What should you remember about captions? Captions represent the text version of the audio part of multimedia content. The primary purpose of captions is to allow the deaf and the hearing impaired people to appreciate the video they are watching.
Why are captions necessary?
Aside from aiding people with hearing deficiencies, captions are particularly useful to people who comprehend the written word better than the spoken word. For example, during a lecture, some participants may have a challenging time following a presentation that only uses voice. If you include captions, you help them follow and understand the presentation better. Captions are equally useful for people who like to take down notes.
Customarily, captions are added when the material is already produced or recorded. However, it is possible to have real time captioning. You can do this for live broadcasts, a conference, lecture, court hearing, council or congressional meeting, news broadcasts, and remote events.
Even if you are creating real-time captioning, you should remember the elements that you should include in the captions.
What do you include in captions?
The captions should include the following:
- All the words spoken by every character in the material. It should also include all the hesitations, and other background noises and sound effects.
- Every word the narrator speaks.
- The lyrics of a song.
- Names or identification of all speakers, including those who are not shown on screen.
- Description of the sounds occurring in the video, which affect the meaning of the story.
Font to use
The most effective and easy-to-read font is a sans serif font, like Helvetica or Arial. Use white as the font color. The background color should be a black box to provide the right contrast.
Sentence style
Each line of the caption should have sentences in upper and lowercase letters. The punctuation should follow the normal conventions and styles, conveying the way normal speech is delivered. Captioners use ellipses when the speech has significant pauses. In some cases, it might be better to remove non-essential information. Doing so will help you maintain the normal reading rate. Follow the conventions by spelling out the numbers from one to ten but using the numerals for the rest.
Spacing
According to the rule on captions, each line should only have 37 characters. Each caption should have a maximum of two lines. Caption and line breaks should show the natural flow of the sentence and the required punctuation.
Timing
Preserve the relation between visuals and sound by syncing the caption to the soundtrack. Maintain the reading speed, which is three words per second. The speed should not go beyond 180 words per minute. Another thing to keep in mind is the caption should remain on screen for two seconds or less.
Speaker and sound identification
Include music or noise that will enhance the visuals, add to the atmosphere, and contribute to the video’s characterization. The speaker’s name should be identified using round brackets while sound effects are enclosed in square brackets. The name of the speaker and the sound effects should be shown on their own line.
These are the vital elements that you should include when you are creating captions, according to the guidelines that professionals follow.