Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Sign Language Interpreting or Live Professional Captioning (CART) Coordinated through the McBurney Disability Resource Center

Make your request as soon as you have the date and time of the request available. The earlier we have the request, the more time we have to find an Interpreter or CART provider. These service providers can be booked up weeks in advance. Please create your request and indicate either the approximate location (e.g. building without a room number) or that the location will be determined.

The lead time to fill a request depends on the nature of the request, timing of the request, availability of service providers and related support. Therefore, best practice is to submit the request as early as possible so that we can start looking for service providers.

As an example, a one-hour request in the middle of the day during the semester is more difficult to fill than a one-hour request in the evening. A one-hour request is typically easier to fill than a 2-day conference.

Coordinating sign language interpreting and live professional captioning (CART) is subject to service provider availability

Note: Requests are reviewed Monday-Friday, 8:00 am-4:30 pm. Requests submitted outside of this time will be reviewed the next business day.

Yes, please make your request as soon as you receive it. The Communication Access team will try to fill last minute requests and will let you know if we cannot fill the request.

Note: Requests are reviewed Monday-Friday, 8:00 am-4:30 pm. Requests submitted outside of this time will be reviewed the next business day.

No, interpreting or live captioning will not be provided for the videos in real time or live.

You need to create closed captions all pre-recorded videos/media prior to your event or use videos/media that are already captioned. Adding captions takes time, so please include time to acquire videos and produce the captions in your event planning.

If you are requesting sign language interpreting or live professional captioning for your event AND you will be showing media during the event, the Communication Access team can, with 48 business hours’ notice, produce the closed captioning for this media.

The first time you use CommunicationAccess@UW you will need to enter the sponsoring department’s funding string information. Here is the information that will be requested.

• UDDS number
• Fund (3-digit number)
• Project Name/Number (if applicable, should be 7 characters, maybe letters, numbers or a combination of both)
• Program Number (0-9)
• You will also need to provide the name and email address of a financial contact person for the request.

Note: If the request is for an accommodation, funding information is still required but will only be used for tracking and reporting purposes.

There are many rooms on campus that are ideal for hosting a virtual or hybrid meeting.

• UW video conferencing room list.
• Virtual and hybrid meetings at the Unions
• University Housing Room information

Yes, you can update your request by emailing the Communication Access team.   Let the team know that you have received an accommodation request and provide the name of the person who has made the request.

The UDDS number will be used for tracking purposes only. We are tracking which departments are utilizing the central funding for interpreting/captioning. We will only use the funding information for billing if the request is for public access.

If you made a public access request, you do not receive an accommodation request, and you did not advertise that interpreting/captioning would be available, you may cancel the request at least 72 business hours prior to your event and you will not be billed.

No, these additional costs will not be covered centrally by campus. The sponsoring department is responsible for any additional costs, other than the sign language interpreting, live professional captioning and the related post-production captioning.

Yes, if you are requesting interpreting or live professional captioning for your event AND you will be showing media during the event, the McBurney Center can, with a minimum of 48 business hours’ notice, produce the closed captioning for the video clip and the cost will centrally funded.

No, this is considered a Public Access request unless there is a specific, individual disability-related accommodation request for sign language interpreting or captioning.

Yes, if you do not have a specific disability accommodation request, you will be charged for the services provided.   The request is considered a proactive request for public access.

If you decide you want to cancel the request, please email the Communication Access Team and include the name, date, and time of the event.

If the request is cancelled less than two business days before the event, your department will remain responsible for the service charges.  For example, if the event is at 10:00 a.m. Monday morning, you would need to notify the Communication Access Team of the cancellation before 10:00 a.m. on the preceding Thursday.

Please email the McBurney Center CommunicationAccess team, in advance of the event or hiring agencies/staff, to discuss options and whether hiring interpreters or CART providers directly would qualify to be funded centrally.

If you have a public access request, the Communication Access Team will send an invoice after the request is complete. The funds will then be transferred for the service using the funding information you provided.

Yes, the host or presenter may make a request if they have a disability that necessitates sign language interpreting or captioning as an accommodation.

When you are making your request, please make a note in the request that the accommodation request is for the presenter. The placement of the interpreter or the live captions may need to be discussed with the Communication Access team.

Yes, you should still budget for accessibility and accommodations costs beyond what is covered centrally. For example, you may have costs associated with improving the accessibility of your website, proactively providing live professional captioning for events, or other unrelated accommodations.

You can make your request in CommunicationAcccess@UW . When you log in, you will get a pop-up box asking for funding information.    You can select “I am making this request for a student organization.”   This will allow you to enter the software and create your request.

If your goal is to make your event more accessible to the public, it is recommended to provide live professional captioning. Live captioning can be displayed for all participants and many people can benefit from having captions.

If there is not an accommodation request for a sign language interpreter, providing an interpreter at your event will not increase general access to participants. The population of people who would request and use sign language interpreters is very small. In addition, the pool of sign language interpreters in our area is also very small, so is a limited resource. If there are interpreters at your event, then there may not be interpreters available to fulfill an accommodation request for an event where there is a deaf person.

If you are adding the accessibility tagline onto the registration form for your event, it is recommended that you add the following.

Do you need an accommodation to attend this event?

Yes or No

If yes, then please select the accommodation you will need:

• Sign Language Interpreter (ASL Interpreter)
• Professional live professional captioning (CART)
• Closed captioning on any media that will be used by the presenters
• Automatic or machine captioning in virtual platform
• Other: __________________

Note:   The McBurney Center only coordinates sign language interpreting and live professional captioning requests.    If you receive a request for another type of accommodation, the accommodation request will have to be provided by the host of the event.

It is best practice to include an accessibility tagline on all public information advertising your event.  These statements give participants with disabilities relevant information on who to contact to request timely accommodations.  Here is an example:

If you need an accommodation to attend this event, please contact <name, event host/coordinator> at <phone number & email>. All accommodation requests should be made no less than <two weeks: see note> before the event. We will attempt to fulfill requests made after this date but cannot guarantee they will be met.

[Note: If your event is being advertised with less than three weeks’ notice, then you will need to adjust the timeline indicated for accommodations requests.]

If you have included an accessibility tagline and do not receive a request for an accommodation, you are not currently required to provide interpreters or live professional captioning (CART).  However, live professional captioning (CART) is encouraged for signature and larger events.

If your event is virtual (e.g., Zoom) and you do not have a specific accommodation request, it is recommended that you enable the auto captions as an option for participants.

Please also refer to How to follow UW-Madison’s Digital Accessibility Policy

Along with an accessibility tagline, it is also best practice to share with participants accessibility features that you are providing proactively. Examples include:

• Professional live professional captioning (CART) – Include info on how to access the live captions (Example, captions will be projected, or you will need to bring a personal device to view the captions)
• Sign language interpreting (ASL) – Include info on how to access the interpreter(s) (Example, the interpreter will only be onsite, or the interpreter will be working remote and will be projected to the audience onsite)
• Audio description – Include info on how to access the audio descriptions or audio described version
• Assistive listening devices (ALDs) – Include info on where and how to check out an ALD (this information will be specific to your venue)
• Auto or machine captions – Include info on how to turn on the auto captions. Note that while auto captions may provide access for some individuals, they may be insufficient for others. Individuals can still request live professional captioning (CART) captioning as an accommodation as appropriate.

Contact the Communication Access Team if you have questions about how to write about the accessibility you will be providing proactively.

No, this question would require follow up. The cost of the professional captioning to be covered centrally by the university, if the request is indicating there is a disability-related accommodation.  An example response would be:

“We do not have professional, live professional captioning (CART) scheduled for this event.  If you need captioning (either auto or professional) as a disability-related accommodation, please let me know or contact <insert name and email> as soon as possible so that this accommodation can be arranged.”

You can provide auto (also referred to as AI captions or machine captions) if the request is not a request for a disability-related accommodation or if the person with the disability is specifically requesting access to auto captions as an accommodation.  However, typically if live captioning is requested as a disability-related accommodation, then professional CART captions are provided.

The quality of auto captioning is typically not high enough to be used for accommodation purposes, particularly for someone who is Deaf or hard of hearing.   The quality of the auto captioning can vary depending on many factors including the vocabulary, the speed and audio quality of the speaker, the number of speakers and other sounds and/or voices happening simultaneously.

No, the transcript is not a verbatim transcript and is not suitable for closed captioning without additional post-production work, including the insertion of time codes and text editing (e.g. correcting spelling errors, adding environmental sounds, speaker info, etc.). Live professional captioning is intended to provide live communication access to individuals who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing or for public access. DoIT provides additional information on creating accessible videos/media.

Live professional captioning services are provided remotely, regardless if your event is onsite or virtual.   You will need to provide the Communication Access team with a link in advance that will allow the CART provider to access the live audio (e.g. Zoom session info/link, web streaming link, etc.).  It’s best practice to admit the CART provider early so that they can set up and test before your event begins.

The McBurney Center will provide you with a Streamtext web link in advance that may be used to view the captions on individual devices or displayed on a monitor for the in-person audience. View Streamtext demo of live professional captions.

Let us know if you are using a platform that has a backstage (e.g. StreamYard) and/or involves a streaming delay (e.g. YouTube Live), so that we can work together to find the best setup.

Your staff will need to place the CART provider into a specific room when you are doing breakout sessions. Let your participants know ahead of time which room will have the professional captions.

If you will need professional captions in multiple break out rooms, there will need to be multiple CART providers hired and they will need to be assigned by the host to the rooms where they are requested. You will have to provide the participants with the link to the captions as the captions will not be able to appear in multiple breakout rooms simultaneously.

You have the option to display the captions for a live event either on individual device(s) (laptop, tablet, or mobile device) or projected/displayed onto a large screen or monitor for public viewing.

If you choose to display the captions on a screen or monitor for everyone to see, someone from your team or the venue’s tech support will need to:

• provide the equipment (separate projector & screen or monitor for the captions, laptop, cables, and internet access)
• set up and test the equipment
• open the live captioning link
• provide technical support

If you choose to have participants view the captions on their individual device, it is important that you share that information prior to the event so that the participant brings a device. You should also check with the participant to determine if they need access a power source.

There are several steps you will need to take when setting up your Zoom session to make sure the CART provider can provide the captions in Zoom. See  Set Up for Professional Captioning in Zoom for more information.

Once the CART provider is hired for your request, the Communication Access Team will send you their name.   You will need to add the CART provider and the Tech Team from the McBurney Center to your Zoom session as Alternate Hosts (in Webinar mode) or Co-Host (in a standard Zoom meeting) to allow them to enter the session early.

The Communication Access Team will provide you with a link to the live captions prior to your event.   You will be able to adjust the size and color of the font within this display. You can then share this link with your audience, so they can also customize how the captions are displayed.

Sign language interpreting is mentally and physically demanding. Therefore, two interpreters may be needed, depending on the request. It is standard industry practice to provide two interpreters for any request over 75 minutes. If a request is particularly technical, two interpreters may be needed for a shorter request as well. McBurney Center staff will consult with you about your request to determine if two interpreters are needed.

For a Zoom meeting, we would recommend adding the interpreter as an alternative host to the Zoom session prior to the event.   This will allow the interpreter to enter the Zoom session early and get set up. Once the interpreter is in the session, we also recommend giving the interpreters the ability to multi-pin.  See Allow Particpants to Multi-pin for information on how to give this access to interpreters.

For a Zoom webinar, if you would like the interpreter to be on the screen at all times, they should be invited to participate as a panelist.

Contact the Communication Access team to discuss the specific request and to determine if the interpreter should be backstage or in a separate platform.

Your staff will need to assign the interpreter to the specific room with the participant requesting the interpreter. If you do not have a specific request, then let your participants know ahead of time which room will have the interpreter.

If you will need interpreters in multiple break out rooms, there will need to be multiple interpreters hired and they will need to be assigned by the host to the rooms where they are requested. You will have to provide the participants with the link to the captions as the captions will not be able to appear in multiple breakout rooms simultaneously.

Yes, if you are requesting sign language interpreting or live CART captioning for your event AND you will be showing media during the event, the McBurney Center can, with sufficient notice and early access, help produce the captioning for this media.

If there is a student in your class that is approved for Media Captioning through the McBurney Center, someone from the Communication Access team will reach out to the instructor of record to discuss how to get your materials captioned.

If the student is not approved for services by the McBurney Center, you could create the post-production captioning within your department.

1. Media captioning contract vendors – The contract vendors support a variety of video formats and caption file formats.
2. Do-it-yourself using Kaltura machine captioning – Free, but requires editing and the addition of speaker info, sounds, and tone for compliant captions
   1. Ordering machine captions for media in Kaltura MediaSpace
   2. How to edit captions in Kaltura MediaSpace
   3. How to display captions for media in Kaltura MediaSpace

Please review the UW-Madison Guide – Create accessible video and audio content for additional information.

Some costs for media captioning will be covered centrally by campus.

• Approved student classroom accommodation requests for media captioning
• Media captioning requests that are associated with sign language interpreting or live professional captioning requests coordinated through the McBurney Center

Vendors charge different amounts depending on the lead time you provide to produce the captions for your media.  To learn more about campus contracted vendor prices and turnaround times, please visit: Captioning, transcription, and audio description vendor rate comparison.

Departments/schools/colleges are responsible for the cost of  media captioning.

See the Funding and Coordinating Accommodations for UW Students with Disabilities policy (updates in progress) and How to follow UW-Madison’s Digital Accessibility Policy for more information.