Session Code: HE-02
Accessible Media@Mason:
The Costs of Doing Business
Korey Singleton, ATI Manager
George Mason University
January 31, 2012
9:20am-10:20am
Handouts are available at: www.atia.org/orlandohandouts
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What we’ll cover
• Introductions
• Brief Overview of ATI
• Accessible Media@Mason
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Background
Process
Issues
Costs
Next Steps
• Questions/Answers
Assistive Technology
Initiative (ATI)
“Brief Overview of Mason’s AT Services”
Mission of the ATI
Our mission is to help provide individuals with
disabilities an accessible university environment by
supporting access to all technological, architectural,
and educational resources available at George
Mason University through the incorporation of assistive
technologies, the provision of technical support, and the
development of university-wide strategies for universal
access.
Staff
• Manager – Korey Singleton
• Coordinator, IT Accessibility – Kara Zirkle
• Coordinator, Accessible Media – Liz Prickett
• Accessible Media Specialist – Nancy Borck
• Program Support Specialist – Stephanie Robbins
• Graduate Students – Sri, Shadiyah
Services
• Informal assistive technology (AT) assessments
• Training – AT software and equipment
• Training and technical resources as it relates to campus
accessibility
• Accessible Text (converting books into accessible
formats)
• Accessible Media (captioning, audio description)
• Web accessibility testing and accessibility workshops
Collaborate with ...
• Office of Equity and Diversity
• Office of Disability Services
• Information Technology Unit
• University Libraries
• Kellar Institute for Human
disAbilities
• Environmental Health & Safety
• Learning Services
• Distance Education
List continues to grow...
ODS & OEDS
Office of Disability
Services (Students)
• Accessible Text Services
• AT Assessments/Training
• Community Outreach with
local public schools
Office of Equity &
Diversity Services
(Faculty/Staff)
• ATI Under OEDS
• Accessible Text Services
• AT Assessments/Training
• University-Wide Training
Initiatives
Libraries & Learning Services
Mason Libraries
Learning Services
(Students)
• AT Labs
• Consultation
• Technology Sharing
• Accessible Media
• AT Assessments/Training
(registered/unregistered)
• AT Training for LS Staff
Accessible Media
Production
“Background & Process”
Background (Docsoft:AV unit)
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Prior to 2009 – No Solution
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August 2009 – Purchased Docsoft:AV Unit
• ATI paid 1/3 upfront costs, Kellar Institute (KIHd) covered rest
• 50/50 split of annual maintenance costs w/ KIHd
• ATI
• Manage access to service
• Provide Docsoft:AV and :TE applications training to faculty and staff
• Market and promote
• KIHd
• Host Docsoft:AV unit on their server
• Established http://docsoft.gmu.edu
Docsoft:AV Unit
• Unit is used to automatically
generate text transcripts and
closed captioning formats
(http://docsoft.gmu.edu)
• Supports number of different
formats
• Speaker profiles
• Supports multiple user accounts
(10GB limit/user)
• 60 hours/week
Docsoft:TE Application
Software
application
allows user to
edit transcripts
created using
Docsoft:AV unit.
Background (Docsoft:AV unit cont’d)
After 1 year…still no captioning!
• Unit was not being utilized
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One staff member captioned videos (on her own time) for one of their
departmental programs
One staff member transcribed interviews from research project
Requests from grad students to transcribe research
• Pushback from faculty/staff
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Myth regarding voice transcription capability (not 100%)
Lack of resources on part of departments/units
Lack of faculty/staff technical knowledge
Lack of time
Background (Proposal)
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January 2011 – Submitted proposal to
provide in-house captioning services (Final
budget submission ~$36k)
Proposal Highlights
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Accessible Media Process/Procedures (input from
several stakeholders)
Increase 1 PT staff to FT
2 hourly student-wage positions
2 new computer workstations
Equipment for converting VHS to DVD*
Costs for outsourcing (CC and AD)
Hardware licensing costs - Docsoft:AV unit
Software licensing costs
June 2011 – FY2012 Budget Approved
for $40k!
Background (Pilot)
• Sum 2011
• Hired/Trained 2 grad assistants – Docsoft:AV and :TE applications
• Developed online request form
• Established accessible media workflow (w/ stakeholders)
• Aug./Sept. 2011 – Pilot Project launched
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Worked with 1 Instructional Designer
Emphasis on Windows Media Files (WMV)
Content came from:
• YouTube, GMU-TV station, iTunesU, DE courses, Mason “channels” (i.e.,
YouTube, Vimeo)
•
3-week turnaround time on jobs
Windows Media Streaming File
• WMV – video file
• SMI – captions file
• ASX – metafile, which
links the video and
captions files together
Accessible Media Pilot Workflow
Email link to ASX file for
faculty/staff member (Web
Hosting Server)
ATI WEB SERVER (Upload ASX
and SMI files)
UPLOAD VIDEO TO GMU
STREAMING SERVER
EDIT WITH DOCSOFT:TE
DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT
DOCSOFT.GMU.EDU
SENT TO GA FOR FILE PREP
EMAIL REQUEST SUBMISSION RECEIVED VIA COMMONSPOT
Pilot Project Results
• Timeframe (Fall 2011)
• Captioned just under 12 hours of
video
• Most submissions from ID, some
from promotional sites
• Host of Issues Identified!
• Timing, Delivery method (WMV,
server issues, buffering)
• Streaming server accounts (5GB
limit)
• Quality of captions
• Video description
• Lack of technical knowledge
• Marketing
• HD videos
• When to outsource??
Retool for Spring Rollout
• End of Jan 2012 (Beginning of Spring semester)
**Goal to make service available to entire university**
• How we fixed issues?
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Delivery method (Created YouTube channel)
Quality of captions (e.g., Media Access Group at WGBH Best Practices)
Video description (We’ll discuss later)
Lack of technical knowledge (Trial & Error)
Marketing (DE Council, Faculty Orientation Workshops, OEDS, ID Team, Library
staff)
• HD videos (Converted into SD)
• When to outsource?? (Established some guidelines…e.g., over 60 min, less than 3wk)
YouTube Channel
• Addressing Delivery Method Issues (Buffering)
• Set up Private Channel
• Videos Settings (Public, Private, Unlisted)
• File Size Limits (15min, 2GB)
• Unlimited File Size possible – Upload videos longer than 15 minutes
• Most faculty are aware at least aware of tool
• Easy to embed within Bb (Mason’s LMS)
• Platform independent (Mac, PC, Mobile devices)
• Free!!
Quality of Captions
Best Practices
• Sentence case
• No more than 40 characters per line
• Using logical breaks in captions, whether one line or two
• Sound Effects
• Consistent captioning for music and numbers
• Proper punctuation and spelling
• Using double-arrows and/or names to indicate speaker changes
Improved Accessible Media Workflow (Spr. ’12)
UPLOAD VIDEO AND SRT
FILE TO YOUTUBE
EDIT WITH
DOCSOFT:TE/MOVIECAPTI
ONER
Outsource to 3rd party
(over 60 minutes)
DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT
DOCSOFT.GMU.EDU
SENT TO GA FOR FILE PREP
EMAIL REQUEST SUBMISSION RECEIVED VIA
COMMONSPOT
Accessible Media
Production
“FY2012 Costs”
Costs – Hardware/Software
**all costs are approximate
One-time Upfront costs:
Laptops for Grad Assistants (2)
$2,200
Wireless Mouse (2)
NCH Software (6)
$60
$1,630
- Prism File Converter
- SoundTap Audio Stream Recorder
- SoThink Video Downloader
- FlashLynx Video Downloader
MovieCaptioner (Mac) – single user
$110
QuickTime Pro (Mac) – single user
$30
YouTube Downloader
Total One-time Upfront Costs:
+
$0
$4,030.00**
Costs – Recurring
**all costs are approximate
++one-time cost, as service was discontinued
Annual Licensing costs:
Docsoft Annual Maintenance costs
$1,800 per year (actual cost
$3,600)
++GoDaddy
Services (Web Hosting Service)
$110
GoDaddy Services (Online Storage, 100GB)
$30
YouTube Channel
Total Recurring Costs:
+
$0
$1,940.00**
Costs – Personnel
Personnel costs:
Accessible Media Coordinator (Increased from .75PT to FT)
Grad Students (2) @ $12/hr. for 15 hrs./week
Outsourcing Costs
Total Personnel Costs:
$37,072.70
Drilling Down Through Personnel Costs
Total Minutes (FY2012):
3453
Total Hours (FY2012):
57.55
Total Jobs (FY2012):
195
Total Hours (Outsourced in FY2012): 18.63
Total Jobs (Outsourced in FY2012): 24
Total Costs for Outsourcing in FY2012: $3,297.40
Avg. Cost per video minute (Outsourced): $2.94
Total Hours (Grad Students in FY2012): 38.92
Total Jobs (Grad Students in FY2012): 171
Total Costs (Grad Students in FY2012): $13,723.45
Avg. Cost per video minute (Student): $5.87
Drilling Down By Grad Student
Grad Student #1
Total Jobs (FY2012):
102
Total Hours (FY2012):
21.8
Avg. Cost per video minute (GA #1): $7.93
Grad Student #2
Total Jobs (FY2012):
69
Total Hours (FY2012):
17.1
Avg. Cost per video minute (GA #2): $3.26
Total FY 2012 Costs
**all costs are approximate
++one-time cost, as service was discontinued
Upfront costs:
$ 4,030.00
Annual licensing costs:
$ 1,940.00
Personnel costs:
+ $37,072.70
Total FY2012 Costs:
$43.042.70**
Total Approved FY2012 Budget (Accessible Media):
$40,850.00
Deficit:
($ 3,192.70)**
Results/Lessons from FY2012?
• It helps to have friends with money!
• Involve stakeholders early
• Improve campus buy-in (19 faculty, 3 staff)
• Grad students vs. Outsourcing (e.g., Time, Costs)
• Training, Training, Training!!
• Software applications – Look for familiar and free
• Budget/Prioritization
• Timelines
Accessible Media
Production
“Next Steps”
Summarizing…
• So far in FY2013, we have received requests for:
• ~ 40 hours of video from 21 faculty and 2 staff
• 127 jobs = 21 classes (F2F, Online), 2 websites
• Since beginning (Sum 2011), we have received requests for:
• ~ 100 hours of requests
• 322 jobs = 40 classes (F2F, Online), 5 websites
PERSPECTIVE:
Mason’s Office of Distance Education estimates that they will have developed
~1130 DE courses between Sum 2011 and Sum 2013...we have addressed 40
of them!
We have a longgggg way to go!
Next Steps
• Improve Workflow
• SharePoint (alerts, central database, etc.)
• Everything located in one place
• Accurately track work directly related to accessible media
• Continue to improve campus buy-in
• Faculty/Staff Trainings
• Promote Voice Recognition Tools within Docsoft:AV
• Prioritize Jobs
• Immediate student need/Classroom Compliance/Website Compliance
• Improve costs/timelines
• RFP for captioning to reduce per minute costs
• Outsource all requests over 30 minutes
Next Steps cont’d
• Audio Description
• Special Topics Audio Description course offered through
Theater Dept.
• Cross-listed with COMM, ENGL, and EDUC (Vision
Certificate Program)
• ATI will provide funding for Adjunct Position
• Course set for Fall 2013
• Use course to identify Mason students that could provide
AD for Mason content/performances/events/etc.
Questions
Contact Information
Korey Singleton, ATI Manager
Address:
Assistive Technology Initiative
George Mason University
4400 University Drive
MSN 6A11
Fairfax, VA 22030
Phone:
703-993-4329
Fax:
703-993-4743
Email:
ati@gmu.edu
Web:
http://ati.gmu.edu
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Handouts are available at: www.atia.org/orlandohandouts
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