We've compiled some links to sources of captioned videos and organizations who are also promoting the use of captioning or same-language subtitles for improving literacy. If you know of others, please let us know!
Educational Videos
Described & Captioned Media Program: Free library of captioned and described media aligned with the US Common Core State Standards. Available online or on DVD to members only. Members must certify they are located in the United States or its territories. Classroom use is restricted to classes containing at least one student who is deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind.
Khan Academy: A large library of free videos on a variety of topics, including math, science, economics, computer science, history, and civics. Subtitles are available by selected "Options", then checking "Translated subtitles". A language selection box will then appear below the left-hand corner of the video; select "English".
Voice of America's Learning English TV: Free library of captioned news stories, written using vocabulary at the intermediate and upper-beginner level and read one-third slower than typical newscasts. Suitable for teenagers and adults.
Open Yale Courses: Free online courses by Yale University. All videos are captioned (hover over upper right-hand corner to access captioning control). Suitable for high school and college students and adults.
Smithsonian Channel: Short video clips and full episodes from the Smithsonian TV channel. A selection is available for free; more full episodes are available to subscribers of certain cable channels. To turn on captioning, click the CC button in the video controls and select "English".
NBC Learn: Short videos (two to five minutes) on current and historic events from NBC News. A small selection is available for free. The full library can be accessed through their subscription services for K-12 or higher education. Captioning can be turned on by clicking the CC symbol in their streaming player.
BookBox: A companion project of PlanetRead. Provides a small library of downloadable animated children's stories with same-language subtitling. One story is available for free on their website; the others cost US$2.99. All the stories are free if you download their apps for Android, Kindle, or iOS.
Zane Education: An online library of captioned videos designed to complement the US K-12 curriculum, for use in classrooms, home schools, special education, and ESL education. Subscriptions start at US$8.99 per month.
BrainPOP: An online library of videos, activities, quizzes, and games mapped to the Common Core standards. All videos have captioning available through the CC button. Pricing varies depending on use -- home, homeschool, classroom, school, district, or virtual school.
AVAILLL (Audio Visual Achievement In Literacy Language and Learning): A classroom program developed in New Zealand to assist learning readers ages 9 and up. Program includes subtitled movies as well as activities and teacher guides.
General Videos (may not be suitable for all audiences)
YouTube: To find captioned videos on YouTube, add the "CC (closed caption)" filter to your search. See this YouTube video for more details.
Hulu: To find captioned movies, go to the All Movies page and check the "Captions" box under "Filters". To find captioned TV shows, check the "CC" box in the upper right-hand corner of the screen on the Popular, Recently Added, or Search pages.
Viki: TV and movies from around the world, subtitled in a variety of languages by volunteers.
Other Organizations Promoting the Use of Captioning or SLS for Literacy
PlanetRead: Promotes the use of same-language subtitling in India, particularly on Indian music television shows.
Read Captions Across America: Developed as a sister event to Read Across America, held on or around Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2. Offers a free kit of subtitled Dr. Seuss shows for teachers.
cap that!: Promotes the use of captioning to Australian teachers.
Collaborative for Communication Access via Captioning (CCAC): Advocates for quality captioning in the United States.
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