Tutorial: Editing Canvas Studio Automatic Captions
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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.听
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- 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.

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

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Step Four
Scroll down to the media details tablist and select the Captions tab. Within this tab, if you see captions titled 鈥淓nglish (Automatic)鈥 or 鈥淎uto-Captioning (Processing)鈥 skip to Step Six, otherwise proceed to Step Five.听

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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.听

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

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When you鈥檙e done, select Request and proceed to Step Six.

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Step Six: Check the Caption Status Marker
From the Captions tab, check the status marker of the 鈥淓nglish (Automatic)鈥 captions to determine your next steps.
If the Failed status marker is displayed, make sure you aren鈥檛 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.

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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.听

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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 鈥 go to Step Seven.

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

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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 鈥淓nglish (Automatic)鈥 captions, select the Caption Menu button (three vertical dots icon).

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

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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.

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

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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 鈥淓nglish (Automatic)鈥 captions, select the Caption Menu button (three vertical dots icon).

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Select the Edit button from the drop-down menu.

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This view allows you to adjust the timing of the caption block and edit the text within each block.听
Note: All changes made within this view will be automatically saved to the automatic caption file.

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

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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 鈥淓nglish (Automatic)鈥. This may be misleading to viewers who don鈥檛 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:
- 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.
- A more technical option involves replacing the 鈥淓nglish (Automatic)鈥 caption file with an 鈥淓nglish鈥 caption file. Please follow the following steps:
- Step One: From the Captions tab, navigate to the row for the 鈥淓nglish (Automatic)鈥 captions, and select the Caption Menu button (three vertical dots icon). Download the caption file. Your download will include two SRT caption files titled 鈥渙riginal鈥 and 鈥渓atest鈥.
- 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 鈥渓atest鈥 for your upload. When you return to the Captions tab, the 鈥淓nglish (Automatic)鈥 row will now display as 鈥淓nglish.鈥
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