Full
At many institutions, closed captioning in online courses is provided on an as-needed basis in response to an accommodation request. Given recent litigation, growing student diversity in higher education, and the potential benefits to all learners when instructors employ universal design methods, closed captioning should, in our estimation, be a standard feature in online courses. In order to improve accessibility, enhance universal design, and address Quality Matters Standard 8, our institution’s Distance Learning Accessibility Committee and contributors conducted research to determine the benefits of closed captioning of multimedia for students in two online courses. This project was conducted to determine whether a more proactive approach to this aspect of accessibility in online courses was prudent; however, the project results may prove useful to other institutions examining similar aspects of their online learning. Through the project we examined the difference in student achievement between the captioned and non-captioned course, the change in the student perception of instruction, the perceived benefits of closed captioned media to students (as reported in student surveys), student interactions with the captions and media, and cost effectiveness of captioning media for all online courses at the institution. In this session, we will share results from the study, the resulting processes and procedures for instructional design and development which include the closed captioning of all media in online courses at our institution, and offer a question and answer session with the audience.
Brief
In this session we will share findings from a study conducted to determine the benefits of closed captioning in online courses to all students and explore a more proactive approach to this aspect of accessibility. We will also share the resulting processes and procedures for instructional design which includes the closed captioning of all media in online courses at our institution.
