Home » CDL Services » Multimedia Services » Proactive Captioning for Online Courses Proactive Captioning for Online Courses CDL offers limited proactive captioning support for UCF faculty teaching online courses. This service enhances accessibility, supports student comprehension, and promotes compliance with UCF’s Accessibility Policy (2-006). Captioned media provides a wide range of benefits, particularly for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. By including captions in your course content, you can ensure that all students have fair access to information and can fully participate in the learning experience.Having properly captioned course media also benefits: students learning in noisy or quiet environments non-native English speakers students with attention, memory, or processing differences anyone who prefers reading reinforcement for comprehension Captions improve review, retention, and overall course usability — helping more learners succeed. What This Service Covers CDL can provide 300 minutes of human-edited captions for select pre-recorded course media in eligible online courses. Examples of eligible content may include: Course videos hosted in Webcourses@UCF Video@CDL produced course videos YouTube videos used in an eligible online course (when captions are not available) Eligibility Guidelines To help ensure limited captioning resources are used effectively, the following guidelines apply: This service is available for: Academic courses taught online Pre-recorded video content Videos in English Media that already exists at the time of submission This service is not available for: Face-to-face course modalities Non-academic courses Live captioning (real-time captioning is not offered through this process) Audio-only files or transcript-only requests Videos with auto-generated captions (Panopto, Zoom, YouTube etc.) Eligibility requirements are based on captioning workflow limitations and the need to prioritize high-impact, reusable course media when annual captioning minutes are limited. A detailed listing of eligible video content is provided below; however, this list is not exhaustive. Proactive captioning eligibility by content type Table showing which types of course media are eligible or not eligible for proactive captioning services. Eligible items are marked with a check. Not eligible items are marked with an X. Content type Eligible for proactive captioning Not eligible for proactive captioning Notes Pre-recorded course videos used in eligible online academic courses ✅Eligible —Not applicable Must be used in an online modality and meet all service requirements. MP4 files uploaded directly into Webcourses@UCF ✅Eligible —Not applicable Eligible when the video has no captions and audio quality supports captioning. Video@CDL / Vimeo-hosted course videos (hosted on the Video@CDL Vimeo account) ✅Eligible —Not applicable Eligible when the video has no captions and meets other service requirements. Individual YouTube videos embedded in a course (no captions available) ✅Eligible —Not applicable Eligible only for individual videos (not playlists) and when captions are not available. Videos recorded in English ✅Eligible —Not applicable Only English-language videos are eligible for this service. Media that already exists at the time of submission ✅Eligible —Not applicable Additional media created later must be submitted in a future captioning cycle. Panopto or Zoom recordings with auto-generated captions —Not applicable ❌Not eligible Faculty should edit auto-generated captions in-platform to meet accessibility standards. Any video that already includes automatic captions —Not applicable ❌Not eligible This service is reserved for videos with no captions available. Live captioning (real-time events or lectures) —Not applicable ❌Not eligible Proactive captioning supports pre-recorded media only. Face-to-face course modalities —Not applicable ❌Not eligible Only academic courses taught online are eligible. Audio-only files, transcripts, and audio descriptions —Not applicable ❌Not eligible This service is provided for captioning only and does not include audio description services. Videos with poor audio quality or unclear speech —Not applicable ❌Not eligible Videos must include clear, understandable speech. If audio quality prevents comprehension, captions cannot be produced reliably. Videos with no spoken audio (music-only or silent videos) —Not applicable ❌Not eligible Captioning requires spoken dialogue or narration to caption. Course lecture recordings over 30 minutes (or not intended for use across multiple terms) —Not applicable ❌Not eligible This service prioritizes shorter, high-impact media that can be reused in multiple terms. Embedded YouTube playlists within a course —Not applicable ❌Not eligible The captioning workflow supports individual YouTube videos only and does not support embedded playlists. Narrated PowerPoints —Not applicable ❌Not eligible Narrated presentations are not supported through this captioning workflow. Embedded media from content authoring platforms (e.g., Articulate Rise 360) —Not applicable ❌Not eligible This service supports MP4 files uploaded into the course and individual embedded YouTube videos only. Embedded interactive content is not supported. Vimeo videos not produced by Video@CDL or hosted on the Video@CDL Vimeo account —Not applicable ❌Not eligible Only videos hosted on the Video@CDL Vimeo account are supported through this captioning workflow. Videos recorded in languages other than English —Not applicable ❌Not eligible Only English-language videos are eligible for captioning through this service. Captioning Limits and Prioritization CDL will provide up to 300 minutes of human captioning per course. If your course contains more than 300 minutes of video, you may be asked to prioritize the videos most essential to student success (for example, required instructional videos connected to graded activities). Turnaround Time Proactive captioning requests typically require 3–8 weeks for completion, depending on: Total runtime of submitted media Video quality and audio clarity Volume of requests currently in the queue To ensure captions are ready when students need them, submit your request well in advance of the semester when the course will be delivered. Request Proactive CaptioningHelp support student success by ensuring all learners have fair access to course media. Submit your request for proactive captioning early to allow 3–8 weeks for processing.Submit a Caption Request Request Proactive Captioning Services TodayWe have temporarily suspended Proactive Captioning services due to fiscal end of year budgeting. We will resume services on July 1. Please contact iDev@ucf.edu with any questions you may have. Frequently Asked Questions Does this process apply if I have a student who needs an accommodation in my course? No. This process is for proactive purposes only. Student Accessibility Services (SAS) will contact you if a student in your course has a captioning accommodation. What courses are eligible to receive captioning? Proactive captioning is available for academic courses taught in an online modality. Face-to-face course modalities are not eligible. Will media hosted in Panopto or Zoom be eligible? No. Panopto and Zoom-hosted videos are not eligible for proactive captioning because those platforms provide auto-captions that faculty can edit to meet accessibility standards. My media have captions that were created automatically. Are they eligible? No. Media with automatic captions is not eligible for proactive captioning services. This service is reserved for videos that have no captions at all, to ensure we focus on the highest‑need content. While automatic captions do not meet the university’s accessibility standards, faculty are responsible for providing compliant captions for their course materials. Does the media have to exist at the time of submission? Yes. Media must exist at the time of submission. If you create additional media later, you may submit a new request for the next eligible captioning cycle. Can I request a transcript or an audio-only file?No. Audio files and transcriptions can not be made available when captions are ordered. What languages are supported?Only videos recorded in English are eligible for captioning. Course videos in a language other than English are not eligible. Does this mean that the university will automatically pay for all of my captioning needs? No. Faculty remain responsible for ensuring that their course content is accessible. Proactive captioning provides limited support and may not cover all course media. Can I reapply in the future if I do not receive captioning for all my media? Yes! Have Questions? If you have any questions or concerns about our proactive captioning services, please don’t hesitate to contact our team for support. Simply email us at the iDev Team
