Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) Accessibility Standards and Procedures

The audio content of video materials and any audio files must be captioned and/or transcribed for students with accommodations.  This includes commercially-produced video, free video on the Internet, and any video that you create.  LITS and AccessAbility Services are available to help you (please see below for details).

Video that is uploaded to the Mount Holyoke College website for public viewing should also be captioned.;

• If you are working with LITS Media Services to record an event, the Videography Request Form enables you to request captioning.
• If you are putting content on YouTube, you may use their Video Manager to create and edit captions.
• The Office of Communications and Marketing captions video for official College communications.

Please contact the Mount Holyoke College 504 Coordinator if you are planning an event and incorporating accessible features. They can provide assistance and guidance as you develop your campus event.

Commercially Produced Videos

Commercially produced videos, DVDs, as well as publisher-produced media may already have captioning available via subtitles.

Kanopy Streaming

LITS provides access to Kanopy Streaming Video and a large percentage of their database is already captioned.  For videos that are not already captioned, you can request captioning directly from them:

• At the top of the video player, you will see the CC symbol with a slash through it, indicating there is currently no captioning:
  
• Click the CC-slash icon.
• Click Click here to prioritize this video in our captioning queue.
• Fill out the form and indicate that you are requesting captioning for a student with an accommodation.

LITS Streaming

If not available through Kanopy, LITS will caption library-owned DVDs that are streamed for courses.  LITS is also often able to acquire content for this purpose.  To request video from LITS, please place a course reserve and note that you have a student in the class who requires captioning to access these materials.

• Content that is uploaded to the LITS streaming server for access by all students in your class must comply with Fair Use. See the LITS Streaming Media Policy and LITS resources for understanding Fair Use. The video must be held in (or be acquired for) the library’s collection and you will need to assert that this content is integral to your course.
• Additionally, providing accessible content to individuals with disabilities is widely considered a fair use in and of itself. If you have a specific request for an individual student with documented need, LITS and AccessAbility Services will work together to provide a solution.

Examples:

• Personal DVDs or VHS that do not already have captioning/subtitles and that are not library-owned.
• Use of YouTube or other free online video.

Please work with AccessAbility Services.  This can sometimes be a time consuming process and, if not feasible, will require a plan to provide an equal alternative form of access to the content. 

LITS offers Zoom as the primary video conferencing option for the campus community.  Although Zoom is a very advanced video conference system as regards accessibility, some users may still need alternatives to fully participate in Zoom activities. Each meeting organizer or their designee is responsible for providing accommodations for Zoom users with disabilities. See LITS recommendations for Zoom accessibility.