Parts of this work are adapted from "Accessibility Tips for Library Resources" by Oregon State University, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This page was created by Theodore Szpakowski and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.
Accessible films should have captions for d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing students and those with auditory processing disorders. They should also have audio description for blind and low vision students. Other students may benefit from these options as well.
Some of our databases provide captions and audio description, while others do not. Further information on each of our streaming film databases is below. If you need further assistance with finding a captioned and audio-described film, please contact your library liaison.
Some Academic Video Online videos provide transcripts which are synchronized with the video and will highlight the text spoken as the video plays. It will also, by default, scroll along with the video. To turn off this feature, simply move your mouse into the transcript area and your mouse movements will override the normal scrolling. At any time, you may also click a section within the transcript to skip forward or back within the corresponding video.
The entire transcript is located in the transcript pane, the first of the tabbed panes at center right, or by clicking the "Transcript" icon in the Toolbar at the top of the screen. Transcripts are searchable by keyword if you would like to search for and jump to a particular part of the video.
All videos with transcripts (95% of offerings) have captions generated from the transcript. Captions can be enabled from the CC button on the right-hand side of the video player.
The search filters do not include a way to search for captioned films.
Most videos do not have audio descriptions. The search filters do not include a way to search for audio described films.
Films on Demand provides either closed captioning or interactive transcripts for all of its videos on the platform.
If this option is available, a CC button will appear in the video control panel. Click on this button to toggle captions on and off. You may also create a Films on Demand account and set your personal preferences to always show closed captioning. While most Films on Demand videos contained closed captioning, not all do. You can use the Advanced Search feature and limit your search only to videos that provide captions. Captions can be enabled by clicking the "CC" button on the right hand of the film menu.
Interactive Transcripts also available for many videos. Interactive transcripts allow you to view the full text of the video, search within the full text, or click on any word in the transcript to jump to that exact point in the video. If you prefer this format for videos, you can use the Advanced Search feature to limit your search only to videos that provide interactive transcripts.
Some of Films on Demand's titles have audio description, and this can be filtered for in advanced search. To enable audio description, click the "AD" button below the film. A volume slider will appear that allows you to adjust the volume of the audio description.
Kanopy provides both closed captioning and interactive transcripts on most films. Closed captioning can be toggled on and off using the "CC" button in the video player controls. Interactive transcripts can be opened by clicking the "Transcript" button immediately beneath the video player. The interactive transcripts highlight or underline the words as they are being spoken in the video. Please see Kanopy's explanation of their closed captioning and interactive transcript features for additional information.
As of October 2024, Kanopy does not offer audio description.
Feature Films for Education provides captions for most films. In the catalog screen for a film, look for the option "English Audio with English Subtitles" or "Closed Captioned." A handful of films also have an option for Spanish subtitles.
As of October 2024, Feature Films for Education does not offer audio description.
All Met Opera on Demand videos offer English subtitles. Many recent videos offer subtitles in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and/or Swedish as well. Click on the Subtitles menu (labeled CC, in the right corner of the video player) to choose from the available subtitles, or to turn off subtitles. Be aware that subtitles designed for translation may not include all sounds that a d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing person may miss in the way that captions designed for these audiences would.
Many of the most recent videos have audio description; they are labeled with "AD" in the right corner of the cover image. There does not seem to be a way to filter for videos with audio description. Click on the "AD" button in the right corner of the video player to turn audio description on or off when available.
Most Swank films have closed captions. Swank may be able to request captions for films that don't have them; instructors can reach out to your library liaison to ask about this option.
Swank does not offer audio description for its films as of October 2024.