Session Code: HE-02

Accessible Media@Mason: The Costs of Doing Business

Korey Singleton, ATI ManagerGeorge Mason University

January 31, 20129:20am-10:20am

Handouts are available at: www.atia.org/orlandohandouts 1

What we’ll cover• Introductions

• Brief Overview of ATI

• Accessible Media@Mason• Background• Process• Issues• Costs• Next Steps

• Questions/Answers

“Brief Overview of Mason’s AT Services”

Assistive Technology Initiative (ATI)

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

• AT Labs

• Consultation

• Accessible Media

Learning Services (Students)

• Technology Sharing

• AT Assessments/Training (registered/unregistered)

• AT Training for LS Staff

“Background & Process”

Accessible Media Production

Background (Docsoft:AV unit)• Prior to 2009 – No Solution

• 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• 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• 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)

• January 2011 – Submitted proposal to provide in-house captioning services (Final budget submission ~$36k)

Proposal Highlights• 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• 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)

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?• 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 3-

wk)

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 CaptionsBest 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)

“FY2012 Costs”

Accessible Media Production

Costs – Hardware/Software **all costs are approximate

One-time Upfront costs:

Laptops for Grad Assistants (2) $2,200

Wireless Mouse (2) $60

NCH Software (6) $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 + $0

Total One-time Upfront Costs: $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 + $0

Total Recurring Costs: $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 CostsTotal 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

“Next Steps”

Accessible Media Production

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

Thank you for attending this session

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