Captioning YouTube Videos

This page covers how to caption YouTube videos using Kaltura. This method does not violate copyright law because the video is still hosted on the YouTube website, while the captions are added to the Kaltura player. This way you can provide captioned videos to all students. 

First, Assess the Current Captions

First check to see if the video is already accurately captioned (please note that auto-generated captions are not adequate). If so, you can embed the video using YouTube’s embed code. Otherwise follow the instructions below. 

Note: If you want to add a transcript with the video, see the Adding a Transcript to a YouTube Video section below.

Using Kaltura to Caption Videos

  1. In the Kaltura Mediaspace Links to an external site. select Add New and then choose YouTube 
  2. Copy the YouTube link into the provided field
  3. Add tags with information such as the course name, semester, key topics if desired
  4. For Usage, select Course Material
  5. Leave the other fields blank
  6. Save
  7. Publish the video or set it as unlisted (a private video can't be viewed by others). Follow the recommendations for your unit.
  8. Add captions by either 
    1. Ordering and editing machine captions in Kaltura Links to an external site.  (remember to enable the captions on the player once they have been edited).
    2. Ordering professional captions from your vendor of choice Links to an external site. and then uploading the caption file Links to an external site. Kaltura. 
  9. If embedding the captioned video in Canvas, use the Kaltura LTI Links to an external site. with transcript to ensure your videos will be in the latest version of the player. (It is best if the video does not autoplay.) If embedding into a different content management system, follow your unit's instructions for video embeds. 

Adding a Transcript to a Video 

  1. View the video on the YouTube platform
  2. Below the video is some text describing the video content that usually ends with ...more. Select the more to see the full description. A Show transcript button will be at the bottom. 
  3. Select Show transcript and the transcript will open next to the video.
  4. Follow the instructions in this video

    Download Download Long YouTube Transcripts as Plain Text & Remove Hard Returns or Line Breaks transcript
  5. Copy the transcript text into a Word document to link below the video or use the Transcript toggle from the Canvas Styles resource to create a show/hide link for the transcript.