What is Closed Captions and Subtitles
“Closed captioning (CC) and subtitling are both processes of displaying text on a television, video screen, or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information. Both are typically used as a transcription of the audio portion of a program as it occurs (either verbatim or in edited form), sometimes including descriptions of non-speech elements. Other uses have included providing a textual alternative language translation of a presentation’s primary audio language that is usually burned-in (or “open”) to the video and unselectable.”
Closed Captions, aks. CC.
Transcription or translation of the dialogue, sound effects, relevant musical cues, and other relevant audio information when sound is unavailable or not clearly audible
-from Wiki
Subtitles
Transcription or translation of the dialogue when sound is available but not understood” by the viewer
-from Wiki
Difference between Closed Captions and Subtitles
The main difference between captions and subtitles is this. Subtitles are intended for viewers who can’t understand the language being spoken versus captions which are intended for viewers who can’t hear the audio.
Captions include all the sounds such as [laughter], [applause], and things like [car horn]. Basically, any spoken word and any non-speech elements are displayed in text form at the bottom of the screen. So that those with hearing disabilities can follow along with the video much more easily. Note that captions come in two forms: closed captions and open captions. This article explains the difference between open captions and closed captions.
Subtitles on the other hand are only a text display of spoken words. They don’t include any sound effects. They are for viewers who can hear audio, but cannot understand the language spoken. Video subtitles are often referred to as translations. Users can usually select subtitles by clicking the same CC icon they would use to turn on captions.
Captions
-Identify speakers
-Do not include non-speech sound elements
-Move when they cover up things in the video
-Include non-speech sound elements
Subtitles
-Translates audio into other languages
-Do not include non-speech sound elements
Are video subtitles the same around the world?
In the United States and Canada captions and subtitles follow what we have described above. In the United Kingdom and many other countries, the definition of subtitles and captions is murky. You can use the words subtitles and captions interchangeably. Regardless, both subtitles and captions are designed to make the video easier to consume regardless of who is watching, they mean different things around the world.
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