uploading a video to my Google Site from my Google Docs repository.

First, I added my video to my Google Docs account, and found that the captioning feature is actually easier to use than the YouTube captioning feature. I then uploaded my video to one of my google Sites, and it worked great! The product is pictured above.

The biggest advantage I see to storing your videos at Google Docs, rather than YouTube, is that Google Docs is not searchable like YouTube. Another advantage is that you can store the captioning text file AND the video right there, whereas with YouTube you can only store videos.

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Caption in YouTube

Many of us use videos in our classes, but are they ADA compliant? If they don't have closed captioning, they aren't. One way to caption your videos, for FREE, is through YouTube. The following video shows how to upload your text, and how YouTube converts it to captioning.

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Have you ever wanted to create your own short movie for your class? One of the available services for this is Xtranormal.com, which is where I found the program to create this brief movie about how to NOT interview for a job.

You can download the basic version of Xtranormal for free, and you are given 300 free points to purchase settings and characters for your movie. I used my full 300 points purchasing the office setting and my two characters. Xtranormal is very easy to use and it is fun to add in gestures, movements, and facial expressions.

Also, to make the movie ADA compliant and more UDL friendly, I added captioning through YouTube, which is available on all new videos. You just have to type your script in Notepad, upload it with your video to YouTube, and YouTube will sync the text with the audio.

So, I made this movie for free, it is ADA compliant, AND I can use it again and again in my classes!

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Color Blind?

Color blindness is a form of vision impairment and is covered by ADA. According to the EEOC, "...approximately 10 million people in the United States are blind or visually impaired."

How does this affect us in online education? Obviously at some point we will have a color blind student, and it is our responsibility to make sure the colors and graphics in our classes can easily be read by them. This is where Vischeck can be helpful. This free service allows you to upload a file and see what that files looks like to a color blind person.

The original image shows you a PDF file that I use in my class for evaluation, but the Deuteranope Simulation shows you what my file looks like to a person with red-green color blindness, or Deuteranope. Taking into consideration color blindness when preparing files is also a great way to practice UDL (Universal Design for Learning) principles.

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Speaking Image

Speaking Image is a great site with lots of possibilities, especially when one considers ADA compliance. The JFK Assassination graphic below was created on Speaking Image. Notice that you can add links to YouTube videos.

The user can increase/decrease the size of the image and/or drag it to the desired position. You can embed the image or simply provide a link.

The site is really easy to use. I started a graphic explaining Pipeline's Student Quick Clicks. It is in its beginning stages but grabbing the graphic took longer than adding the explanations.

How might you use Speaking Image?

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Add Captions to Video in PowerPoint

STAMP is a free add-in for PowerPoint 2010 that lets you easily add captions to videos in your PowerPoint presentation. With this simple add-in you can also add captions to audio files included in your presentation. This tool is clearly useful when one considers ADA compliance as we move toward Quality Matters course certification. One might wish to put the video or audio file in PowerPoint to simplify the process of including a text version of these types of files.

The STAMP site states, "The Subtitling Add-on for Microsoft PowerPoint (STAMP) helps Microsoft PowerPoint users add closed captions to the video and audio files included in their presentations, which boosts their impact for those with hearing disabilities."

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