How to Generate Captions and Transcripts for Video and Audio-only Files

How to Generate Captions and Transcripts for Video and Audio-only Files

If you are planning to create video or audio media to include with learning or presentation materials, you will want to ensure the inclusion of captions and transcripts. Ohio State University adheres to Minimum Digital Accessibility Standards (MDAS) that dictate the need to have videos captioned and provide transcripts for video and audio media to guarantee functional accessibility for individuals with disabilities as well as any other individuals that require this accommodation. 

Video Media

Captions can be helpful for anyone who views a video, especially those viewing videos in a second language, people watching videos in noisy environments, or anyone who needs additional help making sense of the material presented in the video. There are three options for you to use to generate and edit captions for video media at Ohio State. Using one of these university approved tools, you will also be able to produce text transcripts to provide alongside your captioned videos:

  1. CarmenZoom
  2. Microsoft Stream
  3. Mediasite

You can record your media directly using any of the tools listed above, and in the case of Microsoft Stream and Mediasite, you also have the option to upload MP4 media files that have been created elsewhere.

CarmenZoom

Using CarmenZoom, you can record and caption video media. If you are unfamiliar with this process, you can consult our student-facing tutorial “CarmenZoom Video Capture” for detailed instructions. The instructions below will primarily highlight the key components of generating and accessing captions and transcripts. NOTE: CarmenZoom recordings are best suited to content that is created or recreated on a regular basis since CarmenZoom automatically deletes recordings after 120 days. If you’d like to retain long-term access to your CarmenZoom recordings we recommend downloading and re-uploading them to one of the other approved platforms listed here.

Microsoft Stream

As a part of the Microsoft suite of applications and products, Microsoft Stream is an option for recording or uploading video media to be captioned. Microsoft Stream can generate captions and transcripts for videos up to 4GB in size. Recordings in Stream are limited to 15 minutes per video to help you stay within these parameters. Longer videos can be captured using Mediasite, which is described in the section below. 

Click the step-by-step instructions below for more information about how to record and generate captions and transcripts in Microsoft Stream.

Mediasite

Mediasite is Ohio State’s approved lecture capture platform. The Whisper captioning tool within Mediasite can reliably autogenerate captions and transcripts for small to very large video files in several languages, though it can take some time to become familiar with this platform and the location of important settings and functionalities if you aren’t used to working with the tool. 

Audio-only Media

In developing or delivering your course, you may come across a situation in which you would like to incorporate audio-only materials that have not been recorded in CarmenZoom or that may come from other external sources (e.g. podcasts). Just as with video recordings, providing text transcripts to your students together with the media files greatly enhances access to the materials for a variety of learners. 

There are two university-supported tools that we recommend to instructors for generating, editing, and sharing text transcripts for audio-only recordings: 

  1. Microsoft Word (web browser application)
  2. Mediasite

To use either of these tools to generate transcripts, the first step is to ensure that you have access to the actual audio file (not simply a URL link), as you will need to upload the file first before you can utilize the transcription services. Once you have the file on hand, determine which of the two supported tools will best fit your needs, and then follow the step-by-step instructions included in the dropdowns below to generate, edit, and download your transcripts.

Microsoft Word (Web browser application)

With Microsoft Word’s web browser application (not the desktop app), you can use the Dictate and Transcribe tools to either upload an existing audio file or record directly into the document. Once the recording has been added, you can then transcribe the audio directly from those recordings into text that can be automatically populated onto the page.

Mediasite

If you are already using Mediasite to store or record other media files for your class, this may also be a good option to generate transcripts for any audio-only files you might wish to share with students.