

SDH were originally designed for viewers who cannot understand the language, but are increasingly used in place of captions on some video platforms and services.

Subtitles for the D/deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) assume the end user cannot hear the dialogue and include important non-dialogue information such as sound effects, music, and speaker identification. On-screen graphics or words may also be transcribed, when time allows for the translation of these elements. The only transcribed element of non-SDH is dialogue.

Non-subtitles for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing (non-SDH) are traditionally referred to as just “subtitles.” Non-SDH are designed for viewers who can hear the dialogue and non-dialogue information but cannot understand the language. Captions are designed for use by D/deaf and hard of hearing audiences, but have gained popularity with all audiences. Eventually, captions became a mandated requirement for broadcast television in the United States.Ĭaptions provide a textual transcript of a video’s dialogue, sound effects, and music. What are captions?Ĭaptions were introduced to accommodate D/deaf and hard of hearing television viewers in the early 1970s. Both captions and subtitles are forms of timed text. The timing information allows the text to be synchronized to specific time codes of media. In the accessibility space, timed text files are usually intended to pair the transcription of dialogue and/or sound to media. What is a timed text?Ī timed text is a text-based file that includes timing information. We’ll define timed text, captions, and subtitles review the various types of captions and subtitles and explore why they’ve become such a source of confusion in recent years.

In this blog, we’re diving head-first into the captions vs. While they may seem interchangeable, understanding the differences between captions and subtitles is an important step in determining the most appropriate option for your video content. Why?Ĭaptions and subtitles are a lot more complex than most people realize. Now, some of these definitions may be correct, but they’re often only partially so. Many experts have weighed in, slapping labels to “captions” and “subtitles” in order to give each a singular, yet narrow definition. But over the last several years, the two have become clouded with questions and confusion, with the top concern being “What’s the difference between captions vs. Captions and subtitles are important timed text solutions that make video content accessible to all audiences.
