
Captions and subtitles provide more options for all viewers, regardless of their native language. Some people absorb new information by listening, others by reading, and others by a combination of both. More Options for ViewersĪt the end of the day, some people just prefer to view content differently than others.

If viewers can see and hear the words as they’re spoken, it makes it easier to jot down important notes for later. Easier Note Takingĭuring a presentation or live video stream, it can be difficult for viewers to take diligent notes without missing key elements. Captions also reduce the risk of audience members asking you to replay sections of the video that they missed. If you’re giving a live presentation that requires video content, you could improve the overall experience by transcribing what’s being said. Better PresentationsĬaptions and subtitles simply make video and audio content more professional. Thus, captions and subtitles ensure that a larger audience can consume your content. If your video does not have captions or subtitles, you’re making it either difficult or impossible for hearing-impaired viewers to understand your content. Subtitles can also help non-native speakers make sense of content in another language.Īssisting the hearing impaired is one of the primary functions of closed captioning software.

Captions can help viewers understand content that they may not be able to digest with video and audio alone. Maybe one or more people are speaking quickly, using technical jargon, or covering complex issues. Your video may include content that is difficult to understand for a variety of reasons. In any case, captions ensure that your video doesn’t lose value due to poor audio. Perhaps you’re conducting a conference and the camera or recording device is too far away to pick up the sound. Sometimes, you just don’t have the right audio quality for your viewers to hear and understand every word. There are a number of reasons to add subtitles to a video or caption your video.

Video captioning is not just about accessibility (although this is a factor). For example, if you’re watching a video in which one or more people are speaking English and you want to read the video transcription as you watch, you would need to add “captions.”Īlternatively, if you’re watching a video in which people are speaking in Japanese and you want to have the words translated and transcribed in English, the resulting transcription would be considered “subtitles.” Why Do Videos Need Captions or Subtitles? While captions provide visual transcriptions in the same language as the original content, subtitles translate the words into a different language. Subtitles serve the same function but in a different way.
ADD CLOSED CAPTIONS TO VIDEO MOVIE
Whether you’re watching a movie on TV or viewing a live-streamed video, captions appear (usually at the bottom of the screen) to provide a text version of everything that is said. Captions provide a word-for-word text transcription of the spoken words in a video or audio file. Though many people use the terms interchangeably, “captions” (also known as “closed captions” or “closed captioning”) and “subtitles” are two very different things.
