Your guide to captions
I don't know about you, but I flipping love captions. Don't tell anyone, but I often watch English-speaking shows on Netflix with subtitles on. I just find it easier to absorb what I'm watching.
I get that captions take a little more effort (although it's just got a lot easier), but they are worth it for many reasons.
In this blog, I'm sharing why you should use captions on all your videos and how to do them.
Including captions or subtitles on all videos on all platforms means your content is more accessible for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. That's about 3.6 million people in Australia.
Without reading a transcript of what you are saying, someone who is deaf or hard of hearing has to guess what you are saying. Which means they are more likely to just scroll on by.
This is why including captions or subtitles is so important. And Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube all now have the option to add in automatic captioning, which means there's no reason not to do it.
You will also get more and longer views because many people who are not deaf or hard of hearing watch videos in public or without earphones. Like me! If I'm sitting on my couch scrolling through IG stories and there are videos without captions, I just skip on forward because I never have my sound on. And I'm not going to make everyone else around me listen to what I'm watching like one of those annoying people on public transport.
By including subtitles or captions in your videos, you are:
Creating more accessible content.
Showing you are aware of and care about accessibility.
Encouraging others to include captions on their videos.
Contributing to making it the STANDARD for all videos.
Helping to create a more equitable society.
How to add captions on Instagram videos
Instagram has FINALLY added this as a function for most users. Here's how to add them.
Step 1. Add a video to your stories or reels as you usually do.
Step 2. Hit the sticker icon.
Step 3: Select captions.
Step 4: Change the font, colour and position of the text if required.
That's it! How easy?
If you don't yet have captions showing up on your IG as an option, don't worry, it will be released to everyone at some point (hopefully very soon).
In the meantime, you can add captions manually.
Step 1. Add a video to your stories or reels as you usually do.
Step 2. Hit the A icon.
Step 3: Type your caption. A summary of what you are saying is usually better than writing it word for word.
Step 4: Change the font, colour and position of the text if required. Captions with a high contrast background like in my picture are the best for readability.
Here's how to add captions on other platforms:
There are paid-for services you can use, but I have zero experience of these myself so I’m not going to recommend any here. But hopefully, I’ve done enough to convince you captioning is a worthwhile endeavour. So go forth and caption your little heart out!
Photo by Marija Zaric on Unsplash