Have you ever been stuck in a situation where you are watching a video or a movie and trying to follow along? But the audio is unclear, you can’t understand the accent, or you are in a noisy environment. It can be frustrating, especially if you’re trying to learn or enjoy the content. But don’t worry, because closed captions are here to save the day!
Closed captions are basically text versions of spoken dialogue and other audio information in videos. They are often embedded in the video file itself and can be turned on or off by the viewer.
For people struggling with hearing loss, closed captions are their secret weapon. They provide a clear and concise understanding of the audio, ensuring you don’t miss a beat.
Closed captions have both benefits and drawbacks. It provides numerous benefits for a diverse audience, including English as a second language (ESL) learners, individuals in sensitive environments, and those with hearing loss.
Closed captioning can improve comprehension, assist in learning experiences, and increase accessibility to video content for a larger audience. Additionally, it can also enhance search engine optimization by providing keyword-rich content.
Closed captioning services offer a range of advantages alongside certain drawbacks in the realm of audiovisual content. The primary benefit lies in accessibility, as closed captions provide vital support for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, ensuring they can fully engage with video content.
Additionally, closed captioning enhances comprehension for viewers in noisy environments or situations where audio cannot be played. Moreover, it aids language learners and individuals with auditory processing difficulties.
On the other hand, closed captioning has its drawbacks, such as the need for manual labour in creating captions and limitations in accurately transcribing audio descriptions for the deaf or hard of hearing. Nevertheless, with over a million people worldwide experiencing some degree of hearing loss and billions of video views on social media, closed captioning remains a crucial tool in creating inclusive and accessible learning and viewing experiences.
What do stats say?
A survey conducted by the National Center for Accessible Media found that 90% of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals use closed captions regularly.
According to a PLYmedia survey, videos with captions received 40% more views than those without them. Additionally, they discovered that having access to closed captions increased audience engagement by 80%.
A study by the streaming giant Netflix from 2020 stated that 85% of its global viewers use subtitles or closed captions on its platform.
Naarg Media is the one-stop solution for closed captions that provides the highest quality closed captioning service for videos. Having multilingual captionalist that create accurate captions in different languages is something we take pride in.
Naarg Media have provided closed caption services in many big companies like Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Bharti and many more.
What is the purpose of closed captions?
Closed captions serve many important purposes. One of the primary functions of closed captions is to improve comprehension for English as a second language speakers, allowing them to understand video content. Additionally, closed captions are crucial for those with hearing loss or who are deaf or hard of hearing.
By providing a text representation of the audio, closed captions make video content accessible to a much larger audience. Furthermore, closed captions are helpful in sensitive environments where sound is not an option, such as libraries or public transportation.
Closed captions also serve as a learning aid, helping to enhance learning experiences for those watching videos. In addition, closed captions are searchable by search engines, allowing for greater discoverability of video content.
Finally, closed captions also play a role in social media, where they can increase video views by making the content more accessible to a broader range of users. In contrast to closed captions, audio descriptions are related. Still, a distinct form of audio-visual accessibility provides additional information about visual content for users who are blind or visually impaired.
Naarg’s speciality in closed captioning helps global brands reach a wider audience by crossing the language barrier. With over 3500 linguists in various languages and 1200 technical experts.
Naarg provides high-quality closed captioning services in different languages with a focus on ROI. The company has expertise in handling rare accents, making it the best choice for global brands looking to expand their reach.
Top 7 benefits of closed captioning
1. Accessibility:
One of the most important advantages is that Closed captioning makes video content more accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, allowing them to understand the audio portion of the video. A total of 360 million people, or more than 5% of the world’s population, suffer from hearing loss. It’s crucial to ensure everyone can access your video material, regardless of disabilities.
2. Better understanding:
For English language learners or those with English as a second language. Closed captioning can significantly improve their knowledge of the video content by providing a written representation of the audio. This is particularly helpful for those struggling to understand the audio or may have difficulty hearing the content.
3. Increased reach:
Closed captioning opens up video content to a larger audience, including those with hearing loss, deaf or hard of hearing, who may not have otherwise been able to engage with the content. This increases the reach and accessibility of video content, making it available to a broader range of people.
4. Improved search engine optimization:
Search engines can’t crawl video, but they can crawl text. Closed captioning provides a written representation of the audio, making it easier for search engines to categorize and rank the video content.
5. Improved user experience:
For viewers who watch videos in noisy environments, closed captioning can significantly enhance their viewing experience by providing a written representation of the audio.
6. Sensitive Environments:
In sensitive environments, such as a library, classroom or public transportation, where audio may not be feasible, closed captioning provides an alternative method of communicating the video content.
7. Support for multiple languages:
We live in a globalized society; therefore, it’s natural to expect that not everyone who views your content is an English language native speaker. However, adding captions in several languages can make your video material accessible to a large audience of non-English speakers. Adding English subtitles to your films can help individuals learn English.
In conclusion, closed captioning is a valuable technology that offers numerous benefits to those who use it. Whether it’s for improved accessibility, better understanding, or enhanced learning experiences, closed captioning is helping millions of people enjoy and benefit from video content every day.
Top 5 drawbacks of closed captioning
Closed captioning is a helpful tool for people with hearing disabilities to enjoy television and movie content. However, it also has its share of drawbacks.
1. Off putting:
It may not appeal to all users, as closed captions occupy a lot of space on the screen, which can distract and take away from the overall visual experience of watching a video or program. This is especially true for viewers who do not require closed captions, as it can obstruct the picture and disrupt their viewing experience.
Also, some closed captions may be positioned in inconvenient locations, such as at the bottom of the screen, making it difficult for viewers to focus on both the captions and the video content simultaneously.
2. Maintaining Reading speed:
It is essential to maintain an appropriate reading speed to read captions. This can be challenging, especially when capturing character names, background names and other details, as they need to be included in the captions. For Netflix, the minimum duration for each subtitle event is 5/6 seconds, equating to 20 frames for a 24fps video. The maximum duration for each subtitle event is 7 seconds.
3. Technical Challenges:
Implementing closed captioning can be technically challenging, especially for older video or audio files. It may be necessary to convert the files into a format that can be captioned, which can be a time-consuming and complex process. Additionally, not all video players and devices support closed captioning, so ensuring that captions are always available can be challenging.
4. Inadequate format:
The captions must be formatted in a way that is easy to read and understand. If the captions are in a format that is difficult to read, it can reduce their effectiveness for people who are trying to use them.
5. Lack of synchronization:
The captions must be in sync with the audio in the video. If the captions are not synchronized with the audio, it can be difficult for people to follow what is being said.
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