Captions for Recorded Video Content
Providing captions means adding text-based versions of spoken words and relevant sounds that appear on screen at the same time they occur in a video. Captions make audio content understandable without requiring the viewer to listen. This includes what people say, who is speaking (if that is unclear), and non-speech identification like music, laughter, or sound effects.
This resource provides guidance to help you make your recorded video content more accessible in accordance with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.1, with a focus on three commonly-used platforms (Panopto, Zoom, and YouTube).
How Captions Help Students
Captions support learning and retention for all students, not just those with disabilities. Here are some of the important benefits captions provide:
- equitable access to audio information
- support for language learners navigating complex or technical content
- ability to engage with video content when audio cannot be played aloud
- ability to search videos using indexed captioned text
Generating and Providing Captions for Videos in Panopto
By default, all videos uploaded to Panopto have machine-generated captions. It is strongly recommended that you host your Brightspace videos in Panopto so that you can take advantage of this functionality.
It is important to note that automatic captions are AI-generated and must be reviewed and edited for accuracy. Automatic speech recognition struggles with accents and jargon and will also struggle to recognize multiple speakers.
Use the following steps to edit captions in a video in your course.
- Open the Panopto tool (available from Existing Activities > External Learning Tools).
- Locate the video that requires editing and hover over the options at the top of the thumbnail video to locate the Edit tool.
- Click Edit.
- Follow Panopto’s step-by-step instructions for editing captions.
Generating and Providing Captions in Zoom Recordings
If you record lectures or class meetings in Zoom, Zoom will automatically generate a transcript that will render as captions when the video is played. You can enable this functionality by selecting Record to the Cloud when making your recording.
It is important to note that automatic captions are AI-generated and must be reviewed and edited for accuracy. Automatic speech recognition struggles with accents and jargon and will also struggle to recognize multiple speakers. Be sure to review and make any necessary edits before downloading them or sharing links with students.
Zoom provides an overview of using audio transcription for Zoom recordings, including instructions for editing a transcript.
Generating and Providing Captions in YouTube
If you create or upload video content using YouTube Studio, captions are automatically generated.
It is important to note that automatic captions are AI-generated and must be reviewed and edited for accuracy. Automatic speech recognition struggles with accents and jargon and will also struggle to recognize multiple speakers.
YouTube provides an overview of the platform’s automatic captioning functionality, including instructions for editing captions.
Additional Resources
University at Albany Web Services. (n.d.). Creating Accessible Videos.
WebAIM. (2020). Captions, Transcripts, and Audio Descriptions.
World Wide Web Consortium. (2025). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.