If you’re making video content, you should include closed captioning in it. By having captions, you’re not only ensuring that everyone can watch your video, but you’re also showing that you’re an accessible business and always thinking about your audience.
Though it is time-consuming, the good news is that you can outsource this work to any reputed agency like SPG Studios. With professional help, adding closed captions to your videos can be a game-changer!
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What Is Closed Captioning?
Closed captioning is a textual version of an audio recording in a media file. They have traditionally been used to make videos even more reachable to the deaf and hearing impaired.
Captions are often relevant for audiences who watch videos on mute whether they are traveling on mass transport, don’t want others to listen to what they are viewing, or have sleeping kids nearby. It also consists of non-speech elements.
Open Vs. Closed Captions
The key difference between closed and open captions is how much user access you have. Open captions are typically burnt into the video, so you don’t have the choice, as a user, to turn it on or off. On the other hand, closed captions are typically applied to the video in a sidecar file.
When you request an encoding file, you choose to close or open it. Generally, you use closed captions in online videos. Open captions are burned on the film because it does not matter whether you release the video online or offline, so you cannot turn it off.
Why Are Closed Captions Important?
If you have not taken the time to develop clear captions, consider any content you produce that will put those that are deaf or hard of hearing at a disadvantage: videos posted on social networking, video sharing sites, even something you upload on your website will risk losing substantial viewership. Not only is this incredibly annoying for audiences, but the ROI you will see on your content production could be reduced.
For a fair degree of accuracy, some sites ask you to submit your closed subtitles in an SRT (SubRip Subtitle) format, determining exactly when and for how long these subtitles appear in your video. After uploading the video, experts at platforms like SPG Studios can modify the SRT file to enable users to turn it on or off from the sidecar file.
Here are a few advantages of using closed captions in your videos.
Accessibility
According to the WHO, over 5% of the world’s population (466 million people) suffers from the disabling hearing loss (covering approx. 432 million adults and 34 million children). If there are no subtitles in a video, a significant part of the population will not see it in its entirety. Therefore, adding subtitles helps reach a lot more people. But it is essential to be inclusive and reach, but there is also legislation that you must comply with.
What Do People Prefer?
According to a study, 69% of people prefer to watch videos without sound in public, and 25% prefer to do so privately. Furthermore, 80% of these people prefer a video with subtitles.
Better Understanding of the Video
Since users understand it better, they prefer to watch a video with a closed caption. Not everyone learns the same; many have to see and hear things. By adding subtitles, you guarantee that everybody gets the meaning correctly, regardless of how they learn.
Not Everyone Speaks Your Language
It is essential to communicate to customers in their language; you have learned in this article how necessary it is to connect with people. With about 7,000 languages across the world, Translating subtitles would allow everyone to reach many more customers. You ought to be sure where the customers are and what languages they speak to get a video in many languages with separate subtitles, much better.
Captions Improve Video SEO
The most important thing is to deliver premium content to the consumers that offer them information and value. Even so, you also want to have a good result on search engine pages. If you reach more people and your videos are watched until the end, you will go up in Google rankings.
Final Thought
Captions are necessary to make your videos accessible and to reach your deaf and hard-hearing audiences effectively. If you need help with your subtitles, you have to try the best captioning service providers like SPG studios.