24 posts tagged with "Higher Education"

Government agencies and educational institutions increasingly issue RFPs for real-time closed captioning services. These requests appears in solicitations from school boards, city councils, state agencies, and colleges that need captions during live meetings, not just on recorded video afterward.

This guide explains what a real-time closed captioning service is, what procurement teams typically require, and how to evaluate vendors for school board meetings, city council sessions, public hearings, planning commission meetings, and commencement ceremonies.

On April 20, 2026, the Department of Justice published an interim final rule extending the compliance dates for web content and mobile application accessibility under ADA Title II. The WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements adopted in April 2024 are unchanged; only the enforcement calendar has moved.

Recap Innovations, the leading turn-key vendor for video accessibility services, is pleased to announce that we have been awarded a contract by the Wisconsin Technical Colleges Purchasing Consortium (WTCPC) to provide media captioning, transcription, and audio description services. We were awarded all six bid packages under RFB 26-006AM, making Recap Innovations a comprehensive accessibility vendor for the consortium's member institutions and their cooperative purchasing partners.

Starting August 17, 2026, the FCC requires manufacturers of covered apparatus and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to make closed captioning display settings "readily accessible" to individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. The rule, codified at 47 CFR 79.103(e), defines "readily accessible" through four specific factors and applies to a broad range of devices, from televisions and set-top boxes to smartphones, tablets, and computers.

This guide covers the full scope of the requirement: what the regulation says, who must comply, what display settings must be supported, how the FCC will evaluate compliance, and what organizations that produce or distribute video content should do before the deadline.

Live captions and real-time translation already remove barriers for attendees who are deaf or hard of hearing, and for those who speak a different language. But what about attendees who would benefit from hearing the translation rather than reading it? Starting today, Recap Innovations supports multi-lingual voiceover for translated live captions, powered by high-quality natural sounding text-to-speech.

When procurement officers and IT administrators evaluate video accessibility platforms for colleges, universities, and government agencies, single sign-on (SSO) via SAML 2.0 often appears on the requirements checklist. Institutional identity management is a security imperative: users should authenticate through the organization's identity provider (IdP) rather than managing separate credentials for each application. This guide explains why SAML SSO matters for video accessibility, what to look for in a vendor, and how Recap Innovations supports SAML SSO for higher education and government clients.

State university systems, community college consortia, and state agencies increasingly use statewide or multi-institutional contracts for video captioning and accessibility services. A single master agreement can serve dozens of campuses, streamline procurement, and deliver consistent quality at volume pricing. This guide explains how statewide captioning contracts work, what procurement officers should consider, and how Recap Innovations supports multi-institutional deployments.

Not all educational videos are the same, and the way you audio describe them should not be the same either. A screencast with code scrolling across the screen presents completely different challenges than a chemistry lab demonstration or a talking head over a slide deck. For example, typical reccomendations of describing all on-screen text don't work well when the entire screen is covered in code and rapidly shifts between opened files in an IDE. The visual information that matters, the pacing, and the level of detail required all change depending on the format.

This guide breaks down the most common educational video formats and explains what to prioritize, what you can safely omit, and whether standard or extended audio descriptions are the better fit. Whether you are producing descriptions manually or reviewing AI-generated output, these format-specific techniques from Recap Innovations will help you create descriptions that are accurate, useful, and well-timed.

Not every live event has the same captioning needs. An informal departmental meeting and a graduation commencement require very different levels of accuracy. That is why Recap Innovations now offers three distinct live captioning service tiers, including a new professional CART option with human captioners delivering 99%+ accuracy in real time.

Audio descriptions are required for pre-recorded video content under WCAG 2.1 AA and ADA Title II. They make visual information accessible to blind and low-vision viewers by narrating actions, settings, on-screen text, and other elements that are not conveyed through dialogue or sound effects. With the ADA Title II compliance deadline in April 2026, institutions managing large video libraries need to decide how to produce descriptions at scale.

There are two primary approaches: fully automated AI generation and human-authored descriptions. Each has distinct strengths, and many teams benefit from combining both. This article breaks down the trade-offs and helps you choose the right workflow for your content.

Recap Innovations already offers fully automated AI audio descriptions that can process thousands of videos with same-day turnaround. For many institutions, that is the right solution. But not every team can use AI-generated content. Some operate under data governance policies that prohibit sending video to third-party AI models. Others require human-authored descriptions for quality assurance, subject-matter accuracy, or institutional policy reasons. And some simply want a faster way to review and refine AI output before publishing.

Today we are introducing voice mode: a new way to create audio descriptions and edit transcripts by speaking instead of typing. It gives human describers the productivity benefits of automation without requiring any AI processing of video content.

Recap Innovations is pleased to announce our new Google Meet integration, bringing automated transcription, AI-powered audio descriptions, and intelligent meeting summaries to every Google Workspace, regardless of plan tier. Teams can now connect their Google Meet account to Recap and have recordings processed automatically the moment they become available, with no manual steps required.

If you're responsible for procuring media accessibility services for a college, university, technical college system, or municipal government, you know that not all vendors are created equal. With accessibility compliance deadlines approaching and the risk of litigation increasing, selecting the right vendor is critical.

This guide from Recap Innovations walks through the key criteria to evaluate when issuing an RFP for media captioning, transcription, and audio description services.

Recap Innovations now supports custom dictionaries across all workspaces, enabling organizations to dramatically improve transcription accuracy for specialized content. Upload custom terminology lists to ensure accurate transcription of medical terms, technical jargon, proper nouns, industry-specific vocabulary, and domain-specific language in your videos and live streams.

Recap Innovations is expanding its live captioning platform with real-time translation capabilities, enabling viewers to access live captions in their preferred language as events happen. This breakthrough feature transforms live accessibility by serving international audiences, multilingual students, and diverse communities simultaneously during conference events, lectures, webinars, and broadcasts.

Educational institutions worldwide face a growing challenge: creating accessible content for videos that contain multiple languages. Whether you're supporting language courses where instructors switch between their target language and English, serving multilingual student populations, or providing content for international audiences, traditional captioning tools often fall short.

If you've ever received auto-generated or professional captions that show "[FOREIGN LANGUAGE...]" or gibberish for portions of your video, you know the frustration. But there's a better way.

For e-learning module workflows (Articulate, Canvas, SCORM), see our guide on how to auto-generate dual-language captions for e-learning modules.

With the April 2026 ADA Title II compliance deadline approaching, colleges and universities face a critical decision: should they use AI audio description, traditional human describers, or a combination of both? This comprehensive comparison examines the costs, quality, speed, and practical implications of each approach to help you make the right choice for your institution.

The answer isn't always one-or-the-other. Understanding the strengths and limitations of AI versus human audio description allows you to develop a strategic approach that balances quality, cost, and timeline requirements.

AI audio description is transforming how educational institutions make video content accessible to students with visual disabilities. As the April 2026 ADA Title II compliance deadline approaches, understanding what AI audio description is, how it works, and when to use it has become essential for every college and university.

This comprehensive guide explains everything you need to know about AI audio description technology, from the basics to advanced implementation strategies.

Live captions—also known as real-time captions or Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART)—are becoming essential for colleges and universities. With the April 2026 ADA Title II compliance deadline requiring institutions to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards, live captioning for all live audio content is now mandatory, not optional. This comprehensive guide explains what live captions are, when they're required, how they work, and how to implement them effectively at your institution.

AI audio description is a critical accessibility feature that makes visual media accessible to students who are blind or have low vision. Yet many educational institutions are still unclear about what AI audio descriptions are, when they're required, and how to implement them effectively. With the April 2026 ADA Title II compliance deadline approaching, understanding AI audio description requirements is essential for every college and university.

This comprehensive guide explains what AI audio descriptions are, why they matter, when they're required under WCAG 2.1, and how to implement them for your educational video content using AI technology.