Hello, hello. I want to talk about open captions. What are open captions? Open Captions are the words or text that appear on the screen, matching the spoken dialogue.
Today I want to go more in depth, answering who, where, why, when, and how about open captions.
First, who do open captions affect? Open captions affect those people who are deaf and hard of hearing, but open captions are beneficial for everyone.
Second, where do you tend to see open captions? Videos, online, social media, or at the movie theaters.
Third, when do you tend to see open captions? The answers to where and when are very similar, videos, maybe online, social media, or movies. For example, if a movie is in another language, it will have open captions.
Fourth, why are open captions important? There are so many reasons including: provides accessibility to deaf and hard of hearing; it also provides accessibility to those who have ADHD or are autistic; improves comprehension, the text/words and audio recording are more in-sync; better accuracy; the use of special devices to upload the track/text is not necessary; provides a more equal viewing experience; creates better understanding and better awareness; etc.
Fifth, how are cations used or put into videos? Well, you have an audio recording, and then you have someone who listens to the audio and transcribes the text matching the audio, editing the transcription for optimal accuracy, then makes the text and audio match with one another in synchronized time, and then the text is what they call “burned” into the video making it permanent. The captions then can’t be changed, fixed, or removed; they are embedded forever. Wow, open captions are vital for accessibility.