{"id":1679,"date":"2021-03-04T15:09:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T15:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blueskyvideomarketing.com\/?p=1679"},"modified":"2023-11-08T12:51:59","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T12:51:59","slug":"104-why-are-video-captions-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueskyvideomarketing.com\/blog\/104-why-are-video-captions-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are video captions important?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
Are video captions just a necessary evil or can they compliment the video viewing experience? That’s what Think by Google spent 12 months studying.<\/p>
With 85% of people watching video on social media with the sound off are video captions just a necessary evil?<\/p>
We\u2019ve all heard the stats – and we get it.<\/p>
We don\u2019t necessarily want the people around us to know what videos we\u2019re watching for a variety of reasons.<\/p>
Could be where we are (the toilet?), could be what we\u2019re watching (!!).<\/p>
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The answer should lie in the fact that we see captions all over YouTube now – where 96% of people are watching video with the sound on.<\/p>
So what\u2019s the deal?<\/p>
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Most of the conversations we hear about why video captions focus on people watching video with the sound off.<\/p>
But what about those people for whom they are essential if they\u2019re going to be able to enjoy the content we\u2019re producing?<\/p>
For anyone that is deaf or has a hearing impairment video captions are an essential ingredient in ensuring that the video is accessible to them.<\/p>
How about those people for whom the voice in the video is not in their first language?<\/p>
Video captions are a great way to make your content easier to understand and engage with.<\/p>
The good news is that it\u2019s really easy – and no, I\u2019m not talking about the autogenerators or the live captioninng tools.<\/p>
Let\u2019s face it – we\u2019ve all seen what happens when they go wrong.<\/p>
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And they somehow feel disconnected from the video that\u2019s playing in the background.<\/p>
That\u2019s why at BlueSky Video Marketing we always recommend to our customers that we take the time to hard code the captions into the videos we produce.<\/p>
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But the improvement in the viewing experience makes it worthwhile.<\/p>
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In a recent article from\u00a0Think by Google<\/a>\u00a0they report on what they have learned about video captions having spent 12 months looking at how they can be used best to enhance the viewing experience.<\/p> Here\u2019s what they have to say:<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> Your video captions should not just focus on the words being spoken.\u00a0They also have a job to do to help convey the mood and tone of your video as possible.<\/p> There are some simple rules they have developed to help you do this:<\/p> Identify the speaker whenever it\u2019s unclear (or when there are several different contributors)<\/p> Describe the music – which has a huge part to play in the mood and tone of your video<\/p> Aim for brevity – where text is appearing on the screen it doesn\u2019t need to be repeated in the captions<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> The video used in the Think by Google article to highlight this point is below.<\/p> You can see in this how the context of a video about racial injustice required that the captions identified the race of some of the voices in the background.<\/p> This essential step helped to provide the context in the video for those using captions to consume this content.<\/p><\/div> \u00a0<\/p> Understanding how each of the platforms where your video will be hosted treat captions is an important part of any video project.<\/p> On YouTube you can add and edit captions using their built in tool once you have uploaded a video.<\/p> On Facebook and Linkedin you can upload a separate captions file along with your video – but you\u2019ll need to be uploading using a desktop version of the platform to be able to do this.<\/p> Instagram doesn\u2019t currently support the uploading of a separate captions file so you\u2019ll have to embed your captions (these are called \u2018closed captions\u2019) into your video project in order to make it accessible to all.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> Have you ever published a blog post or sent a brochure to print and then realised there\u2019s a typo?<\/p> Your heart sinks right?<\/p> Taking the time to check and check again makes sure that mistakes like this can be avoided.<\/p> If you use an online tool (at BlueSky Video Marketing we\u2019re big fans of\u00a0https:\/\/www.rev.com<\/a>) to create your captions you\u2019re able to edit and review these before downloading your SRT file.<\/p> As with any proof reading job it\u2019s a good idea to get more than one person involved in this to make sure any errors are spotted.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> That – you\u2019ll be glad to know – is that.<\/p> I hope that\u2019s helped you understand how important captions are to the video viewing experience.<\/p> Hopefully we\u2019ve given you some ideas about how you can start using captions on your video content to enhance the viewing experience.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> Read more about the Google research<\/a><\/p> \u00a0<\/p>1 – Unpack the experience\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>
2 – Be guided by the context<\/span><\/h3>
3 – Consider the platform<\/span><\/h3>
4 – Allow time to create and test your captions<\/span><\/h3>
Are we nearly there yet?<\/span><\/h2>
This article was first published on The Future of Marketing website<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t