Learn more about Closed Captioning
Closed captions are a fundamental aspect of online video media today. Sourcing reliable closed captioning services is a must. With so many different languages and accents populating the online video sphere, the need for accurate, high quality, perfectly synced captions has is soaring.
ALSO READ: The Difference Between Closed Captions and Subtitles
As of 2021, the worldwide market for online video streaming in all its formats is worth a staggering $71 billion with 1 billion worldwide consumers. Whatsmore the market isn't slowing down! The past year has seen a 20% growth in the revenue generated for the world economy and a 12% growth in video streaming users worldwide (Statista, 2021).
With one in six adults having hearing loss in the UK alone, making video content available to everybody is vital for our modern world.
Consider for a moment that there are 6,909 languages (Linguistic Society, 2021), each with countless different dialects and accents. Accent variations make it challenging for same-language consumers to comprehend, e.g. a heavy Scottish accent may be incomprehensible to other English speakers without closed captions.
So, what are the differences between open and closed captions?
Closed
Closed captions are when the captions are in a text file format which you can turn off in the video player. YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo all support closed captions. As do Amazon Video, Netflix, Disney Plus and more. Almost all video players support the SRT caption file format, so it's the most frequently sought file for closed captions.
Open
In contrast, open captions are burnt-in, i.e. encoded into the video file itself and cannot be turned off. Open captions are frequently used in business communications because the video player may not allow users to turn the captions on/off. There is also the possibility users may not realise captions are available. It's safer to use open captions and burn them in.
How else are closed captioning services used in media?
Films, TV series and video games adopt closed captions to translate speech for non-native viewers and occasionally for stylistic reasons.
The short of it is that we can handle all of your video accessibility needs no matter your captioning requirements. Our engineers are highly skilled at implementing both kinds of captions, and our transcription and captioning experts are brilliant at providing accurate captions for all your projects needs. A dedicated project manager will be assigned to your project to ensure a high-quality finish with your required timescales.
We also offer various accessibility services, including audio description, British sign language and foreign-language subtitles. Reach out to our team now for instant support.
