CrowdsourcingTranslationsCaptions

Crowdsourcing Translations and Video Captions

Overview of our translation initiative: http://openmi.ch/translation-overview

Workflow for Crowdsourcing Captions and Translations
High Level overview of workflow


 * 1) Prioritize resources to translate. Choose short documents (e.g. videos &lt;15 min.) with multi-cultural origin or appeal
 * 2) Share the resources publicly under a license (e.g. Creative Commons) that allows derivatives such as translations
 * 3) Create primary caption track in English as foundation for translations
 * 4) Decide on translation tool (e.g. YouTube, Amara) that permits multiple users and offers computer translations
 * 5) Recruit volunteer translators from local and international connections and websites.
 * 6) As volunteers sign-up, add them to the appropriate languages/videos tracks and send instructions and deadline
 * 7) Encourage and thank volunteers during campaign
 * 8) Report results
 * 9) Refine process (e.g. collect feedback from volunteers)

Low level detail for workflow followed during pilot:


 * Prioritize which resources to translate. Short videos are easier to translate than long presentations or documents. Choose videos which already have a global dimension (authors from multiple countries, existing audience in different countries, resources for which you've received specific requests for translations, or topics that have global appeal based on trends in education or current events)
 * Make the videos publicly available on organizational YouTube and Amara spaces, under a Creative Commons license.
 * Create primary caption track in English for each video to translate
 * Generate computer translations for relevant videos (Google/YouTube Toolkit) offers computer translations for 64 languages
 * Create index with links for all language caption tracks (e.g. http://openmi.ch/translate-healthOER-vids)
 * Create sign-up form for volunteer translators (e.g. http://openmi.ch/translate-dm-mb-signup)
 * Set a start and end date for translation campaign
 * Write instructions for volunteer translators. Note that all that translations will be shared under the same Creative Commons license as the original and all translators will be acknowledged in the start of the caption track(s) to which they contributed. (e.g. http://openmi.ch/invite-translate-healthOER)
 * Recruit volunteer translators from local and international connections and websites (e.g. university language departments, Open CourseWare consortium, UNESCO, global health groups)
 * As volunteers sign-up, add them to the appropriate language tracks and email them instructions and links. If an individual sign-ups for a language track that has already been completed, ask him or her to review the existing track or to translate an alternative video. (email templates are at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aJhfcG5GJdJp-AOVknavSBDZw9TU1x8MGQOOs-eDmcU/edit?usp=sharing, staff login required)
 * As caption tracks are completed, review and publish them, inserting the translator(s) acknowledgements at the beginning of the caption track. Update the caption index to monitor which captions have been completed and by whom.
 * Midway through campaign, send thank you note to those who have completed captions to date and encouragement to those still in progress.
 * At the end of campaign, post results on website and send thank you note and summary to all who signed up.

Captions: YouTube vs. Amara
Both YouTube and Amara can be used to add subtitles and captions to videos. YouTube provides computerized translations for 64 languages, but you need to add individual YouTube users to give them permission to edit those captions. Amara doesn't provide the computer translations as a guide but anyone can caption a video (you don't need to add individual users) and you can link to your whole YouTube channel. Amara can be used for YouTube or Vimeo.

For the Open.Michigan translation campaign in February 2013 for 31 videos, we decided to use YouTube primarily. YouTube provides computerized translations for 64 languages and multiple people can edit a single caption simultaneously, but you need to add individual YouTube users to give them permission to edit those captions. Amara has many useful features - it can be used for YouTube or Vimeo, anyone can sign themselves up to add or edit caption (You don't need to add individual users). The main reason we decided not to use Amara though is because it doesn't provide the computer translations. Since we're liaising with volunteers to translate, it was essential to have those computer translations as a foundation for reference and efficiency. Adding new users to each language track for which they volunteer can be very time-consuming though. It was worth setting up the permissions and captions for 31 videos, but it would be hard to do that for the whole openmichigan YouTube channel. If Amara could add those same computer translations for full caption files from YouTube though, we would seriously consider switching to Amara.

YouTube - How to Add A Primary Caption by Editing Auto (English) Caption
Depending on the accent of the presenters in the video, the auto captions from Google may be a useful starting point. If the speaker does not have a Northern U.S. accent, then the English auto captions are likely very flawed and it be best to start from scratch by creating your own transcript. See next section below.


 * 1) Login to YouTube as the video owner
 * 2) Go to Video URL on YouTube.
 * 3) Click the CC (closed caption) button
 * 4) Click the English Auto Track.
 * 5) Review the video and edit each segment of the video in the corresponding textbox.
 * 6) Click Done

YouTube - How to Add a Primary Caption by Uploading a Transcript

 * 1) Go to Video URL on YouTube.
 * 2) Transcribe the video into a Word document. Insert an empty line (i.e. 2 line breaks) after each sentence. If you're unsure about a given word, please highlight it in yellow in the Word doument and send to author or editor to review.
 * 3) Once transcript is approved, saved as .txt file.
 * 4) Login to YouTube as the video owner
 * 5) Go to Video URL and add the transcript as a transcript file. YouTube will automatically try to match the transcript to the timecodes.
 * 6) Download the resulting caption file (.sbv). Watch the video.
 * 7) Edit the timing of the captions accordingly. You can edit the timing in YouTube or download the file to edit and then reupload. Repeat with edits as necessary.

For more details, see YouTube Captions help http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/static.py?hl=en&amp;page=guide.cs&amp;guide=2734661

YouTube - How to Add Captions for Other Languages
Once you have a vetted, primary caption in YouTube, you can then translate it into other languages


 * 1) Login to YouTube as the video owner
 * 2) Go to Video URL on YouTube.
 * 3) Click the CC (closed caption) button
 * 4) Click the request translation button
 * 5) Select the checkboxes for the languages you would like to add. Click more languages to add additional languages. Google Translate provides computer translations for 64 languages: http://support.google.com/translate/#2534525.
 * 6) Click Next.
 * 7) On the next screen, you'll have an option to add YouTube users to the various language tracks. See section below for next steps.

YouTube - How to Invite People to Edit Language Captions
Anyone who has edit access to captions for a particular video can also invite others to translate the same language for the same video. It may help to have a signup form (example: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDMyZzNnc1prTWF2YzI2OTFrSDZ2M1E6MA) to collect usernames of those doing the translation. To invite others to a particular video:


 * 1) click on a caption link the given language
 * 2) In the YouTube translation editor, go to File &gt; Invite people
 * 3) Enter the email associated with the translators' YouTube account.
 * 4) Click the “Send Invitations Button” to send them an email with the link.

All translations will be sent to the video owner to review before they are publicly viewable on the video page.

For more details: see Google Translate Toolkit: Collaborators help http://support.google.com/translate/toolkit/answer/147856?hl=en&amp;ref_topic=22237

YouTube - How to Edit Language Captions
Go to https://open.umich.edu/blog/2013/01/28/help-us-translate-health-oer-videos/ and scroll down to "How the Translation Process works"

Amara - How to Invite People to Add or Translate Captions

 * 1) Go to http://www.amara.org/
 * 2) Create an account (you can authenticate w/ Google among other options)
 * 3) Return to the Amara Homepage.
 * 4) In the section "Subtitle a Video Now", copy-paste the YouTube URL (in the format http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1223345)
 * 5) Click the subtitle button
 * 6) This will create a new URL for the video that you can send people to add captions (e.g. http://www.amara.org/en/videos/DlvwBv6mlKWW/info/enzyme-linked-immunosorbent-assay-elisa/).
 * 7) If there are caption tracks on YouTube, it will pull those and display in left nav.

Texts

 * http://translate.google.com/toolkit/ (includes optional computer translations from Google Translate) - you can import URL for in-page editing or multiple file versions
 * https://www.transifex.com/ (includes optional computer translations from Microsoft; now configured) - you can import .html or other file formats; used by Siyavula Education

Outlets to recruit translators / promote translation project

 * UMich Specific: http://www.umich.edu/~langres/langbank.html
 * http://communities.ocwconsortium.org/
 * COL-UNESCO OER Forum: http://lists.esn.org.za/mailman/listinfo/oer-forum
 * http://about.amara.org/volunteer/
 * http://www.wsis-community.org/ (see http://www.wsis-community.org/pg/announcements/view/677053/)
 * http://forums.gethealthsummit.org/
 * Proz.com
 * http://www.translationsforprogress.org/
 * http://www.volunteermatch.org/
 * http://translatorswithoutborders.org/

Copyright
Remember, by default, all creative works (e.g. videos) are copyrighted, whether or not it says Copyright Ms./Mr. Author. Captions and translations are derivative works which require permission from the copyright owner, especially since they are for public distribution. Some sites that aggregate Creative Commons licensed video (replace "AnyKeywordHere" with your topic of choice):


 * http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=AnyKeywordHere,creativecommons (see filter at top where you can limit to creative commons BY license)
 * http://www.oercommons.org/search?batch_size=20&amp;sort_by=search&amp;f.search=AnyKeywordHere&amp;f.media_formats=video&amp;f.cou_bucket=no-strings-attached&amp;f.cou_bucket=remix-and-share
 * https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&amp;as_q=AnyKeywordHere+video&amp;as_epq=&amp;as_oq=&amp;as_eq=&amp;as_nlo=&amp;as_nhi=&amp;lr=&amp;cr=&amp;as_qdr=all&amp;as_sitesearch=&amp;as_occt=any&amp;safe=images&amp;tbs=&amp;as_filetype=&amp;as_rights=%28cc_publicdomain%7Ccc_attribute%7Ccc_sharealike%7Ccc_noncommercial%29.-%28cc_nonderived%29 (you can start at http://www.google.com/advanced_search)

Ways for video owners/authors to ensure quality in crowdsourced translations:

 * Where possible have multiple people translating and reviewing the same language
 * Skim them to make sure that's there no obscenities or inappropriate words in the translations in the languages or alphabets (e.g. Roman or Latin) that you understande
 * For attribution and accountability, each translation should include the name of the translator. (It also helps to have a way to contact them, through email or other messages.)
 * When translating through YouTube is the video/channel owner and can choose which captions to show/hide.
 * Inform the video authors know that you solicited translations. Send them a summary of the translations received.

Additional references on crowdsourcing translations

 * MOOC on Open Translation (from 2012), organized by the Open University UK: http://labspace.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=8152
 * Tool for crowdsourcing translations for mobile apps: http://www.ackuna.com