Captions?

Written By Jonathan .

Captions – what are they, and why should you care? Let’s start with the first part of that question.

In order to understand what captions are, I’ll need to run through some definitions. I know - it sounds fun - but it’s a necessary evil.

  • Captions: Generally speaking, it’s the text used to describe video and/or sound. Captions are designed to be synchronized with whatever is being listened to or viewed in-the-moment. So, in theory, you shouldn’t be able to see captions for the end of a podcast … until you are actually at the end of the podcast.

There are also a few varieties of captions to consider.

  • Open Captions: The descriptive text is always “on” and cannot be turned off. Social media posts often use this option.

  • Closed Captions: The descriptive text can be turned “on” and “off.”

  • Live Captions (aka Real-Time Captions): This one is a bit of a hybrid. The name pretty much sums up what is happening. Regardless of the third-party software or application being used for live captions, you usually need to turn “on” this option, and it may or may not stay on after you finish using it. Because the live captions are being generated in real-time, they may be a little more prone to error. This defers from closed captions, which are usually created and applied after everything was originally recorded.

Just in case there are few of you who are like me, and are currently overthinking things and wondering, “Well, then what’s the difference between captions and subtitles?”

  • Subtitles: This text assumes the audience can hear the audio, but still needs the dialogue and other related text too. Think back to a time when you may have watched a film or anime that wasn’t presented in your native language. You could hear things, but you just couldn’t understand the content without the subtitles. For captions, the text assumes the audience cannot hear the audio and needs a text description of what they would normally be hearing.

“Captions help make your content more accessible ...”

“Then what’s the difference between captions and transcripts?”

Fair point … transcripts are a written version of the entire audio/video experience. They read more like a book - or dare I say … a script - at the convenience of whomever is reading them. If they’re fancy, transcripts may also have time stamps for each line or certain sections to help you find bits of info faster or reference things more accurately.

Whew! That’s some of the informal definitions. Now for the second part.

Why should you care about all of this? To be frank, sometimes captions are required by law. So, you may need to do some research into what is mandatory for your specific circumstance. Laws will vary by state, country, territory, and so on.

For example, in the United States, there are regulatory agencies such as the Federal Communications Commision (FCC) which “regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.” I realize podcasts don’t fall under FCC regulation at this time, but hopefully you get the point. Laws or organizations that govern how my digital content is consumed may not only be determined by WHERE I live, but also HOW I distribute things. Also – this is a good time to mention I’m not a lawyer … and I’m not giving you legal advice with this info. Moving on …

In a perfect world, you’re considering captions because you’re trying to be more helpful to people with hearing disabilities, or even people who don’t fluently speak your native language.

Captions help make your content more accessible to more people. Period.

At the end of this post is a copy of the caption resources I normally include in the show notes of my own podcasts. There are a few different articles linked in the bullet points, so people can choose what resource is best for their needs. Feel free to copy/paste the “Caption Resources” below for your own show notes.

If you do decide to use the resources below for your own content, don’t forget to occasionally check-in on the links to see if things are still current and functional. As time goes on, you may need to update the sources or find a new one. I’ll do my best to ensure the info stays accurate for this blog post - but remember - at the end of the day, you are responsible for the info you place into your own podcast or similar content! This is my long-winded way of saying that if I forget to update a link 20 years from now, and you copy/paste that stuff without checking the links - that’s on you!

This is starting to remind me of a prior blog post I did on reading the fine print - aka terms of service, EULA, and other legal shenanigans. You can find that post here.

Here it is - the good stuff. Enjoy!

Caption Resources:

Jonathan .
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