The Best Way to Caption Videos for Accessibility

One elderly woman and one girl is lookin at a mobile phone

One elderly woman and one girl are sitting around a table, looking at a mobile phone

The last thing you want is for your audience to be left behind because they can’t understand what’s happening in your video. That’s why it’s important to include captions. Captions that are easy to read and understand ensure that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy your content, regardless of their hearing ability.

Plain and readable

To create captions that are both accessible and easy to read, you should make sure the text is large enough to read. Another important aspect of captioning is the font itself. You should also use a plain font with mixed case letters (i.e., not all uppercase). Fonts that are easy to read for a wide variety of people are best, so stick with something simple like Arial or Verdana. It’s also important not to use fancy fonts because they may not be legible for those who have vision problems such as dyslexia or color blindness.

Subtitles in blocks rather than one word at a time

Make sure that the subtitle is displayed in blocks rather than one word at a time. A subtitle that is displayed one word at a time will take longer to read than the same subtitle displayed all at once as a block. This option is more readable for those with dyslexia and other reading impairments.

If your captions move or fly, readers can’t keep up. Slow down that movement so everyone gets to enjoy them! A slow pace allows people with dyslexia to catch up and understand the message being conveyed by the captions.

Mixed case letters instead of all uppercase letters

You might be wondering why we’re so adamant about mixed case letters. It’s because they’re easier to read—for everyone. If you don’t believe us, take a look at this chart from the University of Washington:

Uppercase letters are harder to read than lowercase letters, which makes them harder for people with dyslexia and other reading disabilities to process. For example: “a” is a more visually distinct letter than “A.” That’s why it’s easier for most people to read Aardvark instead of AARDVARK.

Accessible captions to be enjoyed more widely by the disabled community

Video captions can be useful for a wide range of audiences:

  • People with hearing loss can use captions to follow along with the video, even if they’re watching it in a noisy environment.
  • People with cognitive disabilities may not be able to understand spoken language (or at least, not every time), so they may prefer text-only captions.
  • If your audience is made up of people who don’t speak your language fluently or at all, then native-language subtitles are an essential accessibility feature that should be included in all videos where possible!

We can all help make the world a more inclusive place by ensuring that we are creating video content that is accessible to everyone. You don’t have to be an accessibility expert to make these changes, but it does take some thought and effort. We hope these tips help you produce captions that are clear, easy to read, and fun for everyone!

How to Automatically Add Subtitles to Videos

How to Be More Accessible on Social Media

When the internet came into our lives, the Web have become a significant resource in many aspects of life. To provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with diverse abilities, it is important that the websites are accessible. While many organizations are taking the right steps towards a more accessible and inclusive website, the same isn’t necessarily true for their social media channels. While you cannot change the accessibility of the social media platforms, here’s what you can do to make your social media more accessible to provide equal access to your content.

Phone screen showing social media apps in a group of Social Networks

1. Use CamelCase hashtags.

Capitalize the first letter of each word. This is easier for everyone to read and helps automated screen readers to differentiate each word and read out loud. #WriteYourHashtagsThisWay #dontdoitthisway

2. Don’t use too many emojis.

Screen readers have a text description for every emoji. However, when you use too many of them, it might take a long time for a screen reader to read them and to be honest it might also get boring. You wouldn’t want to say “Face with Tongue” five times in a row. 😛😛😛😛😛

3. Avoid GIFs.

On social media platforms, it’s not possible to add alt text to GIFs. So if you insist on using GIFs, you should combine them with some explanation to make them comprehensible.
Moreover, flashing, blinking, flickering and other strong visual images can make it difficult for people with cognitive or learning disabilities to focus on your post.

4. Add subtitles to your videos.

Without subtitles, your videos would exclude the 466 million people worldwide living with some form of hearing loss. This is equivalent to 6% of the world’s population. That means your videos are not accessible to a lot of people.
You can add subtitles to your videos on all your social media platforms, even to your Instagram stories with useful apps such as Subcap. Subcap allows you to shoot a video simultaneously or upload a video from the gallery. It automatically transcribes the audio to text which you can edit or copy. With Subcap, you can easily and automatically add subtitles to your videos, not only in English but also in 125 languages and variants.

Subcap logo, yellow speech bubble
As a matter of fact, eight out of every ten people prefer to watch videos silently so it’s not just people with disabilities who benefit from accessible social media. Subtitles are helpful for people who are watching videos in a noisy environment, in a quiet place, or without headphones, as well as for children learning to read and those watching videos in a second language.

5. Add image descriptions.

You should add alternate (alt) texts in order to provide a context in place of an image, graphic, and other media. This way, screen readers can describe them for blind and low vision users. Text descriptions should be brief but descriptive.
And don’t forget to write image descriptions for your posts or tweets with screenshots. They might include writing, but screen readers can’t read it unless you add it as an alt text.