Tutorial: Editing Canvas Studio Automatic Captions

Canvas Studio uses automated speech recognition (ASR) technology to make automatic captions available for video content. While automatically generated captions are a great starting point, it is recommended to always review and make edits for accuracy before publishing the captions. This tutorial reviews how to generate and edit automatic captions for videos uploaded to Canvas Studio. Please refer to the Captioning Quality Guidelines when creating or editing captions.

Notes:

  • This tutorial assumes you have at least for the Canvas course in which the video resides.
  • Automatic captions are not available for YouTube or Vimeo media uploads in Canvas Studio.
  • Canvas does not have a dark mode, so the screenshots used in this tutorial were taken using an artificial dark mode for contrast purposes.

Step One

Go to within Canvas. To do this, select Studio from the Canvas navigation bar.

Screenshot of Canvas navigation bar with the Studio option highlighted.

Step Two

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Step Three

Once your media finishes uploading, select and open the video in your Canvas Studio library.

Screenshot of the Canvas Studio library in grid view. A video in the library is highlighted.

Step Four

Scroll down to the media details tablist and select the Captions tab. Within this tab, if you see captions titled “English (Automatic)” or “Auto-Captioning (Processing)” skip to Step Six, otherwise proceed to Step Five.

The Captions tab highlighted within the Media Details tablist.

Note: Automatic captions should automatically be generated for all videos uploaded to Canvas Studio after March 25, 2024. The automatic captions are typically generated and available within 10 minutes after a video is uploaded.

Step Five: Requesting Automatic Captions

If there are no automatic captions for your media, you will need to request them. Select the Request button.

Captions tab is selected and the following text is displayed: No Captions Added. There are no captions added to this media yet. You can request auto-generated captions, upload your own caption files below, or create from scratch. Following the text, the Request button is highlighted.

A question prompt will appear. Select the Automatic option and specify the language spoken in the media in the Language drop-down menu.

Screenshot of the captions request prompt, highlighting the automatic option and the language drop-down menu.

When you’re done, select Request and proceed to Step Six.

The captions request prompt with the Request button highlighted.

Step Six: Check the Caption Status Marker

From the Captions tab, check the status marker of the “English (Automatic)” captions to determine your next steps.

If the Failed status marker is displayed, make sure you aren’t uploading your media via a YouTube or Vimeo link. Instead, make sure to upload your media via a downloaded file and start back at Step Two.

English automatic captions with the failed status marker highlighted.

If the Processing status marker is displayed, you must wait for the automatic captions to finish being generated. The person who uploaded the media will receive an email notification when the automatic captions are complete.

English automatic captions with the processing status marker highlighted.

If the Not published status marker is displayed, the automatic captions are finished, but not currently available to be viewed by anyone with access to the media – go to Step Seven.

English automatic captions with the not published status marker highlighted.

If there is no visible status marker, the automatic captions are finished and available to be viewed by anyone with access to the media – go to Step Eight.

English automatic captions with a blank status marker section.

Step Seven: Reviewing and Publishing Automatic Captions

Captions with the Not published status marker should be manually reviewed, edited for accuracy, and published. Within the column for the “English (Automatic)” captions, select the Caption Menu button (three vertical dots icon).

Caption menu button is highlighted for the English automatic captions.

Select the Review and Publish button from the drop-down menu.

Review and Publish is highlighted in the Caption menu list of actions.

The caption editor will open for the selected video. Within the editor, you can adjust the timing of and edit the text within each caption block.

Screenshot of the Canvas Studio caption editor. The editor includes the caption blocks, a media player, a text field to edit captions, and a section to adjust caption timing.

Once you have checked timings for accuracy and fixed any errors, select the Publish button in the top right corner.

The Publish button highlighted in the caption editor.

Step Eight: Edit Published Automatic Captions

Captions with no visible status marker have already been published, but they can still be edited. Within the column for the “English (Automatic)” captions, select the Caption Menu button (three vertical dots icon).

Caption menu button is highlighted for the English automatic captions.

Select the Edit button from the drop-down menu.

Edit is highlighted in the Caption menu list of actions.

This view allows you to adjust the timing of the caption block and edit the text within each block.

Note: All changes made within this view will be automatically saved to the automatic caption file.

Screenshot of the Canvas Studio caption editor. The editor includes the caption blocks, a media player, a text field to edit captions, and a section to adjust caption timing.

Once you have checked timings for accuracy and fixed any errors, select theClosebutton in the top right corner.

The Close button highlighted in the caption editor.

Step Nine (optional): Ensure Viewers Know the Captions Have Been Reviewed and Edited for Accuracy

Once you review, edit, and publish your captions, they are still displayed as “English (Automatic)”. This may be misleading to viewers who don’t know the captions have been reviewed and edited for accuracy. Following are two ways you might consider making it clear that the captions have been reviewed and edited:

  1. Edit the video information in the Details tab. In the description section, you can add a note that the captions have been reviewed and edited.
  2. A more technical option involves replacing the “English (Automatic)” caption file with an “English” caption file. Please follow the following steps:
    • Step One: From the Captions tab, navigate to the row for the “English (Automatic)” captions, and select the Caption Menu button (three vertical dots icon). Download the caption file. Your download will include two SRT caption files titled “original” and “latest”.
    • Step Two: Navigate back to the Captions tab for the video and select the Caption Menu button.
    • Step Three: Select the Replace option and choose the caption file titled “latest” for your upload. When you return to the Captions tab, the “English (Automatic)” row will now display as “English.”