Real-Time Captioning

Real-Time Captioning

If you have a deaf or hard of hearing student enrolled in your course (or Connect event), then you can incorporate the use of open captions in your Adobe Connect meeting or seminar room by installing a Caption Pod.

Scheduling and Requesting Captioning

For Credit-Bearing Activities
Once it has been determined that you need Captioning for a Connect session, the instructor of the course will need to schedule a captionist through Access Services at NTID. The Access Services department will coordinate your captionist through Caption First (CFI). Captioning should be requested prior to the start of the quarter (if possible) or at least 1-2 weeks in advance during the quarter. Send your requests to: Susan Stella (sasnes@rit.edu).

The following information will be required to fill your request for credit-bearing activities.

• Course Title and Number:
• Professor Name(s):
• Date(s):
• Time(s): (Captionist will typically login 10 minutes prior to class or event start time)
• Audio Source: (Indicate whether you will use VoIP or Phone Conference (Premiere Global) audio)
• Captionist Resources: (PPT, outlines, common terms, etc.)

#You must then add your captionist to the meeting

For Non-Credit Bearing Activities
Once you've determined that you need Captioning for a Connect session, you'll need to schedule a captionist. We recommend Caption First (CFI) as the service provider. Captioning should be requested at least 1-2 weeks in advance. Send your request to: Caption First Scheduling (scheduling@captionfirst.com) and be sure to indicate that you are hosting a non-credit Connect event affiliated with RIT.

The following information will be required to fill your request for non-credit-bearing activities.

• Event Title:
• Presenter Name(s):
• Date(s):
• Time(s): (Captionist will typically login 10 minutes prior to class or event start time)
• Connect URL:
• Audio Source: (Indicate whether you will use VoIP or Phone Conference (Premiere Global) audio)
• Captionist Resources: (PPT, outlines, common terms, etc.)
• Text Transcript: (Indicate whether you would like a text transcript sent after the event, and to whom it should be sent)
• Emergency Contact: (Phone number of someone who can be reached at the time of the event)
• Billing Info: (Name and address for billing)

#You must then add your captionist to the meeting

Adding the Captionist to Your Meeting

After you have requested captioning services, you will need to add Caption First as a Presenter in your Connect meeting room to allow them to enter text into the caption pod. Follow these steps to add the captionist:

1. Log-in to the Connect server https://connect.rit.edu and click on Meetings.

   Seminar Rooms

   If you are a non-credit user, you should be completing this part of the process in a Seminar Room instead of in a Meeting Room.

   
2. Click on the name of the meeting that you would like to add the captionist to.
   
3. Click on the Edit Participants link to modify the list of participants.
   
4. Click on the Search button in the Available Users and Groups list on the left and then type "Caption First" in the white textbox.
   
5. Click on Caption First in the Available Users and Groups list and then click on the Add button in the lower right.
   
6. Caption First should now appear in your Current Participants list on the right. To set their account as a Presenter, select Caption First in the Current Participants list > click on Set User Role > select Presenter.
   
7. After completing this process Caption First will have the ability to activate the Captioning Pod in your Connect meeting room.

Adding the Caption Pod to Your Meeting Room

1. Right-click here and select "Save Link As..." to download the Caption Pod to your computer.
2. Log-in to your Connect meeting room (or Seminar room for non-credit users).

1. Click the Pods dropdown menu > select Share > select New Blank Share Pod.
   
2. Position the new pod so that it fits below your main Share Pod.
   
3. To upload the Captioning Pod file click on Share > Documents > Select from My Computer.
   
4. Locate the Caption Pod file on your computer (it should be named CaptionPod.swf) > click on Select to upload the file.
   
5. The Caption Pod should be tall enough and wide enough to display the sample text. Approximately 4-6 lines of text should be visible in the pod at any given time.
   
6. Once the pod is installed in your Connect meeting room, it is ready to use.

Real-Time Captioning Checklist

• Did you place your request for captioning?
• Did you add Caption First as a Presenter in your meeting or seminar room?
• Did you download and install the Caption Pod in your meeting or seminar room?

If you completed these three steps, then you are ready to use the Caption Pod in Adobe Connect. If you have any questions or concerns regarding any portion of this process or the use of captioning in Adobe Connect, then please contact Marybeth Koon at mjmetc@rit.edu.