FLO tips - Captions, subtitles, and transcripts

When you create caption, subtitles and transcripts for video or audio-based learning resources, you are:

providing accessible and inclusive resources for diverse student cohorts
aligning with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework
enabling students to adapt materials to suit individual preferences
supporting students with notetaking and language learning (subtitles)
helping students with comprehension and retention of information

Tip 1: Use built-in auto (machine) captioning and subtitles

There are a variety of tools in the FLO ecosystem that have built-in features to generate text-based description to support video and audio. These include options for live captioning, open and close captioning (CC), different playback options to synchronise and control playback speed and ways to provide downloadable text transcription files for students.

Resources that can help

Canvas Guide: Add captions to my media file in Canvas Studio
Staff FLO Support: Edit Microsoft Teams classes recording and transcript
Self-paced workshop: Online accessibility

Tip 2: Improve machine-generated captions by editing and formatting

Although auto-generated transcripts and captions can be helpful, they may not always be accurate. For key resources, plan to review and edit captions to improve the accuracy.

Resources that can help

Canvas Guide: Use the Caption Editor

Tip 3: Access a range of support resources for captioning and transcription

Providing captioning and transcription for resources helps other support services. Students can also access a range of individualised support resources to further adapt their learning resources. For example, a student may have an Access Plan that grants a transcriber access to topics they enrol in. This custom transcription is not available to other students within the FLO site.

Resources that can help