The importance of accessible subtitling
Subtitles for video can be useful. For example, in the cinema, on TV or on Netflix. Maybe you use subtitles when watching a video on the train or when you are in a crowded room with a lot of noise around you. For some people, accessible subtitles are not just convenient. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, subtitles are often necessary to follow the video properly.
Videos are made for social media and for on their own websites. Therefore, it is important that everyone can clearly understand the information from the video, even if you don't hear the sound for a while.
In accessibility surveys, we use the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). We also check videos during an inspection. Among other things, we check whether there are proper subtitles.
In 2020, there were an estimated 795,000 people diagnosed with hearing impairment in the Netherlands.
5 tips for accessible subtitles for your video
Videos are a brilliant way to convey information quickly. They are also great fun. For more and more companies and organisations, videos are an important part of the communication strategy. With these five tips for accessible subtitling, you will ensure better digital accessibility.
1. Do not use automatically generated subtitles
If you put your video on YouTube, you can use automatic subtitles. If the video speaks clearly, the automatically generated subtitles are sometimes quite correct. Most of the time, unfortunately, you still see a lot of errors in the subtitles.
Sometimes the spoken text is subtitled so differently that it takes on a totally different meaning. "Come here", for example, is totally different from "Don't come". The municipality of Hoorn is often subtitled as "Hear". Often, punctuation such as full stops, commas and exclamation marks are also missing. This does not read pleasantly.
Some people are hard of hearing or deaf from birth, others develop hearing loss later in life.
2. Accessible subtitles are in the same language as the spoken text
If you have a video in which Dutch is spoken, you might offer English subtitles for people who do not speak Dutch. These are "subtitles". They are meant for people who don't speak the spoken language. Of course, it is good that you do this. However, for someone who is deaf or hard of hearing, this is not enough.
In accessibility studies, it is important that the subtitles have the same language as the spoken text. You want the same information you hear to be read through the accessible subtitles. In other words, in the same language.
3. Also create accessible subtitles for important sounds
Subtitles are not only needed for spoken text. Sometimes sounds provide important information that cannot be deduced from the image alone. For example, think of a phone you hear ringing in the distance, causing someone in the picture to run away to answer. If you only see someone running away without hearing the sound, you won't understand what's going on. In accessible subtitles, you can then indicate "a phone is ringing" or something similar. Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing that also indicate sounds and music are also called "captions".
There are different categories for hearing loss. Hearing loss of 0 - 20 decibels is considered normal hearing. Hearing loss above 90 decibels is considered very severe hearing loss or deafness.
4. Indicate who you hear
From the sound, you can often easily understand who is speaking. You will hear different voices. It can sometimes be useful to see from the subtitles who is saying what. This can be done, for instance, by using different colours for different people.
Screenshot shows subtitles with different colours for different speakers.
5. Use YouTube studio to easily create subtitles
In YouTube Studio, you create your own good accessible subtitles with your video. For example, you can upload a file with subtitles or add a transcript and convert it to subtitles. It is also possible to type the subtitles yourself. You then put them at the right moments in the video.
Screenshot from YouTube Studio
Additional tips for accessible videos
Subtitles alone are not enough to make your video truly accessible.
The blind and visually impaired can hear the sound of the video, but cannot see the images (properly). A good voice-over or audio description helps. Audio description is a kind of voice-over that tells you what can be seen on screen. When a person is being interviewed, you sometimes see the name and position appear on the screen. You can't always hear this. For this kind of information, audio description is important. In this way, the blind and visually impaired also get the information from the image.
There are a few more things to consider, for example:
Short description
Please give a short description of what your video is about above your video. Someone who sees the video will then know what the video is about and whether you want to watch it or not.Don't auto-play
If the sound of the video can be heard immediately, this can be a nuisance for people who use speech control software.Disable single-character shortcuts
Make sure your video player doesn't use single-character shortcuts, such as the M to mute the sound. This can cause problems for people using voice control software. If they give a command with the letter "M" in it, it may result in the sound of the video going off. This was probably not the intention.
Want to know more?
Good accessible subtitles in a video are important for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. People without hearing loss also often use subtitles, for example when they are temporarily unable or unwilling to hear sound.
Want to know more about accessible video? There are more extensive articles on video accessibility on DDAI.
Follow our training on accessible video
In our training, you will learn all about making your video accessible. This training is designed for video makers: directors, scriptwriters, cameramen, voice-over, animators, influencers and social media marketers.
In the training you will learn all about subtitling and audio description. And there is also an extensive focus on preparing and publishing your video.
Make your video accessible,
so that everyone can see, hear and understand it!
