Captioning and transcripts

Captioning

Captioning is a method used to ensure hearing impaired users receive a similar experience of video and audio. It usually appears below the video or audio clip and looks similar to subtitles on foreign films.

Unlike subtitles however, captioning for video is an account of anything that is said during the footage and can include descriptions of actions, which are usually displayed in square brackets.

E.g. [dog barks behind the fence]

Captioning can also use positioning of the text to indicate which person is speaking if multiple characters are present.

Breakdown of captions for Windows Media and QuickTime formats:

Depending on which format your video or audio is, there needs to be a file to link the video to the captions. For Windows it is an .asx file, which opens the Windows Media Player and references the captions file. In the case of QuickTime it is the .smil file, it sets a video region and references the correct video file and sets a text region for the captions. To ensure that the QuickTime opens in the correct player it is best to use a .qtl (QuickTime Link) file.

Transcripts

Transcripts are aimed more for visually impaired users as they are basically full length accounts of everything that was said and occurred in the material. They are usually read to the user through a screen reading software and can take the form of a web page, a MS Word document / PDF file or a plain rich text file.

In the transcript there should be a brief outline of the subject matter of the video / audio material. It could also indicate who is participating and give some indication of the duration of the material – 5 minutes or full length film.

Once these details are established the transcript will contain a clear and concise list of what every person has said and any actions or activities that have also occurred.

For example:

Colin: So how long have you been playing the bagpipes, Dougal?
Dougal: I began playing when I was a wee boy, about 7 or 8 maybe…

Useful links