Accessibility: Captions

Why Is This Important?
  • Ensures accessibility to people who rely on captions.
  • Required for WCAG A compliance for video with meaningful audio.
  • Improves understanding in quiet or noisy environments.
When To Use It
  • All live multimedia containing audio:
    • Audio-only broadcasts
    • Webcasts
    • Videos
    • Video conferences
    • Flash animations
How To Use It
  • Decide whether you need open or closed captions.
  • Enable live captions in meetings and live videos.
  • Keep lines short (one to two lines on screen at one time).
  • Match the exact wording and grammar that is said.
  • When uploading a video, you must use a captioning service, such as those provided by YouTube. We recommend you manually enter captions and then use the auto sync function instead of using the autocaptioning services provided on YouTube.
    • Our website's multimedia upload button allows for YouTube links only. They require you to have captioned your videos prior to uploading the link.
Closed vs. Open – What's the Difference?
A screenshot of a video Matthew Mors has made his mark as a senior sport management student and as a member of the South Dakota State Jackrabbits men's basketball team. 🏀🐰 There’s no questioning it — he’s a Jackrabbit through and through. Loyal. Driven. All in. “The people is what makes this place special and you can tell that athletically and academically, where the relationships you make will continue for a lifetime.” That’s the Jackrabbit way. #SDState #GoJacks South Dakota State University Sport & Re
Closed Captions
  • Closed captioning is a viewer-controlled feature. It can be turned off or "closed" by the viewer.
    • Best for long and traditional video styles, such as YouTube and streaming.
    • Subtitles are the feature used to display transcripts as captions.
A person holding a microphone in a video with text that says, “I am here at SDSU because it’s close to home and it’s a very small town community.”
Open Captions
  • Open captioning is always visible and cannot be turned off or changed by the viewer. It is often referred to as burned in.
    • Best for short and simple content, such as social media.
Caption File Types

Caption file types are files that store the text shown on screen during a video. They include what is said, sound cues (optional) and timing so the text appears at the right moment.

SubRip Text (.srt)
  • Basic timing information.
  • No formatting options for subtitle display.
  • Built using four key elements:
    • Number of the caption frame in sequence
    • Beginning and ending time codes for when caption frame should appear (hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds)
    • The caption itself

    • Blank line indicating the start of new caption sequence

      Example:

      5

      00:00:15,974 --> 00:00:22,355

      Well, this is a perfect example of how we execute that in a hands-on way.

      6

      00:00:23,732 --> 00:00:25,734

      >>HEIDI BUSHONG: Hello, Jackrabbit Nation!

      7

      00:00:25,734 --> 00:00:29,154

      My name is Heidi Bushong and this is "The Yellow and Blue Podcast."

    • Helpful Guide
Web Video Text Tracks (.vtt)
  • Allows CSS formatting and positioning of subtitles.
    • CSS-like styling (bold, italics).
    • Precise placement (top, bottom, left, right).
  • Limited support currently.
Best Practices
Language
  • Use the same language as the dialogue in the video.
    • Identify the language within the file name.
      • Example: [FileName].en_US.str
Speakers
  • Identify speakers or change of speaker with two right-facing arrows. Often, it is best to use the full name the first time and single name throughout the video — either first/given or last/family depending on the formality.
    • Example: >> JOHN SMITH:
Sounds and Music
  • Use square brackets to designate background and nonspeech sounds.
    • Example: [music] or [laughter]
  • Include background music if it is important to understand the content of the video.
    • Use objective descriptions that indicate the mood; avoid subjective words, such as "beautiful."
    • If the words in the music are important, add a musical note to the beginning and end of each caption.
    • Put music information in italics.
      • Example: [♪ pomp and circumstance ♪]
Text
  • Do not change, adapt or add to the text. Transcribe what is said accurately.
    • It is usually not appropriate to correct grammar or other mistakes.
    • Do not provide additional clarifying information in the captions. You can provide some in the transcript as appropriate.
  • Do not emphasize a word using all capital letters except to indicate yelling or a speaker.
    • Example: >> PRESIDENT DUNN: GO BIG! GO BLUE! GO JACKS!
  • Include the appropriate level of detail.
    • For most web content, it is acceptable to leave out nonsubstantive text to make the captions easier to process while adhering to the tips above.
    • If there is speech that is not at all relevant, indicate that it has been excluded from the captions.
      • Example: [participants discuss the weather while the presenter reboots her computer]
    • If you cannot understand what is said, transcribe: [unintelligible]
Trainings and Resources
Articles