SF State - Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI)


Multimedia: Videos, DVDs and Digital Media

People with various disabilities benefit from multimedia that is captioned. Advanced planning is crucial to making both instructional and non-instructional multimedia accessible in a timely manner.

How do I check multimedia for accessibility?

Self-Guided Resource: Captioning FAQs

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How do I remediate multimedia for accessibility?

You can use our self-guided resource on Making Your Multimedia Accessible. If you need further guidance or would like to use the University's Captioning Service, please complete the Support Request Form or email us access@sfsu.edu.


Why Caption?

  • Universal Access: Design your content from the ground up to be as usable as possible by as many people as possible.  Captioning is a key element of Universal Design for video material, especially for educational materials.  Captioning provides an alternative channel of information and allows a larger community of viewers to have access.
  • Improving Comprehension:  Captioning improves comprehension for all viewers, especially for those with English as a second language.  Noise or distractions in the listening environment, underdeveloped English skills on the part of the listener, or heavy accents on the part of the talker all work to deteriorate the message being communicated.  Captioning can improve comprehension in all cases.
  • Compliance with ADA or Section 508 requires that all media broadcasted or distributed be captioned.  This applies to all forms of media including webcast material, video broadcasts, video tapes, and DVDs.
  • Executive Order 926 makes it a policy of the CSU to make information technology resources and services accessible to all CSU students, faculty, staff and the general public regardless of disability.
  • Indexing and Searching:  Because captioning involves the synchronization of text content with audio-video material, especially in digital format, it allows the content to become easily searchable with traditional text searches.  This allows viewers to have rapid access to the parts of the content they need.  This is particularly important for educational materials.

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