PSA FROM EXHAUSTION.
Signed up for a series of online lectures. Couldn't understand a word, couldn't lip-read speaker (which is very difficult anyway). Couldn't participate, couldn't engage, couldn't understand. Had to leave because it didn't even occur to them to put captions on
Folks, if you are posting ANY video online or send it to another human, please enable captions/subtitles.
Deaf people need captions
Hard of hearing people need captions
People with audio processing conditions need captions
People with ADHD often need captions to maintain attention
People who are not native speakers of the primary language need captions
People who are watching something in a private space and are not able to watch with volume need captions
People with learning difficulties/differences/disabilities need captions
People trying to watch something with bad audio recording need captions
People who have migraines/headaches and really can't deal with sound but still need to watch the video (for whatever reason) need captions
People who have colds/ear infections/went to a concert without ear protection and have bad tinnitus need captions
People who are very new to a topic need captions
People who are multi-tasking need captions
people with misophonia need captions
People who are neurospicy and just need fucking captions need fucking caption
People need captions.
And, whilst I have your attention, don't just use autocraptions from the computer that only get about 65%. I mean, look-- I'll take auto craptions over nothing, but there is a reason deaf people cal them 'craptions.' We hate them, it's very often word salad, and it's just useless. You can process the video through with autocraptions, and then go in and make corrections where the craptions got it wrong. And, if you feel super fancy, you could even put in things like full stops and commas to make it easier to read.
Also, when captioning, please put actions/reactions in brackets. Anything off screen, any noises we may not be able to hear. Examples: [Audience cheers] [Explosion off screen, people shouting] [sound of phone ringing.]
If something is inaudible or the sound does not catch what they said, please signify this. If it's a montage and there's music with no dialogue, say this. Examples:
[Mulcahy speaks indistinctly.]
[inaudible]
[audio cuts out]
[no audio, no music]
[music- Sinatra' song (song) plays; no audible dialogue or sound from scenes]
[dialogue from film 'My Darling Clementine' plays in background whilst Hawkeye whistles]
[music is interrupted by the sound of a record being ripped or pulled off a record]
If you just feel REALLY generous to the audience and really want me to love you, please feel free to put tone that I might miss, such as [Hawkeye whispers] or [Klinger shouts]. Maybe it's visible on the screen from expressions/body language, maybe not.
Hawkeye: [imitates Groucho] Hello, Room Service? Send up a larger room.
Hawkeye [imitates British accent:] [drops accent]
And, when there may be confusion on when characters are speaking. Examples:
[Multiple characters talk at once.]
Potter: [speaks dialogue from 'My Darling Clementine' at the same time as a character in the film]:
Margaret [interrupts Frank]:
Hawkeye and BJ [speaking together:]
Also also, if there are multiple speakers, please show this. [speaker 1: ] [Speaker 2]:
Even if you don't receive a request from anyone to put on captions, please just add captions. Simple accessibility considerations, please. Some people don't even realise they need captions until they see then and go 'oh, yay. Captions.'
I know it may take a little bit of time and planning, but there are more of us out there than you realise. So please, just add captions.
If you ever doubt how important captions might be to someone, sometime just put on a video. Put on an episode of a show you haven't seen before. Mute it, watch it with no captions. See just how much you manage to get without ANY captions.
CAPTIONS.
CAPTIONS.
