Accommodations for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students

Deaf and Hard of Hearing accommodations include captioned videos, live captioning, ASL interpreters, and various equipment loans.

Sign Language Interpreters

A student in your class who is deaf or has a hearing loss may require an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter to be scheduled throughout the semester. 

Considerations for in-class settings:

• In most situations, the interpreter will sit or stand near you, so that the student can observe you and read your lips at the same time.
• During a mask-required period, faculty may request clear face shields or clear masks.
• On occasion, interpreters may request a desk copy of the texts to familiarize themselves with the course vocabulary.
• Faculty are responsible for contacting SDAC if they plan to cancel a class or intend to change the location, such as for a field trip.

Considerations for one-on-one meetings with the student:

• If faculty plans to meet with the student outside regular class time, please contact SDAC, and we will arrange for an interpreter to be present.
• To enhance your communication with the student, watch the student, but listen to the interpreter’s voice. 
• The interpreter facilitates communication. It is inappropriate to address student-directed questions to the interpreter if the intention is to discuss something with the student.
• If the student or the interpreter does not understand something you say, you may be asked to repeat or restate the information.

Live Zoom Captioning

SDAC works with the Center for Academic Technologies (CAT) to manage how closed captioning will work during Zoom lectures for students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. To further facilitate accommodations, please follow the steps below.

• Ensure that SDAC has been sent a recurring Zoom link with updated meeting days and times. If there are any changes, please email sdacdeafservices@csumb.edu.
• Enable Closed Captioning on all meetings. View this tutorial if you need to learn how to do this.
• During scheduled Zoom lectures, we ask that you join the meeting 5 minutes before starting your class instruction. This allows our outside vendor to join your class and get set up.

If you have any questions, please email sdacdeafservices@csumb.edu.

Captioning Videos

When a student is authorized for captioned videos in a course, SDAC will email the faculty to inform them of the next steps. It is the faculty’s responsibility to provide SDAC with a comprehensive media list containing all audio/visual material to be shown throughout the course. SDAC needs at least 3 weeks' advance notice of any video that will be shown in class or published on Canvas. 

• This allows SDAC to review the course material and ensure it meets accessibility standards. We strive to achieve 99% accuracy when providing captioned videos; if a video is already captioned and contains more than 7 errors, SDAC will need to re-caption it.
• If you are using Canvas, SDAC will request access to your course in a support role. Please ensure your modules are finalized at least 3-weeks in advance of publishing.   

Finding Captioned Material

Many of the publicly available videos may already be captioned. SDAC recommends faculty search within the CSUMB library, other CSU libraries, and YouTube for captioned versions of a video you plan to use in your course. 

CSUMB and Other CSU campus libraries:

CSUMB’s library has two streaming services, including Academic Video Online (AVON), which contains educational and documentary films covering a wide variety of subject areas, and Swank Motion Pictures, a limited collection of feature and documentary films. Many titles are captioned, but not all. You can also find individual streaming video titles and search the library's DVD collection in OneSearch. The CSUMB Library YouTube Channel offers instructional videos on conducting research and using library materials. 

YouTube videos:

If you’re planning to use a YouTube video in your course, you must ensure the captions are not auto-generated, because they will not meet the accessibility standard of 99% accuracy. To check, click on the “CC” symbol at the bottom right of the video window. In the top left, if it states “English (Auto Generated),” it is captioned using voice recognition software, which SDAC will need to run through a captioning service to improve caption accuracy. If a YouTube video is professionally captioned, it will only state “English,” and it is more likely to be accurately captioned. 

If you are unable to find a captioned version of the video, please contact SDAC to request captioning.