MCCCD’s Office of General Counsel, provides reasonable interpretation of Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as follows:
[Any college-controlled content, available via the internet to students and the general community, must be accessible through closed captioning. Closed captioning is not required for “faculty developed” classroom materials intended only for individual classroom use. However, closed captioning is required when there is a student in the class who has captioning as a reasonable accommodation. Note: All faculty created video files should be loaded directly into the Canvas learning management system and not published directly to the web.]
Faculty are encouraged to caption classroom materials/events during the course development process. Closed caption video preparation training is available through the audiovisual technician at the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). The CTL can also provide assistance when captioning is not part of an accommodation request. Please contact the CTL ([email protected]) regarding the best approach to captioning.
The CTL provides on campus training for faculty and staff through closed-captioning tools available on YouTube and Amara.org. The training assists in ensuring online courses remain ADA compliant by providing faculty the skills to prepare accurate course content closed-captions. Open lab sessions present hands-on opportunities to explore on-line closed-captioning methods and address faculty and staff questions.
Faculty produced videos, and those created for class assignments, require captioning if an accommodation is needed. Disability Resources and Services (DRS) can help determine when it is appropriate to outsource captioning services. DRS currently employs “Caption Sync”, an approved MCCCD vendor. DRS funding of vendor outsourcing can occur only if captioning is in response to an accommodation request.
Closed captioning can only be authorized to reproduce materials that have conformed to copyright laws. Secure all copyright permissions before starting the captioning process. If possessing video copyright permissions, please retain documentation for the duration of the material usage. Refer to the MCCCD copyright policy statement at: https://district.maricopa.edu/legal/student-faculty-resources/ip/guidelines
A two-week notice is typically the minimum required time for accommodating a captioning request.
Closed captioning is REQUIRED if an event or activity is live streamed or recorded and available to the public. If a login is necessary to access an event or activity, captioning is NOT required unless there is an individual who needs the accommodation. Please note, videos that are housed on Vimeo will be password protected until they are fully compliant to closed captioning. Please contact the CTL for questions about password protected videos.
Contact DRS (623-935-8935) and/or, the CTL audiovisual technician (623-935-8092).