University of Wisconsin System

Accessible media is crucial for students with disabilities, but it can also provide tremendous benefits for all students. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of UW’s Technology Accessibility Program and others, AST has entered into a contract to provide captioning services for the entire University of Wisconsin system with special pricing.

Making media accessible is an obligation of all media producers, but it can be a challenge. CaptionSync stands out for its simplicity and speed. Via the web, users can quickly and easily submit their media and have captions in a variety of file formats returned via email. If you have a transcript already, we can create the caption files in a matter of minutes. If not, we will create the transcript for you using our trained stenographers (no error-ridden automated speech recognition transcripts!).

Quick Start Guide

The following steps will have you captioning your media in no time:

• Step 1: If do not yet have a CaptionSync login, complete our account setup form. You will get an email back from our support folks with your account credentials.
• Step 2: If you are new to CaptionSync, watch our New Users Tutorial to see how it all works.
• Step 3: Once you have a CaptionSync login ID, proceed to the login page to access your account. Once you submit your media file(s), the results will be emailed back to you as soon as they are complete.

Over a Decade of Experience

AST was founded in 1998. Our longevity is a direct result of our dedication to service and to the success of our clients. Today, CaptionSync has almost 2000 users including many names you will recognize, like the Library of Congress, NASA, the University of California, the University of Washington, the University of Texas, and, of course, the University of Wisconsin.

AST has had a long and positive relationship with the University of Wisconsin, working with CaptionSync users there since 2004. Some comments from our University of Wisconsin users can be found at the University’s Campus Media Captioning Pilot Program page.

AST Advantages

AST’s CaptionSync offering was initially funded by the US Department of Education to create a better captioning alternative for schools. We took that mission to heart, and we believe CaptionSync offers the best blend of automation and trained professional captioning available. CaptionSync is also one of the most cost-effective solutions available — yes, it is possible to further reduce the cost by using speech recognition technology, but the resulting loss in quality makes that approach an unwise choice. Here are some of the reasons why we think CaptionSync is your best choice:

• Quality: CaptionSync uses trained professional transcribers to generate our transcripts — not speech recognition! To learn about the perils of using speech recognition, see our http://www.automaticsync.com/captionsync/resources/our-research/.
• Service: Our success is dependent on your success — so we do everything we can to ensure your success.
• Simplicity: Using CaptionSync requires no special software or skills — just submit your media via our website and wait for the results.
• Integration: CaptionSync is already integrated with a number of lecture capture systems. If you wish to integrate CaptionSync into your own automated workflow, we offer a simple interface that makes this a breeze.
• Output types: CaptionSync produces over 50 different output types to support a broad range of players and media types. If you don’t see what you need, just give us a call.
• Redo: CaptionSync offers a redo feature that allows you to make changes to your transcript, changes to the captioning options, or to select alternate output types — all for no cost.
• Expertise: AST has been working in the captioning industry since 2003 and we began working with UW users shortly afterwards (in 2004). Our dedicated efforts in captioning technologies and our long history with UW users gives us an edge. Our expertise is reflected in our product and much of it is shared in our tutorials.
• Environmentally Sound: AST prides itself on being sustainable and environmentally conscious. Our electronic job submission system means that no physical shipping of media is needed. Our results are all returned electronically as well. Our invoicing system is all electronic. And, while you are welcome to pay us by mailing checks, AST also accepts Electronic Funds Transfers and online credit card payments.

Other Resources

More questions? Use these pointers to help get answers:

• If you need additional information, pricing, or help getting started, please contact us.
• Visit our archive of tutorials on how to use CaptionSync, and on captioning topics in general.
• To see what types of media you can submit to us, visit our list of acceptable media formats for submission.
• If you need to submit physical media (DVDs or VHS tapes), contact us for more information.
• To see a list of caption file types you can get back from us, visit our list of output types.
• If you have a technical support issue, please complete a support request.

Not in the UW System?

If you are not with the UW System and are interested in making your own system-wide arrangements with AST, please contact us to discuss.