Examining the Educational Benefits of and Attitudes Toward Closed-Captioning Among Undergraduate Students

Closed-captioning technology has been available for decades and is often used by individuals with disabilities to access video-based information. Course-related videos are routinely shown in college classrooms throughout the United States, however it is unknown if closed-captions are educationally beneficial for all students. The purpose of this study was to examine the educational benefits of closed-captioning among undergraduate students without disabilities and their associated attitudes toward the technology. The use of closed-captions adheres to the principles of Universal Design that encourages stakeholders to build environments and products that are accessible to all individuals. However, more evidence-based research is needed on the utility of this technology in college classrooms. Two separate video-based studies were conducted at one university and groups were randomly assigned to “caption” or “no caption” conditions. It was hypothesized that exposure to closed-captions would increase students’ recall and understanding of video-based information and improve attitudes toward the technology. Results suggested that participants who were exposed to closed-captions scored significantly higher on the subsequent assessment. Participants who already used closed-captions in their daily lives had significantly more positive attitudes toward the technology. Recommendations for further study are provided