Navigating a McBurney captioning request
Helpful tips for captioning support--the IMC can help!
This document contains useful information for those teaching classes with a deaf or hard of hearing student within the Communication Arts department. Obviously, an instructor teaching a class with a captioning request will likely first interface with the McBurney Center, but the Instructional Media Center staff can also assist in this process in helpful ways.
The IMC does not have the funding/capacity to provide captioning support without an official McBurney request active for the course. However, if you do not have a McBurney student but still want to generate your own captions, we can train you on how to do so most efficiently.
What to do when you find out you have a request for captioning
- Immediately loop IMC Manager James Runde (jcrunde@wisc.edu) into the email thread. He will likely end up being the person to actually place the captions order and ensure they display properly. (Note: McBurney has been somewhat overwhelmed with captioning requests and the support the IMC provides allows them to focus their resources on departments with fewer audio/video professionals.)
- Coordinate a method with James for delivering materials to be captioned. Usually Box works fine. Otherwise, if you have another preferred method of delivery, or you'd rather just upload your own content to Kaltura and share it with James, that's fine too. As long as the workflow is made clear, the IMC will be flexible.
- Establish a schedule. The new process for captioning is much quicker than the old one. Currently, turnaround time for captions can be as short as 24 hours, but please don't wait until the very last minute to submit videos for captioning. Delivering material at least three days in advance is a safe bet.
- Reach out if there's a problem. It's a good idea to periodically browse through your material for the upcoming week to check on the status of captions. Chances are everything will be going smoothly, but there are a lot of videos to wrangle for the McBurney requests of the entire department and it's theoretically possible that a job can slip through the cracks, so it's good to have multiple eyes on the project.
Wait, this is different from how I've done things in the past!
- If you have a preferred method of working with McBurney or you have a personal contact over there and feel more secure using the Center as a means for handling your captions, please feel free to do so. Still, dropping a line to James Runde (jcrunde@wisc.edu) that this is the case would help clear up any confusion as to who should be placing your captions orders and what follow-up is required.
- Likewise, if your class material is already all captioned, obviously you won't require James or McBurney's assistance (save for maybe one or two new videos). But again, sending James an email notifying him that this is the case will help.
Above all else, please reach out! Email jcrunde@wisc.edu with any info/questions/concerns about your McBurney captioning request.