If you create videos to share online, then it’s a good idea to add subtitles so that your audience can include as many different people as possible, including those who don’t understand the original language of the video as well as those with hearing impairment. It’s not terribly difficult to add subtitles, but it is time consuming. I know this because I’ve spent some time transcribing interviews and testing different methods for getting the work done. After experimenting with a paid service for transcribing videos I’ve been working on, I began to think about what it would take to create a tool that would allow people to volunteer their transcription efforts, perhaps just one segment of video (or audio) at a time.
One tool whose development I’ve been very interested in is Scripto, “a light-weight, open source tool that will allow users to contribute transcriptions to online documentary projects.” Scripto, being developed by the Center for History and New Media (CHNM), is designed for projects where images of written or printed documents need to be transcribed. The potential exists, I believe, for adapting a tool like this for projects involving video or audio rather than–or in addition to–the written word. (Note: If you donate to support the work of the CHNM the National Endowment for the Humanities will match your donation, essentially doubling your contribution.)
Until that potential is realized, however, there are some other options available. I recently learned about a great project called Universal Subtitles, an open-source tool that brings together volunteers who want to subtitle videos and videos that need subtitles.
The creation of this tool is being undertaken by the Participatory Culture Foundation, “a non-profit organization building free and open tools for more a democratic and decentralized media.” Universal Subtitles is a featured Mozilla Drumbeat project, and they’re currently raising money to get the tool out of beta. (Note: From now until January 1 Mozilla will match your donation to the project.)
Here’s their introductory video:
The idea is pretty simple, as they explain on their site:
You add our widget to your videos. Then you and your viewers can add subtitles, which anyone can watch. We save the subtitles on our site (but you can download them). And each video has its own collaboration space on our site (like a wikipedia article) where people can make improvements, track changes, and give feedback
The protocol/open spec (still in the early stages) will allow clients such as Firefox extensions, desktop video players, websites, or browsers to look up and download matching subtitles from subtitle database(s) . . . Everything will be available under the open source AGPL license.
Each video can have multiple subtitle tracks, each featuring a different language. (Subtitling videos would make a very interesting class project in, for example, a translation class.)
It’s easy to get involved with Universal Subtitles:
- Sign up for an account,
- If you have videos that need subtitles, enable subtitling “the fast way,” or
- If you have time to volunteer, find a video that needs subtitles and get to work.
For more information
Do you have experience using Universal Subtitles? What are your thoughts? Or do you prefer another method for creating subtitles? Let’s hear from you in the comments!
Follow Profhacker through your favorite RSS reader: 
21 Responses to Make Videos Accessible With UniversalSubtitles.org
jesshagman - December 8, 2010 at 4:59 pm
I’m not sure I’d say I prefer it since I wasn’t really aware of any other options, but I’ve been using dotSUB (http://dotsub.com/) to make transcripts for our library videos. The interface is a little clunky and took some time to get used to, though it works well enough. I’m looking forward to trying Universal Subtitles. It looks like it should be easier.
queeracademic - December 8, 2010 at 5:19 pm
It’s great to include subtitles with videos – my hearing students like them when I show films in class because it helps them retain the information better when they can see AND hear it.
* Just a note on the language in this article: It is best to say “Deaf or hard-of-hearing” instead of “hearing impairment”. Most Deaf people do not consider themselves to be “impaired”.
hastac0708 - December 9, 2010 at 7:45 am
Hi, George, Thank you for this wonderful story on the UniversalSubtitle project from Drumbeat. It was thrilling to watch it unfold while we were all there together and to see it continue to unfold. I was actually one of the people interviewed and then a few hours later I was on the screen, subtitled, with web material pulled in. It was quite remarkable to experience what a dedicated group can do together.
If you are in the market for other Drumbeat success stories, my FutureClass students have created blogs about their experience and also are developing a tool, the Feedbacker, that Mozilla has selected for further community development and will feature on the new Drumbeat page. It’s a tool that allows an audience or prof to have the audience help in feedback, in collaboration, with modules that allow maximum participation in the large lecture. Katie King is going to experiment in her feminist social activist class. If you are interested, write me and I can put you in touch but it is also all public on http://www.hastac.org and on Drumbeat. http://www.hastac.org/blogs/siglesias/help-build-awesome-tool-submit-your-napkin-sketch-feedbacker-module It was so exciting to see the formal education and the open education worlds come together to such powerful effect. I think the experience changed all of us, especially the students. Thanks for all you do! Best, Cathy
dank48 - December 9, 2010 at 8:26 am
Good comment from QueerAcademic, but as the father of Miss Deaf Indiana, I can also say that most deaf or Deaf people of my acquaintance have gotten past giving a damn one way or the other what hearing people call them, so long as “deaf and dumb” stays on the trash heap. Of course that may not be true of everyone. My daughter used to urge me to keep my mustache trimmed closely, since that made lip reading easier. But not lately. She hasn’t learned to see through the facial hair; she’s just less concerned about what I have to say.
As to the article, this is great. But hearing people everywhere, watch out. Captioning becomes addictive. I can’t stand TV without it.
raymondmartyrose - December 9, 2010 at 9:48 am
I’m pleased to see you encouraging the use of captioning for video, especially as there is a legal issue involved. Online content needs to be accessible to students with disabilities. We did find that captioning made a difference in the understanding of online video for people without disabilities as well. This of course is the premise behind universal design for learning.
Another free captioning tool, MAGpie which has been around for almost a decade was developed at the National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH (http://ncam.wgbh.org/invent_build/web_multimedia/tools-guidelines/)
george_h_williams - December 9, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Note: Their site is experiencing an unusually high level of traffic right now thanks to coverage on BoingBoing.net. You might experience difficulty getting it to load. This is likely to be only temporary, however.
drewstowe - December 9, 2010 at 1:54 pm
I’ve been working extensively with closed captioning lately. I have had some success with CaptionTube. However, this and other similar services only allow the closed captions to exist with a video on Youtube. On the plus side, one can learn to make subtitles relatively easily. However, the process is pretty boring.
dank48 - December 9, 2010 at 2:47 pm
And btw, if you’re feeling bored or just down, turn on the captioning for “live” events like sports or news. It’s a lesson in how many homonyms English possesses. Captioning on the fly is an incredibly challenging task, but unintentional humor is the silver lining. Hard-to-spell names are something else again. And along with the grins, the hearing viewer can see how much gets left out of live-action captioning.
old nassau'67 - August 16, 2011 at 7:57 pm
Well, now that Murdoch’s News Corporation isn’t hiring, Figes is sticking to academia.
linzhi - August 31, 2011 at 1:44 am
How many fashion brands do you know of sunglasses ? LV ,Gucci ,Prada, Oakley ,Ranban and so on. I fina a Sunglasses Online Sale e-shopping which offers most fashion brands of sunglasses ,and the items on website are very cheap and high quality , you should love it.
stojoe50 - November 15, 2011 at 7:09 am
As a teacher, principal and district administrator in 5 public school districts, I can say that of all positions in Prek-12 education, counselors are the hardest group to get focused on building or district initiatives such as professional learning communities. Some of it is not their fault because they have been largely left alone to create their own niche in the system., but when they are invited to become more involved in these initiatives, they often become defensive and feel persecuted. For years they have walked on both sides of the academic street, but now it’s time for them to develop a new job description; one that is in sync with the needs of 21st century schools. They say their job is to help students, but that’s not specific enough. With the mounting pressures on schools forced by NCLB and now Race To The Top, teachers and principals jobs are on the line if their students don’t achieve at an acceptable level. Counselors have to feel the same responibility for that success.
joneseagle - November 15, 2011 at 7:13 am
Interesting discussions included in this report – quantifying the work of the mind and how students take action – a community affair at the least – how do you evaluate inspiration.
Counselors job includes offering opportunities for students to take it to the next level. Our job includes helping students understand their part of taking it to the next level.
Counselors job rests on how the students accept their part and actively pursue that next level.
There are times when our efforts hit brick walls – our job then becomes finding a window in the wall or a door; barring that we look for a large ladder. As long as we do nto give up on ourselves we do not give up on our students.
We accept all assistance offered to make our students take it to the next level and be successful.
Come help our students take it to the next level successfully.
jffoster - November 15, 2011 at 7:18 am
Maybe you need a lot fewer “initiatives”.
11137138 - November 15, 2011 at 8:02 am
Remember, too, that counselors are often torn between the academic mission of their school, the initiatives of principals and school boards, and the steady (sometimes harrowing) needs of students struggling with everything from mental illness (their own or their parents’), substance abuse (their own or their parents’), and economic/ family collapse to college recommendations and the maze of financial aid and NCAA regulations. If you carefully define the counselor’s job, you’ll find you need a lot more of them.
stojoe50 - November 15, 2011 at 9:16 am
Initiatives suggets choice. Perhaps a better word is mandated. Prek-12 public schools are mandated to increase student achievement and it is the “main thing” and soon to be the only thing. Teacher and principal evaluations will determine their continued employment. There will be terrible resentment to those who are not evaluated under the same rubric. Counselors, psychologists,music, art, p.e. And other enrichment teachers will feel the coldness from those who have targets on their backs. In the end, with tightening budgets, all programs other than core curriculum will wither away. Those at the university level should pay more attention to this paradigm shift. Counselors are on the endangered species list, and they will hasten their own deaths by continuing to do what they’ve always done.
simplycurious - November 15, 2011 at 10:58 am
In our district, the preK – 5th counselor postion was eliminated and the professional awarded a teaching role in a life-skills class at the middle school. One-on-one counseling efforts being left largely unmet. The middle and high school counselors spend 80% of their day doing administrative, scheduling, and secretarial/clerical work. In the mean time, the mental health of students and parents, financial crises in families, drug abuse in families, families without the tools and experience to guide their children through the process all need interventions provided by the finest professional counselors. If not, then is the message clear? Do administrators use counselors as extended secretarial support at the expense of the Master Degree level certification that these professionals have attained and should be deploying to the benefit of students and their families? Members of school boards should consider the role that guidance counselors are intended to play in their districts, and then enable those intentions. There is also the time when counselors should embrace a certain level of self-advocacy and collectively say “No, that is secretarial work, I am a professional counselor.”
bjhernandez - November 15, 2011 at 2:09 pm
To stojoe50:
I’m at a loss to understand why you blame the counselors. You are all in this together. As a teacher you should be trying to work with the counselors, not separately from them. As a principal, you can set guidelines and objectives to which counselors need to adhere. As a district administrator, you are in a position to set requirements of performance and eliminate those who do not meet those requirements. Laying the blame on the counselors alone is not fair. Who left them alone to create their own niche? Why were they not included in the overall plan? When teachers, principals, and district administrators start working together for a common goal, doing their jobs, we might get more results in our public education system. Maybe your are a little overworked being a teacher, a principal, and in district administrator in 5 public school districts all at one time. I would imagine your workload is incredible.
stojoe50 - November 15, 2011 at 3:47 pm
I’m not blaming counselors per se. I’m saying that public education is rapidly changing and there is a much larger emphasis on student achievement in the “common core.” many educational professionals (many of whom are members of teachers unions) who are not going to be scrutinized by the new evaluation system either have to help students achieve, or risk having their positions go away or face the wrath of those who are being scrutinized. It’s occuring now. Counselors can no longer spend the majority of their time doing social/emotional counseling. There is a place for it, but they must also change their paradigm to play larger role in helping students succeed academically. It’s not just counselors. You won’t see elementary music teachers pull students out for ilesons any longer. Kids won’t sign up for art classes at the secondary level because they’re needing AIS. It’s a totally different ball game. Effective counselors will adapt. Obstructors are in for a rude awakening.
leah #lovemyplanet - November 17, 2011 at 8:16 am
It is not possible to connect counselors with college acceptance rate. There are too many variables and I do not think we have a method to assess that conclusion that is reliable.
The premise of the article is we do not have enought time or resources to hire more counselors and the job is too broad or we need to identify our specific role. Unless you transform education and start fresh with a new system, it will be difficult to make changes.
I also disagree that everyone should go to college. A simpler solution is to direct those who do not want to in a profession they have talent for. Models do exist for high schools geared toward a profession, trade or start your own business.
Involve students in shaping their destiny and give them the responsibility to decide what to pursue early on , not based on “success = job, money etc. but passion, talent and dedication.
The old paradigm does not fulfill the soul or individual dreams.
The connection with federal funds is also detrimental, I think either the people in the state takes responsibility and support its citizen education with higher property taxes or raise taxes on businesses. If they want workers they should provide funds to educate them.
Give more power to people in the state to run their education system based on their specific needs and involve the citizen and business to collaborate.
I am still a student, also a grandmother with experience owning a business being independent all my life. I think it is time we make drastic changes in the way we educate and get funded.
leah #lovemyplanet - November 17, 2011 at 8:31 am
Well I can see both side of the equation here and since we understand the problem, your job is to find a solution and strategy that make counselor fulfill their roles while helping students academically. Shift your perspective a little, ask counselors to brain storm and find ways to help you achieve your goal and give them the freedom to do what they need to do collaborating with teachers. Your approach may make all the difference, most counselors are caring and giving people and ready to help you.
christinez - November 18, 2011 at 10:28 am
Stojoe50 – School Counselors who are educated using the ASCA National Model would be right on board with initiatives to increase learning and to decrease student achievement gaps. They also will be advocating for their role within this process. Professional School Counselors hit a wall with parents or others in the school who do not understand their role or who believe their role is mainly working on schedules or with discipline problems.
Another issue is that many schools are not hiring/replacing school counselors who leave. This leaves remaining school counselors with much more than the suggested 250:1 ratio. It also leaves the school district out of an opportunity to work with those who were educated in the model.
If the school counselors in your district are not trained in this model, get them trained! Partner with them – educate them on new standards and rules. Keep in mind, you need to buy into this process as a teacher, principal, and district administrator as well.