BigBlueButton is a free and open source platform, built into major learning management systems, such as Canvas and Moodle. The latest version, released in May 2017, supports Ai-Media’s live captioning within the online lecture window, and closed captions are available automatically on recordings of lectures which were live captioned.
The platform enables institutions to deliver a high-quality learning experience to remote students. Lecturers are able to share audio, video, slides, chat, polls, and their screen – all in real time. Classes can also be recorded and viewed afterwards.
With universities increasingly looking to attract and retain students, and to meet accessibility requirements through inclusive teaching practices, BigBlueButton have developed an open source web conferencing system to offer a cost-effective way to make online lectures more accessible and inclusive.
The benefits of live captioning for students who are deaf or hard of hearing are clear, but students with an ASC, students with memory processing issues, and students for whom English is an additional language also find captions useful.
Institutions are under considerable pressure to ensure that all students have the same level of access to education while managing limited budgets. BigBlueButton allows universities to provide live captioning during a class and a recording of it afterwards complete with closed captions (at no additional cost to the live captions).
