Instructions
When you use videos in a presentation, or in general, be sure it has synchronized captions. If you include a video that already has captions, then you do not have to worry about this step. Something else that should be kept in mind is that any video/audio files should have a text transcript. If you insert the content as an object, you need to provide an alt text for it.
Section 9.1: Adding Captions
SUNY Fredonia uses Panopto to create closed captions for videos. You can learn more about how to create captions in Panopto in our Accessibility Practices in Panopto series. When your video has captions created, you need to upload the video and the captions separately.
To upload the video,
Find your video in “My Folder.”
When your video is selected, the left panel will show your video in “Browse.” Hover the mouse over the video and click “Settings”.
In the Video pop-up box, click on “Outputs” and go to the “Video Podcast” section and click “Download Podcast”
Save your video as an MP4 and place it in an easy to find folder.
Go into PowerPoint and insert your video by going to the “Insert Tab” and clicking “Video” in the “Media Section.”
To upload the captions,
Find your video in “My Folder.”
When your video is selected, the left panel will show your video in “Browse.” Hover the mouse over the video and click “Settings”.
In the Video pop-up box, click on “Captions” and click on the “Available Captions” dropdown menu.
Click “Download file.” The captions will be saved as a .txt file. Save it in the same place you saved your video.
Go to GoTranscript - Subtitle Converter
In the “Upload Files” box, click the yellow “Upload” button and upload your .txt file.
In the “Select Format” box, click WebVTT (.vtt).
In the “Get Files” box, click “Convert.” Be sure that “Strict Mode is checked.
The .vtt file will be made. Save it with your video.
In PowerPoint, click on your video and go to the Playback tab. Click on the “Captions” button and click on your captions.
Your captions will be added to the video in the presentation. Always make sure that the captions match what you have made in Panopto. If there are any issues, you may need to do some corrections in Panopto and repeat this process again.
Section 9.2: Automatic Captions and Subtitles
PowerPoint has a feature that provides real-time, automatic captions. You can display them as subtitles in English or other languages.
On the Slide Show ribbon tab, select Subtitle Settings.
Use Spoken Language to see the voice languages that PowerPoint can recognize, and select the one you want. This is the language that you will be speaking while presenting.
Use Subtitle Language to see which language PowerPoint can display on-screen as captions or subtitles. This is the language of the text that will be shown to your audience. By default, this will be the same language as your Spoken Language. You can change it to a different language, meaning that translation will occur.
In the Subtitle Settings menu, set the desired position of the captions or subtitles. They can appear over the top or bottom margin of the slide (overlaid). They can also appear above the top or below the bottom of the slide (docked). The default setting is Below Slide.
More appearance settings are available by clicking Subtitle Settings > More Settings (Windows). You can change the color, size, transparency, and font style of the subtitles. You can change the background to improve contrast and make text easier to read.
