Closed captioning information was sent to these decoders and then displayed over the video on the television screen. Near the end of the last century, closed captioning technology automatically came with standard televisions.

In the early days of CC, closed captions were only available through decoder boxes sold separately and made to plug into televisions in people’s homes. And if a character suddenly changes accents during a big twist in the plot, making sure that the audience knows about the change is part of making the video accessible.Īfter all of the information is written down, captions are synchronized to the timing of the video, and then they are ready to be seen by the world! Where do closed captions come from? Tagging pieces of dialogue with the characters name can clarify who is saying what in a scene. A knock at the door, the starting of a car’s engine, or a ringing phone can all be important sounds that move the plot along. How does a person doing closed captioning know what to include? If a sound should be included if it moves the plot along, clarifies information, or shows an important aspect to the character. And closed captioning starts with capturing the speech in a video and determining which sounds are important enough to include in the captions. The climax of a film could be ruined if an important sound gets missed! That is why it is so important to create closed captions to make content accessible. Imagine watching a movie or TV show with the sound off. Closed captions also include sounds that are important to the plot. In general, captioning is the transcription of speech in the same language as the original video. By creating a text representation of the audio, video creators can make their content more accessible and enjoyable for wider audiences. Closed captions are required by law for some media to ensure that individuals who are Deaf, hard of hearing, or neurodiverse have access to publicly available information.

Closed captioning technology began in mid-century broadcast television in the UK and US. In addition to the speech in a video, closed captioners also record any sounds that are important to the plot so that viewers can follow along. Closed captions are in the same language as the speech in a video. A short definition of closed captioning is text that represents speech and sound in a video that usually appears at the bottom of the video as white text on a black background.

Youtube closed captioning automatic