Skip to Main Content

Accessibility at the Healey Library

The Healey Library is committed to providing library materials and services to all users.

Alexander Street Press

Alexander Street Press is a streaming video platform that hosts several academic video collections, including: Academic Video OnlineAnthropology Online, Counseling and Therapy in Videos, and Filmakers Library Online. 

TRANSCRIPTS:

Alexander Street Press videos provide transcripts which are synchronized with the video and will highlight the text spoken as the video plays. It will also, by default, scroll along with the video. To turn off this feature, simply move your mouse into the transcript area and your mouse movements will override the normal scrolling. At any time, you may also click a section within the transcript to skip forward or back within the corresponding video.

The entire transcript is located in the transcript pane, the first of the tabbed panes at center right, or by clicking the "Transcript" icon in the Toolbar at the top of the screen. Transcripts are searchable by keyword if you would like to search for and jump to a particular part of the video. 

SUBTITLES:

Some performing arts videos have multilingual subtitles that can be selected by clicking the CC icon in the toolbar beneath the player window. Where only one language is available, clicking this icon will turn the subtitles on or off. Where multiple languages are available, clicking this icon will bring up a menu of available languages. Outside of the performing arts collections, most non-English videos include embedded English subtitles, which cannot be turned off.

Films on Demand

Films on Demand provides either closed captioning or interactive transcripts for all of its videos on the platform.

CLOSED CAPTIONS

If this option is available, a CC button will appear in the video control panel. Click on this button to toggle captions on and off. You may also create a Films on Demand account and set your personal preferences to always show closed captioning. While most Films on Demand videos contain closed captioning, not all do. You can use the Advanced Search feature and limit your search only to videos that provide captions. 

INTERACTIVE TRANSCRIPTS

Interactive Transcripts are also available for many videos. Interactive transcripts allow you to view the full text of the video, search within the full text, or click on any word in the transcript to jump to that exact point in the video. Films on Demand provides instructions for using their interactive transcripts. If you prefer this format for videos, you can use the Advanced Search feature to limit your search only to videos that provide interactive transcripts. 

Kanopy

Most films on Kanopy provide both closed captioning and interactive transcripts. Closed captioning can be toggled on and off using the "CC" button in the video player controls. Interactive transcripts can be opened by clicking the "Transcript" button immediately beneath the video player. The interactive transcripts highlight or underline the words as they are being spoken in the video. Please see Kanopy's explanation of their closed captioning and interactive transcript features for additional information. 

Kanopy offers a Caption Request Tool for any videos that do not currently have captioning, providing any user with the ability to request that a film be captioned, directly from the film page in question. Kanopy promises a rapid turnaround time for all caption requests. Patrons may also use the search filters on the results screen to limit their searches only to videos that already provide captioning.

Healey Library | University of Massachusetts Boston | 100 Morrissey Blvd | Boston, MA | 02125-3393 | 617-287-5900