Closed captioning is mandated by the FCC for any video programming that airs or is uploaded online, including television broadcasts and online videos. All captions must be accurate, timely and complete.
Subtitles and closed captions both serve to enhance your footage for a wider audience, transcribing both dialogue and nonspeech audio (such as music and sound effects) within an audio track.
Definition
Closed captioning and subtitling both involve displaying text on a video screen to accompany an audio track, but they differ significantly in some key ways. Closed captions are fixed into the video track permanently so cannot be switched on or off as needed whereas subtitles typically added externally as files (usually.srt files) can be toggled on or off by users at will.
Closed captions must be time-synchronized with audio content and should be accurate, clear, concise, and informative. Speaker labels (especially when speaking from non-human characters or multiple speakers) as well as any important visual elements such as field of play changes are included should make these captions useful and informative.
Captions provide access to information, education, news, and entertainment for the 36 million Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing. Furthermore, closed captions make videos more useful and accessible to people with limited English proficiency while improving comprehension overall. Open and closed captions both offer advantages depending on your target audience – for instance subtitles could work best when watching foreign films while closed captions work better when most viewers will likely have their sound turned off when streaming online videos.
Accuracy
Video captions should match the audio of any given video precisely, including any slang, accents or other changes in speech patterns. Closed captioning must also be synchronized and complete – this applies both live and recorded video programming.
Though automated alignment analysis methods exist, for optimal results it is wise to combine them with human evaluation. Such evaluation should focus on three areas of focus: accuracy, synchronicity and readability.
Computer-generated captions often feature distracting spoken filler words like “you know,” “at the end of the day,” and “really,” which can be distracting to viewers. They may also contain spelling errors, missing words, or rewordings that convey different meanings; therefore it is crucial that high quality closed captioning software follows proven caption writing techniques.
Timing
At first glance, closed captioning and subtitles appear similar, yet each serves distinct functions. Captions supplement dialogue, transcribe out-of-scene speech and detail phone rings or background noise that would otherwise be difficult to depict onscreen; and provide a means of making music and sound effects easier to comprehend. Subtitles provide another perspective – providing greater detail of dialogue or out-of-scene speech while increasing overall comprehension.
Timing of caption files is of critical importance in their accuracy. They must always remain synchronized with video playback without ever falling behind it, although slight lengthening or shortening may occasionally be required depending on reading speed; sentence shortening should be restricted to forced narratives, indistinct voiced speaker identifications and well-known foreign sayings only.
Time must also be factored into caption file production if there is insufficient time available for caption creation; Media Manager will display error messaging if this occurs.
Completeness
Closed captions and subtitles both provide audio content on-screen for viewers to hear, but that is where their similarities end. Closed captions offer viewers full context by including spoken dialogue, intentions and tones while captions detail any meaningful sound such as music, laughter, applause and even doors being shut shut.
Subtitles, on the other hand, simply transcribe dialogue spoken by characters within a video and offer an alternative translation for viewers who don’t speak the native tongue of its production. Subtitles are an invaluable option when films will be distributed to countries that speak different languages or when original audio becomes incomprehensible to viewers.
Captions and subtitles each have their own set of advantages and disadvantages, but they can both be used interchangeably to increase accessibility for any video project. If your company creates content targeted towards multiple audiences, subtitles may help viewers access it in their preferred language while closed captions ensure all viewers can gain equal access. Ultimately, brands are free to decide how best to utilize captions or subtitles within videos; having both options available ensures accessibility is maintained. The Matinee Multilingual team can assist in providing closed captions and subtitles for video projects.
Placement
Closed captions must display text directly under speakers without interfering with existing graphics or obstructing their view, according to industry standard EIA-708-B. The Federal Communications Commission mandates this requirement for television broadcasters, cable operators and multichannel video programming distributors based on this standard.
Captions must also accurately and communicate all significant audio cues such as background noises, phones ringing or any other pertinent sounds to deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, including background noises such as phone ringing. This requirement applies both open and closed captioning systems.
Captions not only serve the deaf and hard-of-hearing, but they’re also invaluable tools for mobile users who browse without sound on. Closed captions appear as separate files uploaded alongside your video to ensure they remain synced up with its audio track.
When adding caption files to your Media Manager account, the caption section automatically detects their Primary Language and populates the textbox accordingly (Figure 2.1). If you prefer not including caption files, click “Other”. In order to enter valid caption justification textbox.