Captions

Captions are required for all videos posted online, used in courses and shared on social media.

Panopto at UB

Learn about Adding Captions to Videos in Panopto on the UBIT website.

What are captions?

Captions are the text representation of words and other important audio information included in a video.

Why are captions important?

Captions are critical for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. They can also provide a better experience for a viewer with a learning disability, an attention deficit, a cognitive disability, autism or a language barrier.

Captions are also helpful if:

  • you're in a noisy environment
  • a video has poor audio quality
  • a video is in a different language
  • a speaker is talking too fast
  • a speaker has an accent
  • you're trying not to disturb people around you

Captioning best practices

The best rule of thumb is to caption everything that holds value for someone with full access to the soundtrack; this sometimes includes a lack of sound.

Captions must be: 

  • synchronized and appear at approximately the same time as the audio is delivered.
  • equivalent and equal in content to that of the audio, including speaker identification, sound effects and music cues.
  • displayed with enough time to be read completely.
  • clearly displayed and not obscured by (nor do they obscure) the visual content.
  • accessible and readily available to those who need or want them.
Captions for learning

 surveyed 2,124 students from 15 different colleges and universities and found that:

  • 98.6% of students find captions helpful.
  • 71% of students without hearing difficulties use captions at least some of the time.
  • 66% of ESL students find captions "very" or "extremely" helpful.
  • 75% of students that use captions said they use them as a learning aid.
  • 52% of students that use captions said captions help as a learning aid by improving comprehension.
  • The most common reason students use captions is to help them focus.
  • The most common reason students use transcripts is as study guides.

The basics

  • Match the timing of the video's audio while staying up long enough to be read.
  • Use proper grammar to help convey meaning.
  • Do not exceed 30 characters per line.
  • Do not have more than two lines on the screen at a time.
  • Use a sans serif font like Helvetica or Arial.
  • Make sure the captions are a readable font size and weight. Keep the size of your text uniform throughout the video.
  • Do not put captions in ALL CAPS. Use normal sentence case.
  • Position captions clearly on the screen where a viewer can find them (preferably centered near the bottom of the screen when possible).
  • Place a block background behind the text to improve readability (similar to YouTube captions - white text on a semi-transparent black background).
  • Stick to black and white for the color scheme of your captions.

Identifying moments to caption in a video

The following moments must be included in your captions:

  • Important sounds: scenes with multiple sounds (e.g., a conversation in public place) can be chaotic. Caption the most prominent sound or the sound that offers the most value.
  • Speaker dialogue must always be captioned.
    • Identify speakers and tones when they cannot be inferred.
    • Include verbal/oral bridges (e.g., “um” and “uh”) unless they hold no value (i.e., during a live speech).
  • Sound effects almost always need to be captioned. An exception would be a sound repeated at regular intervals (e.g., footsteps) especially when the sounds can be inferred (i.e., the feet can be seen walking), and other sounds take precedent.
  • Music and background noise that builds mood or a tone always needs to be captioned.
  • Lack of sound/silence can be just as valuable as sound. Identify moments when the sound cuts or fades out. Identify moments when speakers are not heard (i.e. a character is moving their lips without speaking).
  • Muffled/distorted sounds need to be identified. 

What to write in captions

The hardest part about captioning is deciding what to write. Except for dialogue, the sounds of a video can be hard to describe effectively. The following list gives you tips on what to write when creating captions:

  • General rule: Caption all sound effects in brackets [ ] to separate them from dialogue.
  • Dialogue: Write exactly what the speakers say.
    • Use italics or write “off-screen”/“VO” (for Voice Over) when the speaker cannot be seen.
    • Identify speakers by name or role (e.g. Man #1) when it is not visually clear who is speaking.
    • Identify hard to hear dialogue as “unintelligible.”
    • See more .
  • Sound effects: Name the object making the sound (e.g. “[engine revving]” or “[clock ticking]”) as it is what makes the sound that usually creates meaning to those with access to the soundtrack.
    • Avoid using descriptive onomatopoeias as they can be subjective or valueless
    • See more .
  • Music: Name the song and artist or the instrument and identify with music notes (keyboard shortcut varies by program). If either is unclear, do your best to describe the tone/mood of the music (e.g. “somber music” or “eerie music”).
  • Background noise: Identify the noise (e.g. “[crowd cheering]” or “[birds chirping]”).
  • Lack of sound: Depending on the context, it may be appropriate to establish that a sound stopped (e.g. “[clapping stops]”) or to simply identify the sudden silence (e.g. “[silence]”)
    • A combination of both may be best.
    • Always identify when a sound fades away slowly.
    • Write “[mouths words]” or “[inaudible]” if a character is moving their lips without speaking.
  • Muffled/distorted sound: Identify the type of distortion (e.g. “[muffled]” “[echoing]”). Identify when it fades or ends; you can also identify that the sound is “normal.”

Remember, if it holds value for someone with access to the full soundtrack, you need to caption it.

Adapted from the Metropolitan State University of Denver Center for Teaching, Learning and Design.