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• Subtitling

Subtitling vs. Dubbing: Which is Right for Your Audience?

Jaclyn Lazzari

•

October 20, 2025

Dubbing Checklist

Ultimate Guide to Subtitles

When it comes to watching their favorite foreign language films, many viewers choose between two main viewing options – subtitling vs. dubbing.

These two options are largely dependent on the viewer, where they are from, and their viewing preference. Concisely, this is the difference between dubbing and subtitling:

No matter your preference on the subtitling vs. dubbing debate, as a producer and creator of foreign language video content, it’s important to distinguish between the two and understand which one fits best into your content workflow.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss more of the differences between subtitling vs. dubbing and their respective workflows. Ultimately, you’ll be better equipped with the knowledge to make the most informed decision about which video translation method is right for your organization.

Key Takeaways

• Subtitles show translated text while keeping the original audio, and dubbing replaces the audio with a translated voice track.
• Subtitling is cost-effective and boosts accessibility, while dubbing creates a more immersive and engaging experience.
• Choosing between subtitling and dubbing depends on your audience, content type, and budget.

Infographic

Click here to enlarge.

What is Dubbing?

While some viewers prefer watching videos with subtitles, others prefer following along with the dialogue in their native language.

Although similar, dubbing is not the same as a voiceover, which is used to inform viewers about the story and character and is used for creative storytelling purposes.

Dubbing should fit effortlessly into the video and for the most part, should feel seamless to viewers.

Dubbing Example

Here’s an example of the American television sitcom, Friends, dubbed in German.

Benefits of Dubbing

There are many reasons why viewers prefer to watch videos with dubbing. Some of the benefits include:  

• Portrays the emotion and tone of the original audio 
• Creates an immersive and engaging experience
• Viewers can solely focus on watching the video instead of reading text
• Useful for people who struggle with reading or cannot read 
• Viewers can multitask while listening to the audio 
• Easier to censor explicit content of the original audio

The Downsides of Dubbing

While dubbing offers an immersive viewing experience, it also comes with several drawbacks, including:

• Can be expensive and time-consuming due to translation, voice talent, and post-production needs
• May lose the authenticity and emotional nuance of the original performance
• Can alter or dilute cultural context and meaning
• Requires ongoing quality control to maintain consistency across languages and projects

3Play Media’s AI-enabled dubbing solutions address many of these downsides. By combining AI voices with expert human review allows content creators to vastly reduce costs and save time while maintaining high quality.

With a network of professional linguists worldwide, 3Play can ensure that the translation retain their cultural context and can maintain quality across dozens of languages.

Free Resource

Dubbing Checklist

This checklist provides an overview of key factors to consider when adding voice-over or dubbing to your next project.

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What is Subtitling?

In many parts of the world, like in Europe, the terms subtitles and captions are used interchangeably. However, in the United States we differentiate between the two. 

Subtitling is the process of translating the original audio within a video into another language. Subtitles are a textual representation of the audio and they’re intended for viewers who can hear the audio but cannot understand the language. They solely communicate the spoken language and not other elements like sound effects.

Captions, on the other hand, convey all audio elements, including sound effects, speaker identifications, and non-speech elements. Captions are written in the source language of the video (e.g. if the original audio is in English, the captions are written in English).

Subtitling Example

Here’s an example of a scene from the French film “Amélie” with English subtitles:

Benefits of Subtitling

There are many benefits of subtitling, such as boosting SEO and accessibility for d/Deaf and hard of hearing viewers. and reasons why a viewer might prefer subtitles. Some of them include:

• Preserves the authenticity of the original audio and performances
• Aids in focus and comprehension of the content
• Helps viewers with spelling and grammar
• Makes it easier for viewers to learn another language
• Provides a cost-effective alternative to dubbing for localization 

Downsides of Subtitling

While subtitling is cost-effective and accessible, it also has a few limitations:

• Can distract viewers from visuals by requiring them to read on-screen text
• May not fully capture tone, emotion, or cultural nuances in translation
• Can be challenging for viewers with visual impairments or reading difficulties
• Requires precise timing and formatting to avoid overlapping or hard-to-read subtitles

Free Resource

The Ultimate Guide to Subtitles

This eBook breaks down the different types of subtitles, how they work, and how to choose the right subtitling solution to make your video content more accessible and globally engaging.

Download the Guide

Subtitling vs. Dubbing: The Differences in Viewer Engagement

When it comes to connecting with audiences in their native tongues, preferences for dubbing versus subtitling can vary by country.

A study by Morning Consult revealed that respondents from Russia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, and France largely favored dubbing for foreign language content, suggesting a preference for a more immersive experience.

Conversely, a greater majority of respondents in China, South Korea, India, and Japan expressed a liking for subtitles. This divide highlights the importance of catering to diverse preferences in an increasingly globalized media landscape.

While regional preferences are strong indicators of subtitling versus dubbing, the type of content you produce can influence which format is better for engagement.

In a survey conducted by Preply on viewing habits for entertainment content, 84% of respondents agreed that “subtitles retain the cultural authenticity of the content,” and they preferred to “hear the original actors’ voices and intonations.”

For educational content, for example, dubbing provides a more immersive experience, enhancing the emotional impact and comprehension of the content.

Subtitling vs. Dubbing Quiz

Not sure if subtitling or dubbing is best for your target audience? Take this quiz to find out!

Subtitling vs. Dubbing: The Differences in Workflow

No matter the viewers’ preference, when it comes to the implementation of dubbing vs. subtitles, the two are very different. Before deciding on which is best for your organization, you’ll first want to consider the costs, editing, publishing, and quality.

The Dubbing Workflow

Traditional dubbing is a complex process that typically requires multiple experts and steps.

1. Create a script: You’ll need to translate the dialogue into another language and synchronize the dub with the original language. Experts are recommended, as they’ll ensure the dialogue is accurately translated and synced.
2. Choose voice talent: Traditional dubbing requires voice talent. There are typically voice actors who specialize in dubbing and understand the process.
3. Recording: The recording process requires the most technical expertise and involvement of translation specialists, voice talent, and sound engineers to guarantee success. A professional recording studio with high-quality equipment is recommended.
4. Post-production: Finally, you’ll have to layer the completed dubbed audio track into the video. For this step, you’ll need both a sound and editing expert.
5. Publishing: Ensure the vendor you work with offers a variety of file formats that work for your publishing needs. In some cases, the vendor may be able to publish your content on your behalf.

To save on costs, the dubbing process must be well-planned and executed properly the first time around. If you have to book multiple sessions, it will cost more money, time, and effort.

Traditional dubbing can be an expensive process. According to Bunny Studio, a simple video can cost as much as $75 per minute.

The more complex your video content is, the more you may expect to pay. With traditional dubbing being such an intricate process, the costs make sense – especially if you decide to work with high-quality professionals.

Innovation in Dubbing Solutions

While the process of traditional dubbing can be lengthy, complicated, and costly, new technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and synthetic voice creation has allowed much innovation in the space of dubbing solutions.

One such solution, AI dubbing or automated dubbing, refers to the process of using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to automatically generate dubbed audio tracks for video content.

This technology analyzes the original dialogue and generates corresponding audio in the desired language.

Due to its automated nature, AI dubbing offers greater flexibility and affordability than traditional dubbing.

However, AI dubbing solutions that only use AI for the entirety of the process often result in quality issues that may negatively impact the end-user experience.

When selecting vendors that offer AI dubbing solutions, be sure that their process involves both humans and AI technology.

An AI dubbing solution that’s driven by humans and supported by AI technology will ensure the best of both worlds – high-quality dubs and lower costs that work within your organization’s budget.

Learn about 3Play’s high-quality and cost-effective AI Dubbing →

The Subtitling Workflow

There are two main ways to create subtitles – the DIY route or translation vendor. Similar to creating captions, subtitling on your own can be a costly and time-consuming process.

The DIY process requires manually transcribing the audio in the original language, which could take 4-5 times longer than the length of the video. It also requires doing the translations on your own, ensuring they’re both accurate and in the same cultural context as the original audio.

With a translation vendor, you’re able to cut down on cost and time, especially if your organization produces a large amount of video content. A good vendor will be able to take on the responsibility of the transcription and translation process and deliver the final output to you or automatically upload it to your video.

The cost of subtitling can vary depending on the process you choose to undergo.

At first glance, the DIY route seems like the cheaper option. However, once your video content needs increase, it becomes exponentially more expensive and harder to maintain quality, consistency, and efficiency. It’s only recommended to DIY your translations when you have a very small quantity of video content.

With a vendor, the cost of translations can range from $10-26 per minute depending on the language. When working with a translation vendor, be sure that the company values quality. Although some vendors are lower in cost, they could be sacrificing accuracy which will ultimately cost more money down the road.

Choosing the Right Option for Your Organization

So, where do you stand on subtitling vs. dubbing? Both certainly offer benefits to your organization and to the viewer experience. Whether your company decides to go with subtitling, dubbing, or a combination of the two, we believe it’s important to empower you with the most essential information to make an informed decision.

3Play Media has provided thousands of our customers with high-quality, accurate localization services. As a one-stop, full-service video accessibility company, 3Play Media offers localization services as a seamless addition to your other video accessibility needs.

Looking to get started with localization services? Our team of experts is here to help:

FAQs

About the author

Jaclyn Lazzari

Jaclyn is a marketing professional at 3Play Media with 7+ years in the video accessibility space. When she’s not at work, she’s exploring coastal New England, baking with seasonal ingredients, or enjoying football Sundays with her family.

The post Subtitling vs. Dubbing: Which is Right for Your Audience? appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Dubbing

What Is Dubbing? Everything You Need to Know About Dubbing Videos

Jaclyn Lazzari

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October 15, 2025

Download Dubbing Checklist

Dubbing is a common practice in the film and video industry, yet many people are still unsure of exactly what it is. That’s because dubbing preferences vary significantly by country and are shaped by the cultural landscape. It also means that diving into the world of dubbing goes well beyond how it’s made.

In this blog, we’ll discuss the history and cultural aspects of dubbing, what makes it stand out, and how it’s created. Ultimately, we’ll answer the question that has many scratching their heads – exactly what does dubbing mean?

Key Takeaways

• Dubbing connects global audiences. It replaces original dialogue with translated audio for a more immersive, accessible viewing experience.
• Cultural preferences matter. Regions like Germany and France favor dubbing, while others, like the U.S. and U.K., prefer subtitles.
• AI is reshaping dubbing. Human-in-the-loop AI combines automation and native expertise for high-quality, scalable localization.

Free Resource

Dubbing Checklist

This checklist provides an overview of key factors to consider when adding voice-over or dubbing to your next project.

Download

Understanding Dubbing

Dubbing is a vital aspect of globalizing content. It’s a content localization method that allows global audiences to consume media in their native or preferred language.

The dubbing process involves replacing the original dialogue in a film, television show, or short-form video with a translated version in a different language, allowing viewers to hear the dialogue in their preferred language.

Dubbing is different than subtitling, which provides a text representation of the original audio and lets viewers read the dialogue in their native language while still hearing the content’s original language.

Dubbing Examples

If you’re wondering where you can find dubbed content, it’s everywhere. Look no further than your Netflix account. There, you’ll find popular foreign content such as Dark (German), Money Heist (Spanish), and Squid Game (Korean).

All feature English dubs over the original language tracks, allowing English speakers to hear the popular series in their native language.

Here’s an example of the German dub of the TV show Friends (originally produced in English):

So, what is dubbing? Next time someone asks, tell them it’s a powerful way to make video content more accessible to people around the globe.

Dubbing Preferences in the Global Market

Speaking of around the globe, preferences for subtitling vs. dubbing vary internationally.

Unique preferences for dubbing styles differ by region, reflecting cultural norms and audience expectations. Well-executed dubbing seeks to embrace those cultural preferences, enhance audience engagement and immersion, and foster a deeper connection with the story and characters.

What causes the variation in dubbing preferences globally?

A Brief History of Dubbing

Most international dubbing and subtitling preferences were established by the end of World War II and haven’t changed much since.

Beyond economic motivators and historical context, cultural factors such as English language education, viewing preferences, and dubbing availability and quality all impact how people from different countries prefer to engage with foreign content.

At a time where the majority of the world’s popular entertainment came from Hollywood, dubbing established itself as the main method of localizing films for France, Italy, Germany, and Spain.

Well-executed dubbing is known for accurately capturing the cultural nuances of language, such as humor and cultural references. This results in a viewing experience that closely mirrors the original language content.

Data from recent years shows us dubbing and subtitling preferences by country.

Countries that prefer dubbing:

• Germany
• Italy
• France
• Brazil
• Spain

Countries that prefer subtitling:

• United States
• United Kingdom
• India
• China
• Japan

Learn about 3Play’s human-in-the-loop AI Dubbing solution

Regardless of cultural expectations, media producers stand much to gain from dubbing and subtitling their content. Utilizing both ensures that you’re catering to global variations in content consumption preferences. In other words, it means you’re broadening your global reach.

The Dubbing Process

Dubbing involves translating the original script, casting voice actors, recording dialogue, and syncing it with the video to ensure accuracy and synchronization. It should fit seamlessly into the video, feel natural, and deliver an immersive experience for viewers.

The key to a successful dubbing output is to portray the emotion and tone of the original audio. Creating traditional dubbing tracks requires extensive planning to create a quality result.

Traditional Dubbing and Other Methods

The traditional dubbing process is an established dubbing method in the media industry. It is often a lengthy, manual, and expensive process, requiring creating a script, hiring voice talent, recording the dubbing track, post-production editing, and publishing.

Traditional dubbing is commonly used for long-form, cinematic content as high-profile production studios often possess the budget, resources, and expertise to produce traditional dubs.

Traditional dubbing isn’t the only way to dub content. The growing capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) have introduced innovations and methods for dubbing content.

AI Dubbing or automated dubbing uses advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to automate critical dubbing steps, while also allowing for human oversight. This process ensures a high-quality output at a fraction of the cost.

Both traditional dubbing and AI dubbing are valid options, and there are advantages and challenges to consider for both methods.

Understanding Dubbing Lingo

At this point, we’ve answered the question, “What does dubbing mean?” However, other related dubbing terms will enhance your knowledge of the subject.

The Different Dubbing Types

Dubbing, as a general term, completely replaces the audio track of the original performance with a new language and fully captures the emotion and tone of the original content.

There are a few different types of dubbing: lip-sync dubbing, voice replacement dubbing, and voiceover. While people may use these words interchangeably, they are different.

Voice Replacement Dubbing

Voice replacement dubbing replaces the original audio with a different language. However, it doesn’t perfectly match the mouth movements of the people on screen. Voice replacement dubbing is still well-timed with the original content.

Lip-Sync Dubbing

On the other hand, lip-sync dubbing closely matches lip movements of the people on screen, further enhancing the realism of dubbed content and allowing the viewing experience to feel unimpeded.

Voiceover

Voiceover is when a person is narrating or describing what’s on screen, and it’s clear to the viewer that the voiceover is separate from the audio track. The voiceover can be in the content’s original language or can be translated into another language.

In this scene from Friends, you can hear each of the character’s train of thought in the form of an off-screen voiceover while the character’s actions continue on screen.

Each of these dubbing use cases has their benefits. Choosing voiceover, lip-sync dubbing, or voice replacement dubbing depends on the experience you want to convey to your audience.

AI Dubbing

AI dubbing (a form of AI Localization) utilizes artificial intelligence algorithms to automate certain aspects of the dubbing process, such as synthetic voice creation and translation. It allows for greater affordability and flexibility than traditional dubbing.

One challenge in this space is that solutions that use only AI throughout the entire process yield low-quality dubs more often than not.

As AI usage becomes more prevalent in the AI dubbing space, humans (ideally native speakers) must be part of the language dubbing process for quality and cultural sensitivity purposes.

Human-in-the-Loop Dubbing

Human-in-the-loop is a process used in AI dubbing where AI technology and humans perform jointly to optimize results. Rather than leaving dubbing to the unreliable quality of AI-only solutions, the human-in-the-loop process ensures accurate transcreation.

Transcreation is translating content while maintaining the original intent, style, and tone of the message.

Humans play a crucial role in dubbing by providing artistic interpretation, emotional expression, and quality control throughout the process.

AI dubbing processes that incorporate human-in-the-loop will inevitably provide greater depth and authenticity to dubbed content, capturing the nuances of tone, emotion, and cultural context.

Webinar on Demand

The 3Play Way: AI Dubbing

Discover how 3Play Media’s innovative AI Dubbing solution is revolutionizing video localization by simplifying workflows and providing the best practices needed to create truly accessible and global content.

Watch Now

Dubbing Use Cases by Industry

Dubbing isn’t just for entertainment, it’s a powerful tool for any industry or creator looking to reach global audiences or make content more accessible. Here are some of the key sectors that can benefit:

• Entertainment and Media: From films and TV shows to streaming platforms, dubbing allows studios to connect with audiences worldwide in their native languages, improving viewer engagement and expanding market reach.
• eLearning and Education: Educational institutions, training providers, and online course creators use dubbing to make courses, tutorials, and lectures accessible to international learners. It breaks down language barriers and enables organizations to make their content accessible globally.
• Online Content Creators: YouTubers, podcasters, and influencers can use dubbing to grow their international fan base by offering localized versions of their videos or shows, making their content more discoverable and engaging across different languages and regions.
• Corporate and Training: Global organizations rely on dubbing for internal communications, onboarding videos, and compliance training. Localized audio helps ensure employees across regions understand information clearly and consistently.
• Marketing and Advertising: Brands and content creators can reach new markets by dubbing promotional videos, product demos, and social content into local languages.

The Benefits of Dubbing Your Video Content

Now that we’ve answered the question ‘What is dubbing?” you may be wondering if it’s right for your content. Your viewers will find value in dubbed content for the following reasons:

• It portrays the emotion and tone of the original audio.
• It allows them to immerse themselves in the content rather than read subtitles.
• It helps people who struggle with reading or cannot read.
• It enables multitasking while listening to content.

Ultimately, dubbing provides the opportunity to reach new global markets. If your goal is to grow your audience and monetize your content, dubbing is a tool that will help you accomplish just that.

Challenges of Dubbing

While dubbing helps make content more accessible and engaging across languages, it comes with several challenges that can impact both quality and cost.

1. Lip-sync and performance accuracy: Matching translated dialogue to the actors’ lip movements and emotional tone is a complex process. Poor synchronization can break immersion and distract viewers, which is why precision is essential.
2. Cultural and linguistic adaptation: Literal translations often don’t capture local idioms, humor, or cultural references. Effective dubbing requires thoughtful adaptation (often utilizing professional linguists) to make dialogue sound natural and culturally relevant.
3. High production costs: Traditional dubbing is resource-intensive, requiring translators, voice actors, audio engineers, and multiple review rounds. This can quickly become expensive, especially for large-scale projects or multilingual releases.

That’s where 3Play Media’s human-in-the-loop dubbing solution makes a difference. 3Play delivers high-quality, natural-sounding dubbed content at scale, helping organizations overcome cost and time barriers without compromising on accuracy or emotional impact.

Ready to Globalize Your Video Content?

Dubbing is essential for making video content accessible to global audiences and enhancing cross-cultural understanding. Dubbing and subtitling are two primary localization techniques, each with its benefits and challenges, while human-in-the-loop AI solutions offer opportunities for innovation in dubbing.

As the video content market becomes more saturated, dubbing is a valuable tool brands can use to differentiate and further monetize their content globally.

Are you ready to level up your video content and go global?

3Play Media has provided thousands of our customers with high-quality, accurate localization services. As a one-stop, full-service video accessibility company, 3Play Media offers localization services, including AI Dubbing, as a seamless addition to your other video accessibility needs. Learn more:

Dubbing FAQs

This post was originally published on March 6th, 2024 by Jaclyn Lazzari and has since been updated by Noah Pearson for comprehensiveness, clarity, and accuracy.

About the author

Jaclyn Lazzari

Jaclyn is a marketing professional at 3Play Media with 7+ years in the video accessibility space. When she’s not at work, she’s exploring coastal New England, baking with seasonal ingredients, or enjoying football Sundays with her family.

The post What Is Dubbing? Everything You Need to Know About Dubbing Videos appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Captioning

From the AI Evolution to Gen Z’s Closed Caption Expectations: 3Play Media co-CEOs Share Their 2024 Media Accessibility Predictions

3Play Media

•

February 5, 2024

Watch the Video: 3Play Media co-CEOs Josh Miller and Chris Antunes Share Their 2024 Media Accessibility Predictions

Each year, 3Play Media co-founders and co-CEOs, Chris Antunes and Josh Miller, share their insights and predictions for the evolving media accessibility landscape. From government actions to advancements in AI to Gen Z’s closed captioning expectations, their 2024 media accessibility predictions are focused on evolutionary progress in video accessibility solutions and policies in the U.S. and beyond. In this blog, we delve into the tech CEOs’ top seven predictions and explore what they mean for the accessibility industry.

Looking for an audio described version of this video? We’ve got you covered.

1. The Government Will Move Quickly Ahead of the Next Election Cycle to Make Decisions on Proposed Laws

Chris and Josh believe there could be swift government actions on proposed laws like the Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act (CVTA) ahead of the next election cycle. With the ADA being decades old at this point, the co-CEOs highlighted the need to align regulations with today’s digital reality. They believe that 2024 will bring about important legal decisions that will help shape the future of video accessibility, such as:

• What is good enough when it comes to video accessibility solutions?
• What are the requirements?
• How much content should be accessible?
• What is the role of AI in video accessibility? Is AI a viable solution?

2. 2024 Will Be an Evolutionary Rather Than a Revolutionary Year for AI

Chris and Josh foresee 2024 as an evolutionary year for AI rather than a revolutionary year, emphasizing the integration of the numerous AI-based models that emerged in 2023. The success of AI’s media accessibility evolution will hinge on secure, responsible, ethical, and high-quality integration and supervision. Chris noted that “the companies that win will focus on great user experience and, again, supervising these models in a secure and high-quality manner.”

3. Dubbing Will Finally Arrive as a Viable Globalization Path in the Corporate Space

Our co-CEOs predict that dubbing will finally become a viable globalization solution in the corporate space. Enabled by advancements in voice quality and AI capabilities, new opportunities will emerge for video publishers to engage audiences worldwide. Dubbing has traditionally been cost-prohibitive for many companies, but 2024 holds promising AI advancements that could help organizations move beyond subtitling to make this localization solution attainable.

 Watch 3Play’s co-CEOs discuss their 2024 predictions:  

4. The NAD vs SiriusXM Lawsuit Will Be Resolved in 2024 and Will Not Only Establish Precedent in the Podcast Space But Also on Acceptance of ASR

Josh and Chris believe that the NAD vs SiriusXM lawsuit has the potential to make a big impact in the world of podcasting this year. Beyond establishing precedent in the podcast space, the legal outcome of NAD vs SiriusXM is additionally expected to influence the acceptance of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) in scalable transcription workflows. When fully resolved, the case could help to better spotlight podcast accessibility and responsible automation practices in transcription.

5. Production Studios and Major Streaming Providers Will Increasingly Turn to International Content and Distribution Opportunities

Josh and Chris draw from the entertainment industry’s growing trend of globalization in making their next prediction. Driven by factors like strikes and the reliance on domestic production cycles, our CEOs believe that production studios and major streaming providers will increasingly turn to international content and distribution opportunities. This shift reflects the industry’s recognition of the potential in international production workflows and the ease of global content distribution.

6. With AI improvements in Voice Output and Image Identification, AI-Powered Solutions Will Emerge for Accessibility Products 

In their sixth prediction, Chris and Josh highlight the emergence of AI-powered solutions for accessibility products like American Sign Language (ASL), dubbing, image description, and audio description. Because of the notable quality improvements in AI capabilities and language models over the last year, these solutions are expected to gain greater acceptance by both vendors and customers in 2024.

7. Gen Z Students and Employees Will Expect Closed Captioning By Default to Be Present in All Videos They Consume

Our co-CEOs’ final prediction focuses on user expectations, specifically among Gen Z students and employees. Josh notes that Gen Z students and employees are digital accessibility natives:

In addition to Gen Z’s tech-savvy nature, Chris and Josh add that the growing number of students and employees with invisible disabilities will additionally push the high expectations for video accessibility in the classroom and workplace.

As 3Play Media’s co-CEOs share their predictions for the video accessibility landscape in 2024, it’s evident that the industry is poised for significant developments. From legal resolutions and advancements in AI to changing user expectations, Chris’s and Josh’s predictions provide valuable insights for the path accessibility initiatives might take in the coming year. Watch Chris and Josh talk about their 2024 media accessibility predictions in full:

Looking for an audio described version of this video? We’ve got you covered.

This blog was originally published by Rebecca Klein in December 2021 as “Video and Media Accessibility Predictions for 2022.” This post is updated annually to reflect 3Play Media co-CEOs’ new predictions and for comprehensiveness, clarity, and accuracy.

About the author

3Play Media

The post From the AI Evolution to Gen Z’s Closed Caption Expectations: 3Play Media co-CEOs Share Their 2024 Media Accessibility Predictions appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Captioning

Closed Caption Styling & Formatting Best Practices You Need to Know

3Play Media

•

November 3, 2023

Captioning Best Practices for Media & Entertainment [Free eBook]

Closed caption styling is an important element of video production that significantly impacts video quality and accessibility. 

Traditionally, caption styling best practices were determined by television networks, streaming services, and captioning professionals based on feedback from D/deaf and hard of hearing communities. Guidelines from such entities as the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) also played a key role in the development of best practices.

With the increase in video content and development of new captioning solutions over the past several years, caption styling has been unlocked for all video creators. This has come with an explosion in creative methods and DIY captioning. Unfortunately, creativity can sometimes come at the expense of accessibility, leading folks right back to conventional caption styling rules.

So how can you curate a captioning style that fits your video and brand while simultaneously maximizing the accessibility of your content?

In this blog, we will explore the best practices for closed caption styling and formatting. We’ll show you all of the styling elements you’ll need to consider, weigh the pros and cons of using different styles, learn why consistency is critical in any caption style, and provide tips for compiling your own captioning style guide to best support your brand’s content.

Caption Styling Elements to Consider

Whether you’re styling your own recorded captions or subtitles using YouTube or Premiere, or you’re in the process of creating your brand’s recorded captioning style guide, you will most likely be thinking about captions in pop-on format. Pop-on format is the most common captioning type for prerecorded video content, and it’s the only format available for subtitles. It allows for the greatest amount of customization in offline captions and subtitles.

Speaker Identification

Dashes: This is a simple way to identify new speakers. Use a dash followed by a space to indicate when a different speaker is talking.

Name/title: This method identifies new speakers by name or title and can be helpful for viewers who want to know which character is speaking. Using names or generic titles to identify speakers can be done in several ways.

Speaker-oriented placement: This identification style uses manual horizontal caption placement to follow each speaker around the screen. Dashes and names may be used in addition to this style, or they may have no identification at all unless they are off-screen. This style can be useful for those who struggle with center-placed identification, but others may find this style distracting and hard to follow.

Overall, the use of speaker-oriented placement has been moving out of favor due to its incompatibility with many internet-based streaming platforms and video players. 

Placement

Bottom-center only: This style is compatible with almost every television and online video player. It is often the default on some web players, and is sometimes the only placement option for certain web caption file types. Despite its compatibility, bottom-center placement can obscure lower-third video graphics if they are present.

Bottom-center, moving for lower thirds: This style is standard for many television and streaming networks, and many captioning vendors adhere to this placement by default. Captions stay in the bottom, center portion of the screen and are placed on the top of the screen when lower-third graphics are present.

Speaker-oriented: As mentioned in the previous section, this style of placement is becoming less common because of its incompatibility with some web video players. This style can also be distracting and difficult for some viewers to follow.

Narration and Off-Screen Speech

Italics: Italics are commonly used to differentiate voice-over narration and off-screen speech. They are sometimes used in tandem with speaker IDs.

Descriptors: Name descriptors may be used in addition to italics to indicate off-screen speech or narration. They are sometimes used without italics, as the means for indicating off-screen speech.

Sound Effects, Music, and Other Non-Speech Information

Brackets: This style uses brackets to enclose sound effects or music descriptors. Brackets usually surround words in lowercase, without spaces. Sometimes, sound effects may be in uppercase or include additional spaces/italics as well.

Parentheses: This style is almost exactly used like the brackets style, but includes parentheses to indicate sound effects instead.

Detailed descriptors: Highly detailed descriptors have gained traction with many hearing caption users due to their creativity and entertainment value. These can be a fun way to help immerse viewers in a program. However, it’s important to note that these can also confuse other viewers, particularly when advanced vocabulary is used in the descriptor.

Font, color, and character limits

Font: Sans Serif fonts with medium thickness are preferable for captions. Serif fonts can be used when they are simpler but tend to be less readable for viewers in general. Overly thin or bold fonts can additionally pose issues with readability. The more decorative a font is, the harder it may be for viewers to read.

Color: Closed captions are typically displayed as white text on an opaque or semi-transparent black box. Subtitles are often styled in white text with a black outline or black drop shadow. These tend to be the most readable colors for viewers, but open captions and open subtitles can be styled in other colors. Choosing different colors can be a creative way to extend branding, but caution should be used to ensure appropriate contrast is provided. 

Character Limits: Closed captions have a line limit of 32 characters per line by default. Subtitles can have varying line limits, but are often capped at 42 characters per line to best support readability.

Profanity and Censorship

Bleeping: When bleeps are used to censor audio, the profanity is typically reflected as [bleep], (bleep), or [BLEEP] within the captions.

Dropped Audio: When audio is entirely dropped or silenced, the profanity is usually reflected as […] or (…) within the captions. 

Partial Censorship: When words are partially censored in the audio, or if producers wish to indicate the word being used in the captions, profanity can be transcribed using the first and/or second letter of the word followed by asterisks or dashes, such as sh– or sh**. Note that dashes are preferable due to asterisks’ display incompatibility with certain caption file types and players/televisions.

 Discover Captioning Best Practices for the Entertainment Industry  

Consistency in Caption Styling is Key

There is no blanket guideline for caption or subtitle styling. This can be great for creativity, but less so for accessibility. That’s where consistency comes in.

Consistency in Broadcast and Streaming

Video accessibility requirements for the FCC and WCAG, for example, are broad enough to allow for different caption styling options. However, it’s important to remember that content going to broadcast networks and streaming services, such as Netflix or Amazon, may require particular styling guidelines to be met. This helps each individual platform or network create greater consistency for captions and subtitles within their libraries of programming.

When applicable, network or streaming style guides should always be consulted and followed before defaulting to any other style. Some captioning vendors, like 3Play Media, are familiar with and well-versed in handling these specs, but always ensure they have the most updated style guides to review prior to caption creation.

If your content is being distributed to a network or platform without any specifications beyond following FCC guidelines, your captioning vendor will typically default to their house style. A caption vendor’s house style should integrate key compliance requirements and major recommendations from organizations like DCMP.

Consistency in Non-Entertainment Video Content

For video producers, organizations, and individuals with recorded video content not geared toward entertainment–including corporate training videos, brand videos, educational videos, event recordings, and more–ensuring a consistent caption style can help optimize both accessibility and branding. But how can you do this? Where do you start?

To create greater consistency across video content, it can be useful to review other style guides, talk to a captioning vendor about their house style, and watch captioned videos across different players and platforms. In fact, many captioning vendors, networks, and streaming services have designed their caption style specs with guidance and suggestions from disability communities and organizations over the years.

However, even the standard best practices can become outdated or may no longer best meet the needs of D/deaf and hard of hearing communities. That’s why it’s incredibly important to research the current preferences of these communities in order to gain a holistic view of caption styling priorities from the people who rely on them. 

Keep in mind that every individual will have their own preferences and reasoning behind their choice in caption styling. Because one cannot speak for the entirety of caption users, these preferences may not always be within the general best practices for captioning, but should still be considered when crafting your own caption style. 

Building a Captioning Style for Your Brand

When creating a captioning or subtitling style guide for your brand, remember that accessibility must be placed before aesthetics. Using your brand’s font and colors may support a consistent brand experience, but they can also be illegible to caption users if a font is too fanciful or colors don’t have enough contrast. Overly detailed sound and music descriptions may be entertaining and provide hearing caption users with a memorable brand experience, but they can also be distracting and confusing to others who need them to understand your video. Plus, it’s important to remember that not all captioning customizations display the same way across web platforms and televisions unless they are permanently burned in.

So with all of these caveats, how can you create a consistent and accessible captioning experience that supports your brand and complements your video content?

Choose Your Basic Style Requirements

Closed captions are not permanently burned into the video, unlike open captions or subtitles. Therefore, style elements like font, size, and color should not be considered during this stage. 

Stick to determining the basics of closed caption styling elements. How should speakers be identified? How do you want sound effects and music formatted? How should off-screen speech be indicated?

Once you figure out the basics, document your preferences so that they can be followed by your captioning vendor.

Choose Advanced Captioning Style Elements

After creating your basic preferences, you may begin selecting advanced captioning style elements if you will be creating or adding permanently burned-in open captions or open subtitles for your video content.

Take your own brand and preferences into account here, but make adjustments and considerations for accessibility as you do so. If you’re looking for a font, and your brand font is non-Serif with medium thickness, it will likely be readable in captions. If it’s Serif, decorative, has very thin lines, or is overly bold, there may be readability issues. 

When determining caption or subtitling color, consider utilizing a color contrast checker to ensure captions have enough contrast to support readability. For subtitles, consider how the use of outlines, drop shadows, and semi-transparent elements can improve contrast.

Put Your Captioning Style Guide to Use

Now it’s time to test your style elements together. How do they look in your video content? What do your viewers and caption users think? Do your caption styling preferences support captioning best practices?

After successful testing, you can go live with your new captioning style. Provide a copy of your style guide or requirements to your caption vendor, and review your files–ideally in the final video platform or player–to confirm the finalized caption display is accessible and to ensure overall consistency and compatibility.

This blog was originally published by Kelsey Brannan on November 1, 2016, as “Guest Post from PremiereGal: Trends in Captioning Style & Formatting” and has since been updated for comprehensiveness, clarity, and accuracy.

About the author

3Play Media

The post Closed Caption Styling & Formatting Best Practices You Need to Know appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Captioning

Closed Captioning Types: Learn the Difference Between Pop-On, Roll-Up, and Paint-On

3Play Media

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July 3, 2023

Beginner’s Guide to Captioning [Free eBook]

When beginning the process of ordering captions for your media, it can be easy to get bogged down with all the variations, customizations, and styles that can be applied to your captions. Even the decision of which captioning service to use (live or recorded) can be daunting if you are new to video accessibility.

The good news? Captioning doesn’t have to be complicated, because choosing between pop-on and roll-up captioning styles is simpler than you might think.

In this blog, we will provide you with a comprehensive overview of the three main formats of captioning: pop-on, roll-up, and paint-on. We’ll shed light on their applications, explore use cases, and discover the possibilities for customization within each type so that you’re empowered to make informed decisions for your media.

Pop-On Captions

What are they?

Pop-on closed captions are what you’re most used to seeing in recorded (non-live) broadcast, streaming, and web content. These captions are exactly what they say they are: they pop on your screen and then disappear when the next caption appears.

Who uses them?

Pop-on style is standard for recorded content because these captions can be highly customized to best fit the viewing experience and reflect aspects such as timing, tone, and location of speakers. Closed captioners have the ability to manipulate timing to closely synchronize with words as they are spoken.

Pop-on captions are not used for live broadcast content. The nature of live captioning means that each word written is immediately sent to an encoder, and encoders must wait for all text information before they can display a caption. If live captions utilize pop-on style, the text would be delayed, defeating the point of having quick captions delivered right to the viewer as the program is happening.

What do they look like?

For the most optimal readability across viewing platforms, our captioning experts have found that recorded pop-on captions with the following style tend to share these qualities:

• Sentence case
• Center-placed and justified
• Rest at the bottom of the screen, moving to the top to avoid lower-third graphics
• Use speaker dashes to differentiate speakers
• Off-screen sound (such as voice-over narration, digitized speech, non-diegetic music) conveyed using italics
• Quotation marks utilized for works of art (movie, show, song titles)
• Sound effects and music descriptors indicated on their own lines, surrounded by brackets
• Cleanly broken into two lines at conjunctions, end of clauses, prepositions, articles, or grammatical breaks
• Timed with ample load and reading time to align with spoken words

The above aspects of pop-on captions have helped inform 3Play Media’s captioning style, but that is not to say that this is the only way to do pop-on captions; varying styles are commonly applied to the pop-on captions we create, such as:

• Speaker-oriented placement (this placement follows the speaker around the screen)
• Speaker IDs, such as a name followed by a colon, or a name in parentheses
• No speaker IDs for on-screen speakers at all; IDs only for off-screen speech or captions containing dual speakers
• All uppercase captions or all uppercase speaker IDs
• Countless other options!

Other considerations

Recorded web captions always display in pop-on style, but due to the limitations of some players and other applications, these captions may lack certain stylistic elements (caption movement, italics, and music notes.)

These captions are usually delivered in a sidecar caption file format, such as SRT. Live captions are sometimes delivered in SRT format as well for video-on-demand (VOD) programming.

Live captions on platforms such as Zoom and YouTube only display captions in pop-on style, so viewers of live programs and events on these platforms could experience a slight delay as they wait for all the text to appear.

New to captioning? Our Beginner’s Guide has the basics you need to get started

Roll-Up Captions

What are they?

Roll-up captions continuously roll up onto your screen, one right under the next, allowing for more time for the viewer to read them. The very top line disappears each time a new line populates.

Individual roll-up captions generally require less load time. However, they have a tighter reading rate threshold when it comes to timing due because multiple sentences stay on screen for a longer period of time. One sentence will appear quickly but will stay on the screen longer than a pop-on caption would.

Who uses them?

Live programming uses roll-up style because of the time allowances and ability to quickly synchronize dialogue in real time.

Recorded programming can utilize roll-up captions, but the style is uncommon and outdated. Most producers and platforms prefer pop-on style for offline programming.

What do they look like?

Roll-up captions vary in fewer ways than pop-on style can, but usually share these qualities in live programming:

• Uppercase
• Two-line captions at top or bottom
• Left-justified
• Two chevrons differentiate speakers
• When speakers, show hosts, and announcers can be identified, chevrons will be followed by a first name and colon.
• Quotation marks utilized for film/show titles, segment titles, and works of art
• Sound effects and music descriptors indicated on their own lines, surrounded by brackets
• No italics used
• Line breaking of less concern
• Timing is slightly delayed and elastic due to a live captioner transcribing as they hear the content

Other considerations

Most recorded, or offline, programming uses pop-on captioning styles, but certain types of content may be in roll-up format. Soap operas are a great example of a type of recorded broadcast content that may utilize roll-up captions for comprehension reasons. In soaps, specific name IDs are used to assist the viewer in keeping track of the multiple characters and storylines and to fit the steady, yet dramatic pace of storytelling.

Paint-On Captions

What are they?

Paint-on captions populate on screen, letter by letter, from left to right. In essence, you see the caption being typed out or “painted on” as you read it. It happens very quickly, so it can be hard to notice this nuance unless an entire show is captioned in paint-on style.

Who uses them?

Paint-on captions are occasionally used for the opening caption of a recorded program to avoid the load-time requirements and slight delay that pop-on captions take to come on the screen.

What do they look like?

Paint-on captions are stylized in the same way as pop-on or roll-up captions, depending on the situation. 

Other considerations

Paint-on captions are considered nonstandard in the industry. However, some fast-paced programs, like reality shows, use paint-on captions for the top of their segments when speech begins quickly and producers wish to avoid a delay in the on-screen appearance of closed captions. Overall, it is not recommended to use paint-on style in live or prerecorded broadcasts.

Choosing live or recorded captioning doesn’t completely dictate which caption style you can use. Still, both usually stick to one style as its standard based on the technical limitations that each type of programming presents.

3Play Media’s experienced captioners usually recommend using roll-up style for live captioning and pop-on style for recorded captioning, making it easy for you to choose what’s right for your media. These different types of closed captioning give you the freedom to customize your media accessibility features and create a positive user experience for your viewers. 

This blog was originally published by Jena Wallace for Captionmax in February 2022 and has since been updated for comprehensiveness, clarity, and accuracy.

About the author

3Play Media

The post Closed Captioning Types: Learn the Difference Between Pop-On, Roll-Up, and Paint-On appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Audio Description

Human Voice Audio Description

3Play Media

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September 6, 2022

Beginner’s Guide to Audio Description [Free eBook]

Enriching your content with audio description is incredibly beneficial, as it allows the full meaning of your content to be understood by low-vision consumers. There are two approaches to the vocal aspects of audio description—synthesized voice and human voice– each of which may better suit certain types of projects and user needs. In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at the positives of human voice audio description.

Why would someone prefer to have human voice audio description over a synthesized voice? Here are three important reasons:

Emotion

One of the biggest advantages of the human voice is its ability to convey emotion. Having trained voice actors describing content can help the audience remain immersed in the moods and emotions of the content, and it can even enrich your media. In our Allied podcast interview discussing audio description, expert Dr. Joel Snyder highlights the richness of the human voice: “I still believe strongly that the human voice is far more capable, and will remain far more capable for the foreseeable future, of making the nuances and capturing the subtleties that are involved in making meaning with your voice.”

Context

With human voice audio description, a voice artist understands the context of the media and can modulate not just their tone, but can also adjust pacing, emphasis, and pronunciation to clarify certain key words and phrases. Comparatively, a synthesized voice will read a sentence the same way every time. In the interview mentioned above, Dr. Snyder also highlights how vocal skills are important in audio description, explaining that it is important for a voice actor to know “how to use [their] voice not to be in the movie, but to be of the movie.”

Creativity

Another benefit of human voice audio description is the amount of creativity it grants. Describing a piece of media is an artistic process, from writing the script to sourcing voice talent and mixing the files. Creativity and expression are at the heart of each piece of content. Our description writers work very hard to create descriptions that accurately portray what is happening on-screen while maintaining a consistent tone with the rest of the content. 

Showing emotion, incorporating context, and utilizing creativity are important benefits of human voice audio description, while also expanding your audience and making your media accessible. 

This blog was originally published by Brigid Ling and has since been updated for comprehensiveness, clarity, and accuracy.

About the author

3Play Media

The post Human Voice Audio Description appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Audio Description

Audio Description as a Form of Audiovisual Translation with Dr. Joel Snyder

3Play Media

•

July 6, 2022

Every month, we welcome a new guest to 3Play Media’s Allied Podcast. In June 2022, we met with Joel Snyder, Ph.D., known internationally as one of the world’s first audio describers.

Dr. Snyder is a pioneer in the field of audio description, a translation of visual images to vivid language for the primary benefit of people who are blind or have low vision. Since 1981, he has introduced audio description techniques in over 40 states and 64 countries and has made thousands of live events, media projects, and museums accessible. 

In 2014, the American Council of the Blind published Dr. Snyder’s book, The Visual Made Verbal – A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description. His Ph.D. is from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona with a focus on audiovisual translation/audio description. Dr. Snyder is the President of Audio Description Associates, LLC and serves as the Founder/Senior Consultant of the Audio Description Project of the American Council of the Blind.

In his episode “The What, How, and Why of Audio Description,” Dr. Snyder shared what audio description is, how it works, and why it matters for accessibility. Dr. Snyder focused on audio description as a form of audiovisual translation, which we’ll discuss below in more detail.

How does Audio Description Work?

In his episode, Dr. Snyder discussed how audio description can be delivered to audiences. Describers can perform audio description live (scripted), pre-recorded, or extemporaneously, meaning the describer doesn’t have a written-out description from which to read. For example, Dr. Snyder described President Barack Obama’s inaugurations extemporaneously. He shared with Elisa his experience of preparing for the extemporaneous description:

“Doing extemporaneous description does not mean doing it without preparation. Preparation is key,” Dr. Snyder said. “I worked closely with the White House. I wasn’t able to attend a rehearsal, if you will, or preview the inauguration. But I knew the order of events. I knew the names and the pronunciations of people that would be featured, and that gave me a good solid background.”

Additionally, Dr. Snyder discussed using synthesized speech or human describers for audio description, a controversial topic. Each has pros and cons, including cost, audience preference, media format, and ability to capture nuance and subtlety.

Audio Description as a Form of Audiovisual Translation

A central theme in Dr. Snyder’s episode was the concept of audio description as a form of audiovisual translation and the difference between how audio description is studied and viewed in the United States versus in other countries.

“Audio description… has become studied as an academic discipline as a form of audiovisual translation. It is a translation of visual images to words,” Dr. Snyder said. “So it’s been embraced by that academic community, the community of scholars and practitioners throughout the world who do subtitling, they do dubbing. And now, audio description is all a part of that field as well.”

While audio description is not about translating one language to another, it is a kind of localization similar to subtitling and dubbing. Media created in one language can be appreciated worldwide through localization, just like how people who are blind can enjoy media through audio description.

Dr. Snyder even shared that the American Translators Association recently created a new division for audiovisual translation. He has spoken at their conferences and will give a keynote presentation in the fall of 2022 on audiovisual translation as audio description.

Listen to the Allied episode below or read the transcript to learn more about audio description, audiovisual translation, and Dr. Snyder’s career as a professional describer.

About the author

3Play Media

The post Audio Description as a Form of Audiovisual Translation with Dr. Joel Snyder appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Captioning

How Drop and Non-Drop Frame Timecodes Affect Closed Captions

3Play Media

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November 4, 2021

If you’ve never heard of drop frame (DF) timecode or non-drop frame (NDF) timecode, that’s no problem. After reading this blog, you’ll have the knowledge you need to utilize DF and NDF for captions and to even teach others about it.

First, you should know that video is measured in invisible units called frames, and the frame rate is the rate at which a video plays back frames. If you are using an SMPTE-based timecoded caption format, then you may need to take into consideration specific frame rate settings. SMPTE-based captions are most commonly required for the digital distribution of broadcast media.

Let’s begin by explaining SMPTE timecodes in more detail.

Captioning Best Practices for Media & Entertainment

What Is SMPTE Timecode?

SMPTE timecode is a standard for labeling frames of video or film. The standard was developed and defined by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (hence the name SMPTE) and allowed for accurate editing, synchronization, and identification of media.

SMPTE timecode appears as hour:minute:second:frame (for example, one hour would be written as 01:00:00:00). The frame rate is derived directly from the data of the recorded medium; in other words, the frame rate is inherent to the media and can differ for film vs. digital, video vs. audio, and color vs. black and white.

Frame rate is important for SMPTE timecode because it dictates how many frames per second (fps) appear in the media. The final part of the SMPTE timecode reflects the frame number; this number can only go as high as the frame rate. For instance, if your frame rate is 29.97 fps, the timecode after hh:mm:01:29 would be hh:mm:02:00.

The following chart reflects the frame rate standards developed by SMPTE (as well as the European standards developed by the European Broadcasting Union, EBU):

Keep in mind that a faster frame rate during shooting will produce slower motion during playback.

 Learn about closed captioning for TV and film   

The Origins of Drop Frame Timecode

Initially, black and white video ran at 30 fps. When color video was introduced, the frame rate slowed to 29.97 fps to allow color television to run on black-and-white receivers. This created a disparity between real-time and video time, as a fraction of a frame cannot be produced in one second. This means that for every 100 seconds, there will be 2997 frames instead of 3000, creating a lag between video time and real time. For example, after 60 real-time minutes, a video playing at a frame rate of 29.97 fps will only read 00:59:56:12.

Drop frame (DF) timecode was introduced in an attempt to make 29.97 fps video indicate real-time to alleviate this disparity. DF does not actually remove any frames from your video; instead, it effectively drops a frame number every time the remaining .03 of a frame adds up to a full frame (once every 33.33 seconds).

In one hour, the difference between a 30 fps video and a 29.97 fps video is 108 frames. So, within that hour, DF video removes 108 frame numbers so that a 29.97 fps video will finish at 01:00 instead of 00:59:56:12. Two frame numbers are removed per minute, except every 10th minute, to make the video 108 frames shorter, allowing the video to end in real time.

Drop Frame vs. Non-Drop Frame Captions

Not all 29.97 fps video is drop frame. Some videos are non-drop frame (NDF), which means that the timecode does not account for the difference in video time vs. real time.

If you are captioning your video, it is important to know whether your video file is drop frame or non-drop frame so that your captions are accurately synced with the timing of the media. At the end of a real-time hour, a DF video will have run 01:00, while a NDF video will have run 00:59:56:12. If you caption a DF video with NDF captions, the captions will not be synced with the video and will get more and more out of sync as time goes on.

Another difference between DF and NDF is that NDF files are written with all colons (hh:mm:ss:ff) while DF files are written with either a semi-colon or a period between the seconds and frames (hh:mm:ss;ff or hh:mm:ss.ff).

How to Download Captions with the Correct Frame Rate Settings

For captioning, you must determine the frame rate of your video timeline. Next, you must determine whether your project’s timeline is DF or NDF so the timing of your captions matches the run time of your video. You should also note the starting timecode of your video file.

1. Log in to your 3Play Media account, select your file, and click Download. You will be prompted to select caption file formats. Caption formats with asterisks next to them are SMPTE-based caption formats that include timecode and frame rate options.
2. Click Next. If you have selected an SMPTE-based caption format, you will see the option to edit your SMPTE settings. Set the starting timecode of your file and select the appropriate frame rate from the Frame Settings dropdown.
3. Click Next and download your caption files! Piece of cake.

This post was originally published by Lily Bond on October 21, 2014, and has since been updated.

About the author

3Play Media

The post How Drop and Non-Drop Frame Timecodes Affect Closed Captions appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Accessibility

U.S. Laws for Video Accessibility: ADA, Section 508, CVAA, and FCC Mandates

3Play Media

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October 29, 2021

Are you breaking video accessibility laws and don’t even know it?

If you produce or distribute videos in the United States, your content may be subject to federal regulations regarding accessibility for people who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing. Accessibility laws are adapting to the digital age, so it’s important to be aware of legal standards and how they apply to your business.

Learn how the ADA impacts video accessibility

Here’s a quick overview of the most important U.S. laws affecting video accessibility:

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Passed in 1990, the ADA set landmark accessibility requirements that impact both private and public entities. Just as the ADA requires physical access to buildings, the law also demands that “auxiliary aids” be made available to anyone with a disability. While the ADA does not explicitly mention online video, captions and audio description are examples of auxiliary aids that can help make videos accessible.

Closed captioning or video transcriptions are required for:

• “Public entities,” including state and local governments, in both internal and external video communication.
• “Places of public accommodations,” which are public or private businesses used by the public at large. Private clubs and religious organizations are exempt.

While the ADA doesn’t specifically address online video, numerous lawsuits have set legal precedent for video accessibility. For example, the 2012 lawsuit National Association of the Deaf v. Netflix categorized Netflix, a purely virtual business, as a “place of public accommodation” and therefore required video captioning.

Although most video accessibility lawsuits concern captioning, the ADA also requires audio description in certain instances. Settlement agreements between the American Council of the Blind (ACB) and Netflix and ACB and Hulu set legal precedent for streaming services to provide audio description.

The ADA is long overdue for revision to explicitly define a place of public accommodation in the context of the Internet. However, until then, the consensus is that any website or online business that fits into one of the 12 categories of public accommodation is subject to ADA regulations.

 Learn how the ADA impacts video accessibility   

Rehabilitation Act (Sections 508 & 504)

Enacted in 1973, the Rehabilitation Act originally addressed disability discrimination for federal entities or organizations receiving federal funding. Two amendments, Sections 504 and 508, broadened the act’s application to online video content.

Section 504 makes accessibility for disabled individuals a civil right. Failure to accommodate individuals with disabilities can result in a discrimination lawsuit, which applies to both federal agencies and any entity that receives federal funding.

Section 508 mandates accessibility for electronic media or IT in federal programs or services. While this section doesn’t explicitly extend beyond federal agencies, many states passed laws called “mini 508 laws” that extend the section’s reach to organizations that receive federal funding. This includes many colleges, universities, arts and culture institutions, and research facilities. Further, the Assistive Technology Act will not provide funding to states unless they guarantee that all programs, including colleges and universities, comply with Section 508.

Section 508 also requires compliance with WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA success criteria. This means that pre-recorded video must have captions and audio description, and live video must be live captioned.

21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA)

The CVAA requires closed captioning for online video content that was originally broadcast on TV with captions. The CVAA does not cover video content that is aired only online and never on television.

The CVAA mostly affects TV broadcast media companies. If your video content never airs on TV, this law doesn’t apply to you.

The CVAA also requires any clips, montages, or compilations to be captioned when published online.

 Discover which lawsuits support video accessibility   

FCC Mandates for Closed Captioning of Online Video

Numerous FCC mandates for online video programming were passed in 2014 to increase closed captioning rules for IP-delivered content. Like the CVAA, FCC rulings apply to online video that previously appeared on television. Here are the most prominent updates to FCC rules for online video:

Quality Standards

The FCC has clarified quality standards for television captioning, which set the precedent for online video captioning as a whole.

• Accuracy: Captions must relay the speaker’s exact words with correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar with 99% accuracy and no paraphrasing. Captions must honor the original tone and intent of the speaker. Captions must match background noises and other sounds to the fullest extent possible.
• Time Synchronization: Captions must align with their corresponding spoken words and sounds to the greatest extent possible. Captions must not proceed too quickly for the viewer to read.
• Program Completeness: Captions must be included from the beginning to the end of the program to the fullest extent possible.
• Placement: Captions must be positioned on the screen without blocking important content. Font size should be reasonably legible.

User Control

The FCC mandates new user control requirements for consuming online video which previously aired with captions on television. This involves an application or plug-in to video players that allow the viewer to select font type, size, color, opacity, and edge style for their caption display.

Conclusion

If your organization is affected by the ADA, Rehabilitation Act, CVAA, or FCC rulings, you will need closed captioning and audio description on your online video or else risk fines and lawsuits.

This blog post was originally published by Emily Griffin and has since been updated.

This blog post is written for educational and general information purposes only and does not constitute specific legal advice. This blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

About the author

3Play Media

The post U.S. Laws for Video Accessibility: ADA, Section 508, CVAA, and FCC Mandates appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Captioning

Transcribing Audio Content: Resources and How-To

3Play Media

•

August 11, 2021

Free Ebook: Discover the Benefits of Transcribing Online Video

If you want to transcribe audio content, then you’ve come to the right place. Whether you choose to use a third-party transcription service or DIY (do it yourself), it’s important to weigh the pros and cons and choose which option works best for you.

There are many benefits of transcribing audio to text:

Additionally, many businesses and organizations are legally required to create transcripts for their content based on the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. WCAG 2.0 is a set of guidelines put in place by the World Wide Web Consortium to make digital content more accessible for users, including those with disabilities. WCAG 2.0 has three levels of compliance: Level A, AA, and AAA. Section 508 was revised to comply with WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA. According to the lowest level, Level A, transcripts are recommended for audio-only content.

We’ll provide the different resources you’ll need to transcribe from an audio file and help you determine the most viable choice based on your budget, time, and particular needs. Good luck, and happy transcribing!

DIY Transcription

Manually transcribing audio can be a daunting task, especially when you have longer forms of content. It usually takes 5-6 times the actual time of the content. Luckily, there are many free and low-cost tools available to simplify the process. Before you begin transcribing, make sure you capture clear and loud audio. This will help to reduce red flags and inaudible sounds in your transcript.

YouTube

If you host your audio content on YouTube, you can utilize the free automatic video transcript tool. This tool automatically transcribes audio into text, but keep in mind that it comes with a lot of errors. Transcripts produced by YouTube’s tool are too inaccurate to be used on their own. Therefore, it’s highly recommended to clean them up since they can hurt your video accessibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERP).

Here’s how to leverage YouTube’s automatic video transcript:

1. From the video manager, select your video and click Edit > Subtitles and CC. Select Add Subtitles or CC and choose your language.
2. Select Transcribe and Set Timings, and type the transcript in the space provided. YouTube will automatically pause the video as you type so you can transcribe more quickly and accurately.
3. Once you are satisfied, select Set Timings. This will sync your transcript with the video.

Similarly, you can create a transcript beforehand and upload it to YouTube:

1. First, create a transcript with YouTube’s recommendations for formatting.
2. Go to the Video Manager in YouTube and click Edit > Subtitles and CC. Select Add Subtitles or CC and choose your language.
3. Choose Upload a File, select Transcript, and choose your .txt file for upload.
4. Once your transcript has uploaded, click Set Timings to sync your transcript with the video and create closed captions.

You can also download the transcript file later with timings as a caption file:

1. Go to the video from which you would like to download the transcript. Click on the More Actions button (3 horizontal dots). Hint: it’s located next to the share button.
2. Select the Transcript option.
3. A transcript of the closed captions with the time codes will automatically generate.

 Learn about the benefits of transcribing and captioning online video  

ASR Software

Automatic Speech Recognition, otherwise known as ASR, is a technology that picks up human speech and converts it into text. You can upload your media to ASR software, and it will automatically transcribe audio into text. This method still comes with many errors, but it’s much easier and faster to clean up an inaccurate transcript than to start from scratch.

There are many options for transcription software that are free or available for a small cost, such as Express Scribe, EureScribe, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Google Docs

Google offers an awesome feature that allows you to turn Docs into free transcription software. If you don’t have a Gmail account, you can sign up for one free of charge. If you have an existing account, you already have access to a feature called Google Docs; Google Docs is a word processing tool that allows you to create text documents in your web browser. Using voice typing, Google voice transcription can create text transcripts from audio. Like many of the other manual transcription tools, there will be errors, so make sure to clean it up before using it.

Follow these steps to create your transcript:

1. Using any browser of your choice, go to the Google Docs website and Start a New Document.
2. Click on Tools and select Voice Typing. It will enable voice recognition.
3. Click the Microphone icon on the left to activate Voice Typing. Google will transcribe anything being said to the word document.

iOS/Android

Another way to transcribe audio content is by using your smartphone. Similar to Google Docs, the microphone will pick up on audio and transcribe it into text. Transcribing on your smartphone tends to work a little better than Google Docs since the microphone on your phone picks up less background noise; however, it still doesn’t compare to a high-quality microphone. Recording on your smartphone won’t ensure a high accuracy rate, so you will have to clean up the final transcript.

Here are step-by-step instructions for how to transcribe audio into text with your smartphone:

1. Open up a word-processing app on your smartphone.
2. On the keyboard of your smartphone, select the Microphone button, and it will start recording.
3. Hold your phone near your computer or other device and Playback the Video. Your phone will automatically turn the audio into text.

Transcription Services

Another option to transcribe audio content to text is to use a third-party transcription service. If you’re looking for high-quality, accurate transcripts, this is definitely the way to go!

3Play Media offers a 3-step transcription process that uses both technology and human transcriptionists, ensuring a 99.6% accuracy rate. When the audio file consists of difficult content, has background noise, or contains accents, the accuracy rate decreases. ASR typically provides 60-70% accuracy, so the use of human transcriptionists distinguishes 3Play from other transcription options.

Our patented technology uses ASR to automatically produce a rough transcript, which is useful for creating accurate timings even if the words and grammar are incorrect. Using proprietary software, our transcriptionists go through and edit the transcript. All of our transcriptionists undergo a rigorous certification process and have a strong grasp of English grammar, which is important for understanding all the nuances of your content. After the editing process, your file goes through a final review called quality assurance. Your file is reviewed by our top editors, who ensure your transcript is virtually flawless.

One feature we also offer is the 3Play Interactive Transcript. This feature allows users to interact with your video by searching the video, navigating by clicking any word, and reading along with the audio. Interactive transcripts make your content more accessible and improve the user experience.

 Boost your online video with transcripts and captions  

Transcription Best Practices

Now that you have a better understanding of manual transcription versus a transcription service, you can make an informed decision. No matter which option you choose, it’s important to know how to make the most out of your transcripts.

• Grammar and Punctuation: Ensure there are no errors in your transcript so that it is easy to read.
• Speaker Identification:  Use speaker labels to identify who is speaking, especially when there are multiple speakers.
• Non-Speech Sounds:  Communicate non-speech sounds in transcripts. These are typically denoted with [square brackets].
• Verbatim:  Transcribe content as close to verbatim as possible. Leave out filler words such as “um” or “like” unless they’re intentionally included in the audio.

Want to learn more?

This post was originally published by Samantha Sauld on August 30, 2018, and has since been updated.

About the author

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The post Transcribing Audio Content: Resources and How-To appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Captioning

Transcribing Oral Histories with 3Play Media

3Play Media

•

July 27, 2021

History can be told in many ways, but one of the most impactful methods is through oral history.

Oral history is a technique for preserving historical information through recorded interviews. In a typical oral history, an interviewer questions an interviewee and records their exchange in audio or video format to collect memories and personal commentaries of historical significance. Oral histories are often found in libraries or archives and may be used for research, exhibitions, documentaries, or publications.

At 3Play Media, we understand the important role oral histories play in documenting the past. Captioning oral histories accurately is critical to preserving and sharing firsthand recollections of some of history’s most significant times, such as the Holocaust and other genocides. We are proud to work with multiple oral history projects, including Yale’s Fortunoff Video Archive and MIT’s Infinite History, to provide captions and transcripts for their crucial work.

Discover the 3Play Plugin

Why are oral histories so important?

While written and recorded histories are an important part of historical documentation, these records can limit whose story gets told.

For example, writers can often inadvertently emphasize their interpretations rather than their subjects’ voices. In addition, passing down written or recorded histories to new generations requires access to documentation tools, such as cameras, recording equipment, and books, and the ability to read and write. 

Through oral history, subjects have a voice of their own. Interviewees can share interpretations and memories in their words, fill in gaps in documented history, and provide a fuller picture of the past. In some instances, an oral history may be the only source available about a particular topic, making its preservation that much more essential.

Read on to learn more about some of the oral history projects working with us to caption their testimonials with the highest possible accuracy.

 Make video playlists interactive and searchable with the 3Play Plugin 

Yale’s Fortunoff Video Archive

Yale’s Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies holds over 4,400 oral histories, comprised of over 12,000 recorded hours, of individuals with firsthand experience of the Nazi persecutions.

The Fortunoff Video Archive began in 1979, when the Holocaust Survivors Film Project started videotaping Holocaust survivors and witnesses. The original collection of testimonies was then donated to Yale University, and the Video Archive opened to the public in the early 1980s. Since then, the Fortunoff Archive has recorded, collected, and preserved thousands of testimonies and made its collection available to researchers, educators, and the general public.

Although the number of Holocaust survivors still alive today is disputed, all are elderly, and there are fewer and fewer with each passing year. Without oral histories to document their memories and lived experiences, we would not have firsthand recordings documenting one of the most horrific events in history. Oral histories help honor survivors’ lives and the brutalities they endured and helps listeners have a more nuanced appreciation of history and genocide.

To make their oral histories accessible for all viewers, The Fortunoff Video Archive provides closed and open captions on their videos. Accurate captions are critical to historical preservation, and we are proud to work with the Fortunoff Video Archive to help honor survivors’ and witnessess’ stories as they have told them.

MIT’s Infinite History

MIT’s Infinite History project is a video archive of interviews with alumnae, historical footage from MIT Museums, and recordings of lectures, speeches, and events.

The videos available on MIT’s Infinite History website are fully interactive and searchable through the 3Play Plugin. Viewers can browse collections, search for individual videos, or explore content using the transcript search feature, which enables them to jump to the spot in a video where a keyword appears. Viewers can also follow along with the video via a transcript, adding value to MIT’s videos and improving the user experience.

Transcribing oral histories

Without accurate captions, oral histories would not only be inaccessible for the over 430 million people with disabling hearing loss, but they would also be an inaccurate representation of interviewees’ memories. We’re proud to use captioning and transcription to help make oral histories accessible, searchable, and preservable for future generations.

Learn more about making videos interactive and accessible with the 3Play Plugin.

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The post Transcribing Oral Histories with 3Play Media appeared first on 3Play Media.

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WebVTT Captions: How to Create a Web Video Text Track File

3Play Media

•

June 9, 2021

Create your own WebVTT Files [Free Guide]

A “Web Video Text Track” file, also known as WebVTT (.vtt), is a popular subtitle and caption file format. WebVTT was created in 2010 by the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) to support text tracks in HTML5.

WebVTT was broadly based on the SupRip format, another popular caption format, and was even called WebSRT with the same .srt file extension. Later, it was renamed WebVTT and introduced with the tag for HTML5.

What are the components of a WebVTT file?

A WebVTT file has two requirements and many optional components.

The two requirements are:

• WEBVTT at the beginning of the transcript.
• A blank line in between each caption frame to indicate the end of a sequence.

The optional components are:

• A byte order mark (BOM) telling the reader the file is encoded with UTF-8. An example of a BOM could be EF BB BF.
• A header to the right of the WEBVTT. There must be a single space between and must not include a newline or “– –>”. You can use this to describe the file.
• Comments: indicated by NOTE and on separate lines.
• A sequence number to help keep captions organized.
• Positioning information on the same line after the second timecode.

All sequences begin with a timecode. The time format used is minutes:seconds.milliseconds or hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds, with the milliseconds rounded to 3 decimal places. A two-hash arrow separates each timestamp (“– –>”).

You can use a hyphen to indicate the start of a caption, such as:

Keep in mind that you do not want to have blank lines within a caption sequence. A blank line indicates the end of a sequence and should only be used to separate the captions in different timecodes.

Comments can be added, and the end-user will not see them. You can use comments to describe a file or keep reminders within the file. Comments must start with NOTE, followed by a space or a new line. Similar to a sequence, you cannot have a blank line between a single comment. You can include as many characters as you need within a comment.

Comments can look like this:

Cue settings indicate the positioning of the caption. These are added after the second timecode with a space in between. You can use cue settings to indicate where the captions will be placed and positioned. You can also indicate the width of the text area and alignment of the text. You can also use cue settings to make the text bold, italic, or underlined.

Here is an example:

Track tags are used to specify time text tracks. You can define the type of track with a “kind” attribution. There are five kinds: subtitles, captions, descriptions, chapters, and metadata. By default, a < track > tag will be a subtitle unless defined otherwise.

Create your own WebVTT Files with our free guide

Why should I use a WebVTT file?

WebVTT is a popular captioning format. The benefit of using WebVTT is that you can add additional information such as frame placement, styling, and comments.

WebVTT is also the format choice for HTML5 video.

Some of the most common platforms that use WebVTT are:

• Vimeo
• Brightcove
• JW Player
• Video.js
• YouTube

How to create your own WebVTT file

You can either create a WebVTT file yourself or hire a professional captioning company. With a professional service, you can avoid having to figure out timecodes or worry about positioning. If time is a constraint, a professional vendor is a great option.

If you decide to make captions yourself, follow the steps below to create your own WebVTT file from scratch. The instructions are slightly different depending on the operating system you use (Mac or Windows PC).

For Mac users:

1. Open a new file in TextEdit.
2. First, type “WEBVTT” to indicate this is a .vtt file, then press enter twice to leave a blank line. Note: You can include a title or comment before your caption sequence. If you decide to include a comment, either do it on the same line as “WEBVTT” or press enter and start a new NOTE. Enter the beginning and end timecode using the following format:hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds –> hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds
3. If you choose to add a sequence indicator, such as a “1,” do so on a separate line above the timecodes. Then press “enter.” Note: To add cue settings, put a space between the second timecode and add position, size, alignment, etc.
4. In the next line, begin your captions. Try to keep a 32-character limit with 2 lines per caption so that the viewer doesn’t have to read too much and the caption doesn’t take up too much screen space. Also, make sure your captions are compliant with captioning guidelines.*
5. After the last text line in the sequence, press “enter” twice. Make sure to leave a blank line to indicate a new caption sequence. Here are two examples of the same WebVTT file. You can see how to use comments, sequence numbers, and cue settings.
6. Repeat the steps until you have a completed transcript.
7. To save your file as a .vtt, go to Format → Make Plain Text or use the keyboard shortcut: Shift + Command + T.
8. Next, go to File → Save.
9. Under “Save As,” type the name of your file but switch “.txt” to “.vtt”
10. Uncheck both “Hide Extension” on the bottom left-hand side of the menu. “If no extension is provided,” use “.txt”
11. Then hit save.
12. Congratulations! You are now ready to upload your captions.

For Windows users:

1. Open a new file on Notepad.
2. First, type “WEBVTT” to indicate this is a .vtt file, then press enter twice to leave a blank line. Note: You can include a title or comment before your caption sequence. If you decide to include a comment, either do it on the same line as “WEBVTT” or press enter and start a new NOTE.
3. Enter the beginning and end timecode using the following format:hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds – –>hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds
4. If you choose to add a sequence indicator, such as a “1,” do so on a separate line above the timecodes. Then press “enter.” Note: To add cue settings, put a space between the second timecode and add position, size, alignment, etc.
5. In the next line, begin your captions. Try to keep a 32-character limit with 2 lines per caption so the viewer doesn’t have to read too much and the caption doesn’t take up too much screen space. Also, make sure your captions are compliant with captioning guidelines.*
6. After the last text line in the sequence, press “enter” twice. Make sure to leave a blank line to indicate a new caption sequence.
7. Here are two examples of the same WebVTT file. You can see how comments, sequence numbers, and cue settings are used.
8. Repeat the steps until you have a completed transcript.
9. To save, go to File → Save.
10. Under “File Name,” type the name of your transcript using “.vtt” at the end.
11. Under “Save as type:” select “All Files.”
12. Then hit save.
13. Congratulations! You are now ready to upload your captions.

*For more information on legal requirements and closed captioning guidelines, refer to our white papers:

Create your own WebVTT Files [Free Guide]

How to upload your WebVTT file

Depending on the media player, lecture capture software, or video recording software you use, the process to upload your WebVTT file will be different. Use the following 3Play Media guides to learn how to upload your caption file.

• Vimeo
• Brightcove
• JW Player
• Video.js
• YouTube

The downside of creating your own WebVTT files

If you want to create your own captions, making a WebVTT file from scratch is an easy and free option. The only downfall is that you have to create your own timecodes and any other style elements, making DIY captioning a time-consuming process.

How long it will take to caption a video depends on the length of your video, your captioning experience, and the quality of the video. Typically, if you are an experienced transcriptionist, a five-minute video can take 5 to 10 times the length of the video, or 25-50 minutes. If you create your own timecodes and cue settings through a WeBVTT file, this may take longer.

Don’t let the time it takes to create captions keep you from adding captions to your videos. There are numerous benefits to captioning your videos, such as improving your SEO and opening up your content to new audiences, from viewers who are deaf/hard of hearing, to viewers who know English as a second language, to viewers who enjoy using captions.

Though many people choose to create their own captions to save money, if you are captioning many videos or your videos are long, consider hiring a captioning service. With a captioning service, you do not need to worry about timecodes or making sure your captions are compliant. A good captioning service will take care of all the logistics within a reasonable amount of time and offer a 99% accuracy rate or higher.

Before choosing a vendor, make sure you research who will caption your videos and the company’s captioning and transcription process to understand their rates.

This article was originally published on June 30, 2017, by Sofia Enamorado and has since been updated.

About the author

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The post WebVTT Captions: How to Create a Web Video Text Track File appeared first on 3Play Media.