It’s no secret that closed captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing are a broadcast requirement for video especially in recent years with accessibility and inclusion being such a prominent issue. Within the last decade, this requirement spread to Video on Demand services, where all viewers should be ensured equal access and enjoyment of their favourite TV shows, movies and sports events.

Things can get complicated when it comes to working with closed captions for online videos, or video footage designed to be displayed at events. Alongside the fact that it’s only fair on Deaf audiences to caption your content, there are many benefits to producers and video distributors when it comes to captions, subtitles and translation.

What are the benefits of adding closed captions to your videos?

• Adding closed captions is great for SEO. Google and other search engines will pick up keywords from your caption files that they would not be able to pick up from video metadata and tags alone. This can really give your SEO a boost.
• When it comes to online videos, closed captions are a great way to improve viewer engagement. Nowadays, many people watch videos with the sound turned off, and may miss key messages and information without captions. Additionally, even with the sound on, giving your audience a double whammy of audio and visual stimulus can exponentially increase how much information they take in.
• Closed caption files are easy to translate and work out much cheaper than dubbing and/or voiceovers. Opening up your videos to a global audience can massively increase your profits.
• When growing a business or spreading a message, reputation is everything. Adding closed captions to your video content shows audiences that you are. Online content does not currently HAVE to be captioned. Ensuring that your videos always have subtitles shows your end clients that you care and want to include and treat all of them equally.

How much do closed captions cost?

The cost of closed captions can vary greatly depending on whether you write them yourself, work with automation or hire a professional company. If your video is short with little to no dialogue, you may want to take on closed captioning task yourself.

For very clear videos with no accents, over-speaking or background noise of any sort, closed captions created using voice recognition and/or automation can be fine. However, for professional or broadcast videos requiring sound effects, elements for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH) and/or videos with numerous speakers of differing accents, it’s best to work with a reputable closed caption company that will transcribe and caption your content professionally.

At Capital Captions, our closed captions start from as little as £4.00 per video minute (or $6.00 USD).

Take a look at our offering below or get your quote today.