ADM Bldg, Rm. 110 × One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192-0168 × 408.924.6000 (v) × 408.924.5999 (f) × 408.924.5990 (TTY) × www.sjsu.edu/aec
June 1, 2017
Dear SJSU Professors, Instructors and TA’s;
This letter provides important information regarding captioning of electronic media (i.e., audio and/or video media or television recorded programing) used to supplement your curriculum. Electronic media used as instructional materials and/or online assignments posted to the Web, which includes Learning Management Systems (LMS), must be accessible to persons with disabilities in order to provide them with effective communication. (*Presidential Directive 2007-02) Communication should be, to the extent possible, as effective for persons with disabilities as it is for persons without disabilities. For deaf or hard-of-hearing students to receive equal access and fully participate in curriculum requirements electronic media must be captioned. The Accessible Education Center (AEC) will support your curriculum requirements to provide an accessible environment for students utilizing deaf and hard-of-hearing services to the degree possible; however there are genuine limitations to what an Interpreter or Real-time Captioner can do when translating/transcribing electronic media in the classroom or online.
Although it may seem that Interpreters and Real-time Captioners have the capability to provide effective communication for electronic media this is not accurate. Being that the information is scripted and spoken at a greater rate of speed than normal speech the Interpreters and Real-time Captioners are unable to convey the full message of the electronic media used in the classroom. Moreover, given that the student is required to watch the Interpreter, or Captioner’s screen, to receive the accessible information, the student misses what is taking place on the television or white screen which makes up a good percentage of the information. Also, please be aware that although YouTube may state their streams are captioned, most often the existing captions are not accurate and unintelligible. Please do not subject students to this inaccessible media.
In compliance with the California State University (CSU) system-wide Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI), which promotes Universal Design, all electronic media must be captioned. For assistance please contact either Elizabeth Tu at 924-3093 or Keith Sanders at 924-2866 in the Video Captioning Station in IRC 103.
Should you choose to show media that is not captioned it is recommended that you discuss this with your deaf or hard-of-hearing student prior to viewing the media. Alternative assignments should be offered (e.g, reading a transcript or article) particularly if the content of this media will be used in a quiz or test, or required for homework assignments which impact the student’s grade. Please be aware there may be occasions when students choose not to stay for the viewing because of the frustration level that accompanies inaccessible media. This too should not impact their grade.
Please do not hesitate to call should you have any questions.
Thank you,
Maria L. Smyrniotis, CI/CT
Program Coordinator, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services
Accessible Education Center
(408) 924-6542 v
(408) 924-5990 tty
*This Presidential Directive has been developed in response to federal and state laws, including but not limited to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996; and the California Government Code 11135 of 2003 which applies Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act as amended in 1998 to the CSU, and the “Policy for Access to Electronic and Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities,” coded memorandum AA 2007-04, the California State University System.
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