Video Captions and Subtitles
Captions and subtitles are synchronized text that gets overlaid on a video to make the information conveyed by the audio accessible to a wider audience.
In This Article
What are Captions/Subtitles?
When the text conveys only the spoken dialogue, it’s called subtitles; when the text conveys dialogue and non-speech sounds, it’s called captions.
Primary Audience
- (Captions) People who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- (Subtitles) People who can hear but are not proficient in the language; people who prefer to watch a video on mute while reading the spoken dialogue.
Experience
Videos include a CC label to indicate the presence of captions or subtitles. In the video player, you can tap the Subtitles button to turn the captions or subtitles on. Text is overlaid on top of the video.
For more on the importance of including video captions for accessibility, see W3C: Captions/Subtitles.
Video Caption Tips
- Upload video captions/subtitles as a separate VTT file rather than "burning" the captions into the video.
- Burned-in captions (also called "open captions") cannot be turned off or resized. Captions that are uploaded as a separate file ("closed captions") give users more control over whether, and how, captions appear. For more, see Closed Captions vs. Open Captions: What's the Difference?
- Captions should provide a text alternative to the audio of the video. They should convey both the spoken dialogue and essential non-dialogue information (e.g., laughter, music, sound effects).
Captions for Videos Without Speech
Captions are useful even for videos without speech or dialog. Noting relevant non-speech sounds like music, nature sounds, or other ambient information can help more visitors enjoy the breadth of your content.
In a caption, non-speech sounds can be indicated in brackets to distinguish them from speech. For example, "[background laughter]...[birds chirping]...[car starting]...."
You can indicate the presence of music by referencing the title of the piece or by providing a brief description. For example, [Song: Beethoven's Fifth Symphony] or [Soft classical music coming through an open window].
Creating Captions/Subtitles on Rev.com
Bloomberg Connects has partnered with Rev.com to offer professional, human captioning and subtitling services at no cost to you.
Rev.com only provides human captions for English video files. If your file includes dialogue in another language, you can order AI captions instead; just make sure to review the file for accuracy! Reach out to your relationship manager with any questions.
Steps
Log in to the Bloomberg Connects Rev.com workspace using the instructions provided by your relationship manager during onboarding.
Can’t find the instructions? Reach out at support@bloombergconnects.org.
Click Place New Order, then select Human Captions.
On the Rev.com order page, select Upload files from your computer or drag and drop.
Upload or drag in your file(s), then click Upload.
The order summary page appears. By default, the order only includes captions in the speaker's original language (i.e., English or Spanish).
To add subtitles, select Add Foreign Language Subtitles, then choose the languages you need (e.g., Korean, Arabic, and French).
In the Output File Formats field, select WebVTT (.vtt). This is the only file type supported by the CMS.
Click Checkout.
The payment details screen appears.
Make sure your order will be billed to the Bloomberg Connects account, then click Order Captions.
The billing address should populate automatically. However, if you are prompted to add the address manually, use: Bloomberg Philanthropies Support, 25 E 78th St, New York, NY 10075, United States. Save the address for use in future orders.
Once your captions are complete, you’ll receive an update from Rev.com in your email. You can then upload the VTT file into the CMS.
Watch a brief how-to video on ordering captions with Rev.com.