Kaltura: Turn an Edited Transcript into Closed Captions with the Alignment Feature

This article is for owners and co-editors of media in Kaltura. Read about permissions in Kaltura.

When media (video and audio files) are uploaded to Kaltura in Canvas and MediaSpace, they receive auto-generated closed captions and a transcript by scanning the audio for spoken English. Unless the captions and/or transcript are edited by a human, they do not meet disability accommodation requirements.

Using the steps below, Kaltura media owners and co-editors can download the auto-generated transcript Kaltura created for their media, edit it on their computer, then use a feature called Alignment to turn the edited transcript into new Closed Captions for the media.

Finding Your Media in Kaltura

There are two ways to locate your Kaltura media:

• In Canvas:
  1. Log in to Canvas (canvas.umn.edu)
  2. Open your course.
  3. On the left side of the screen, select My Media.
  4. Select the link to the media you want.
• In Kaltura MediaSpace:
  1. Log in to Kaltura MediaSpace (mediaspace.umn.edu)
  2. Select the link to the media you want.

Downloading the Auto-Generated Transcript

1. From the Actions menu, select Edit.
2. Select the Attachments tab.
3. Generally, under File Name, there will be two files lists. For the smaller of the two, to the far right, select the Download button. A file with a file name ending in .txt will download to your computer.

Editing the Downloaded Transcript

1. Open the file ending in .txt on your computer.
   Note: The file will contain a single large block of text. Add additional spaces if you wish.
2. Fix issues in the text:
   • Spelling errors
   • Add missing words
   • Punctuation
   • Include speakers, non-speech sounds, and other auditory information
     • Note: the steps in Adjust captions to align with the audio do not apply in this case, because Kaltura's alignment feature will be do that for you.
     • Learn more about fixing issues in text by reading the Guidelines for Editing Auto-Generated Text
3. Select Save.

Uploading Your Edited Transcript using Kaltura Alignment

Note: You can only use the Alignment feature once per media item in Kaltura.

1. Return to the media in Kaltura. If you have navigated away, refer to the Finding Your Media in Kaltura steps above.
2. From the Actions menu, select Caption & Enrich.
   
3. Under Order Captions & Enrichment Services, from the Feature dropdown, select Alignment.
   
   1. Select Upload txt. The Upload Attachment screen appears.
      • Enter a title and description of the file, if you wish
   2. Choose Select file.
   3. Find the edited file on your computer, then select Open.
   4. Select Save.
4. Return to the Kaltura Media's Order Captions & Enrichment Services section.
5. Select the radio button next to the edited .txt file you just uploaded.
   
6. Click Submit.
   • Under Order Captions & Enrichment Services there should be a note saying "Your request has been received. Your video will automatically [be] updated upon completion."

The new Closed Captions will be automatically added to your media in the player's CC menu. This may take up to 30 minutes.