Implementing a Captioning Program at MIT

Media

Presented at 11:15am in Virtual Room 1 on Wednesday, November 17, 2021.

#34269

Speaker(s)

  • Kathy Cahill, MIT

Session Details

  • Length of Session: 1-hr
  • Format: Lecture
  • Expertise Level: All Levels
  • Type of session: General Conference

Summary

MIT settled a captioning lawsuit brought by NAD (National Association of the Deaf) in 2020. This presentation covers the steps that MIT took to implement captioning of video throughout the Institute.

Abstract

In 2020, MIT reached a settlement with National Association of the Deaf to caption publicly available video and audio. In this presentation, I will discuss the steps that were taken to plan and implement this process, such as using existing communications channels to provide information, tracking captioning requests, developing preferred captioning vendor relationships, setting up a centralized captioning website, conducting trainings and having a captioning liaison in each department to educate and relay captioning requests. I will also cover plans to use the liaisons as future accessibility allies in other areas beyond captioning.

Keypoints

  1. Implementing a campus wide captioning program is more challenging in a decentralized university setting.
  2. Making use of existing communications and training channels aids in educating staff on their obligations.
  3. Creating departmental captioning liaisons has helped to build awareness around captioning and accessibility.

Disability Areas

Deaf/Hard of Hearing

Topic Areas

Captioning/Transcription, Uncategorized

Speaker Bio(s)

Kathy Cahill

Kathy is Associate Dean of Accessibility and Usability in Disability and Access Services at MIT. She has worked at MIT in Assistive Technology and Accessibility for 25 years.