ABOUT THE RESEARCH STUDY

Conducted by Oregon State University's Ecampus Research Unit

Video in higher education has become commonplace. According to the students surveyed, almost 100% of courses included some video content in both online and face-to-face environments. Closed captioning and transcription are also becoming a lot more common, but questions abound. Why do students use captions/transcripts and how do they support learning? Why and how often do students who are not deaf or hard of hearing use captions/transcripts? Which subgroups of students use captions/transcripts and how much do they rely on them? Are there common hindrances that can be mitigated?

98.6% of students find captions helpful

Download this free 52-page report to get results from the largest IRB-approved study on student usage and perceptions of closed captions and transcripts. Using data collected from 2,124 student participants from across 15 public and private colleges and universities, the results are carefully analyzed and broken down by different student subgroups. This report sheds light on many critical issues surrounding accessibility and the rapidly growing usage of video in higher education.

Discover more stats within this report including:

  • 71% of students without hearing difficulties use captions at least some of the time
  • 66% of ESL students find captions "very" or "extremely" helpful
  • 75% of students that use captions said they use them as a learning aid
  • 52% of students that use captions said captions help as a learning aid by improving comprehension
  • 15% of students don't know how to tell if a video has captions
  • The most common reason students use captions is to help them focus
  • The most common reason students use transcripts is as study guides