What is Captioning?
Captioning is the two-part conversion of audio content into text displayed synchronously with the audiovisual media. This includes any spoken language and any additional or interpretive auditory information.
The first part of the captioning process is transcription. Transcription is the process of converting audio into text and creating a transcript.
The second part of the captioning process is synchronizing the text with the audio. This part is typically only done with audiovisual content. For audio-only media, such as radio broadcasts and podcasts, a transcript is standard.
Please note that the use of automatic captions is insufficient as a form of accommodation.
Why use Captioning?
Captions are a great technique to keep your audience engaged and to avoid miscommunication. People use captions for a variety of reasons such as:
- Accessibility for audience members who are d/Deaf, hard of hearing, and multilingual
- Watching video in sound sensitive environments
- Supporting additional comprehension
- Improving search engine hits
What can I do?
Captioning can be a time-consuming task and not everyone has the time to caption for themselves. Below is a list of ways to incorporate captioned media into your work sorted by time commitment.
- Less time commitment:
- Search for and use media that is already captioned.
- Turn those captions on when showing media in class.
- Provide transcripts alongside of podcasts and other audio-only media.
- Medium time commitment:
- Use a Captioning Vendor to caption the selected media.
- Most time commitment:
- Learn how to caption for yourself.
