Definition of Caption

Text version of the audio content within a video, synchronized with the action on screen.

Did you know?

The 1st Captioned TV Program is The French Chef hosted by Julia Child in 1972. These were Open Captions.

Source: HISTORY OF CLOSED CAPTIONS: THE ANALOG ERA

Types of Captions

Comparison of the features of closed captions, open captions, and subtitles
Features	(CC) Closed captions	(OC) Open captions	Subtitles
Can users turn it on and off?	On/Off	On	On/Off
Language	same language as the original media	same language as the original media	a translation of the original media’s language into another language
Accessible to Screen Readers?	Can be	No	Can be

Did you know?

Young people (aged 18-25) are more likely to watch TV shows with subtitles.

Source: Young viewers prefer TV subtitles, research suggests

Standard Guidelines

(The video presentation below used machine-generated auto-captioning in VoiceThread.)

Transcript

Here are some guidelines on how to make good captions or what does a good caption look like?
First, a good caption should be 99% accurate.
Second, good caption should be available as soon as the video is available to any students.
Third, captions should be high-contrast or on a background to make them visible.
Fourth, captions usually should be added to the bottom of the screen. But the placement should be adjusted to make sure they do not cover important content on the screen.
Fifth, you should use correct punctuation in captions. And we will get into more details for each guideline in the following slides.

Accurate video captioning is both the right thing to do and a legal obligation. The resolutions of lawsuits filed by the National Association of the Deaf against Harvard University and against M.I.T. imply legal precedent requiring greater than 99% transcription accuracy. While 100% accuracy may not always be achievable, these high-profile actions suggest courts will expect captions to be at least 99.9% accurate. Forcing students to sift through incomplete and incorrect course content denies them information they’ve paid to receive. For this reason alone, video content should be accurately captioned.

Captions should be high contrast or on a background to make them visible. Here is a good example of captions being placed in a dark background to make it more visible.

Captions usually should be added to the bottom of the screen (But the placement can be adjusted to make sure they do not cover important content on the screen.) Now, you could see a bad example, the caption is covering important information that’s presented visually.

And here is a good example of proper placement of captions. As you could see in the middle image, the caption placement is moved in order not to cover the important information that’s presented visually.

Here are some examples on how to use correct punctuation in captions.
First, use hyphen between letters to show stutter or spelling.
Second, use Oxford comma, always adding a comma in lists of three or more items.
Third, Use Ellipse for a long pause.
Fourth, only use quotation mark for quoting from an outside source.
Fifth, always identify a new speaker.
Sixth, use square brackets to indicate relevant ambient sound or emotional tone.