In today’s day and age where most of the videos people choose to watch are either on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook or some other social media platform, a lot of people end up watching videos without sound. In this respect adding closed captioning to your videos means that people can understand what your video is about without having to have the sound turned on.  In this article we’ll take a look at why closed captions are important and why you should incorporate them into your videos. 

What are closed captions?

Closed Captions can be defined as audio synced timed text for videos, that can be turned on and off by viewers as required. 

What information is in a closed caption or SDH file?

Closed captions for the deaf and hard of hearing need to include specific information for viewers.

This can include:

Who uses closed captions?

Closed Captions ensure full and equal access to audio content. Closed captions can be tailormade for deaf and hard of hearing audiences (SDH – subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing). However, they are becoming increasingly popular for social media users, who are know to engage in video content on-the-go without sound. 

Should I add closed captions to my videos?

For broadcast and video on demand services, closed captioning (SDH) is a legal requirement. However, there are many other reasons that you should use closed captioning services to add onscreen text to your videos. These can include better video engagement, search engine optimisation and a wider video audience. 

How can I create closed captions for my videos?

If you are inexperienced with transcription and subtitling, the quickest and most cost effective way to create closed captions is by outsourcing to a closed captioning company online. Capital Captions are a UK subtitling company, provide packaged video to text services at low costs. These include transcription, translation, closed captioning, subtitling and video editing for text. 

How does Capital Captions closed captioning services work?

Simply send through your video, let us know your caption output requirements and we’ll do the rest. If you would like more information on our closed captioning services, take a look at our FAQ’s page. And if you’re not sure on what you need exactly for your video, give us a call or drop us an email and we can advise accordingly.