Guidelines

The following guidelines apply to both in-person and virtual events. Event organizers must carefully consider these guidelines when planning an event. For a listing of local ASL and CART service providers, or for information about support with in-person events, please visit the ASL, CART and Captioning Resources page.

Planning for Events

• Add a statement to all event announcements inviting participants to request accommodations. For example: If you require accommodations, please contact (contact person) at (contact information) by (date typically 1 to 2 weeks before event).
• If the event will be attended by fewer than 100 participants, provide ASL Interpreting and/or CART services upon request. 
• If the event will be attended by fewer than 100 participants and accommodations have NOT been requested, you are welcome to provide real-time, automated captions.
• If the event is expected to draw 100 or more attendees, provide ASL Interpreting and CART services. 

Note: Where CART services are required, automated captioning should not be used.

Individual Accommodations for Students and Faculty

• If this is a classroom event for which a student has requested an accommodation, the Center for Disability Resources will work with that student to determine the accommodation that best meets their individual needs. 
• If this is a meeting or other event for which an employee has requested an accommodation as part of their job function, visit the Reasonable Accommodations page and work with the Disability Access team to determine the accommodation that best meets the employee's needs.

Definitions

Captioning

Captions provide the textual equivalent of audible information. This includes spoken words and other audible information, such as meaningful sounds. Captions can be delivered in real time by a professional transcriber (live captioning) or they can be machine-generated (automatic captioning). They can also be added to pre-recorded videos. 

Live Captioning/Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART)

Sometimes referred to as live captioning, CART is a real-time, speech-to-text transcription service whereby a professional (human) transcriptionist, using a steno machine, transcribes audible information for display either on a large display for in-person events, or streamed via a web conferencing platform. The transcriptionist can be present in the room during an in-person event or can receive the audio feed remotely, and the text feed is transmitted back to the room display.

Automated Captioning/Speech Recognition

Automated captioning involves the use of speech recognition technology to produce captions. Speech recognition can be used to generate captions for pre-recorded videos or can sometimes be used to generate real-time captions. There are hundreds of speech-to-text products available, some of which are built into web conferencing platforms. Please keep in mind that auto-generated captions are not always fully accurate and can result in errors that impact the information or context of what is being communicated. A professional captioner offers more accuracy in delivery of information but must be planned for in advance. 

Sign Language

Signed language, for example American Sign Language (ASL) is a form of communication that uses hand movements and facial expressions. Signed languages are not signed versions of spoken/written language, rather they are complete languages, with their own linguistic properties.   This is why ASL or another form of signed language may be needed in addition to/instead of captioning 

Web Conferencing Tools

Web conferencing tools are collaborative tools that facilitate synchronous meetings, screen sharing, webinars and other online events.