Instructional Technology & Distance Education Part I

YouTube Videos - Closed Captioning

What is Closed Captioning? Closed captioning is the process of displaying text on a television, video screen or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information to individuals who wish to access it. Closed captions typically show a transcription of the audio portion of a program as it occurs (either verbatim or in edited form), sometimes including nonspeech elements. 

The Caption feature allows you to give viewers a deeper understanding of your video. Adding captions and subtitles makes your videos more accessible to people who can’t follow along with the audio—either because they speak a different language, or because they are deaf or hard of hearing. How can I see the captions on a video or enable Closed Captioning? Videos with captions display this small logo at the bottom of the player: If a video includes captions, you can activate them by clicking the menu button located on the bottom right of the video player. Clicking this button will also allow you to choose which caption track you want to see. You can find more examples here. How can I translate the captions on a video? If captions are available, but not in a language you prefer, you can try the machine translation feature. 

Open the captions menu just as if picking a caption track, but click on the “Translate...” button. Captions can be searched for, so accurate captions will help people find your videos. Can I change the size of the captions on a video? While you can choose a caption track in the sub-menu, you can also control captions with various keyboard short-cuts: Increase text size: Press “+” key Decrease text size: Press “-” key Change background: Press “B” or “b” key You can also click the Gear icon below your video and click the Options link next to Subtitles/CC. This will give you the ability to choose different options for: font family, color, size, and opacity; background color and opacity; window color and opacity; and character edge style.

How can I add captions on a video or enable Closed Captioning? As of March, 2010 Google has offered auto-captioning for all English-language videos on YouTube. 

Thanks to Google’s translation technology, captions can also be translated into over 50 different languages. Although speech recognition algorithms have progressed over the years, they still are not perfect. YouTube does provide the ability for authors to download captions for their videos. Therefore, it is highly advised to review (and edit) your YouTube video closed captioning tracks. To create captioning for your videos, proceed with the following steps: 

Step 1 You will have four options: Use the Closed Captioning track provided by YouTube, edit the provided CC track, transcript your video in YouTube, or upload a transcript file. 

Step 2 Sign in to YouTube (http://www.youtube.com). 

Step 3 Next to the YouTube logo on the left, click the Menu button (looks like three lines). Click on the link My Channel. You can access Closed Captioning in one of two ways: 

OPTION 1: Above the banner, click on Video Manager. This will show you a list of all the movies you have uploaded. Find the movie you would to add captioning to and click the down arrow next to the Edit button. In the dropdown menu, click on the link titled Subtitles and CC. 

OPTION 2: Click on the Videos or Playlists buttons and search for your desired video you would to add captioning to. Below the video window, you will see a series of icons. Click on the CC icon. 

Step 4 A pop-up window will appear asking to indicate the language setting for the video. You must set the video language before adding subtitles or closed captioning. To choose a language, click the Select Language button, choose the desired language, and click the Set Language button to finalize. 

Step 5 A preview of your video will appear on the left and your Closed Captioning tracks will appear on the right. The track provided by YouTube will be listed as your_language (Automatic).

While YouTube continues to improve it’s transcription software, it is not 100% accurate. Errors can more often when the words are not clearly annunciated or the volume is low.

Step 6 To edit the default Closed Captioning, click on the track. You will see a preview of your video along with a visual track of your audio below. On the right will be the transcript created by YouTube.

Step 7 Click the Edit button above the transcript to begin editing. You can edit in one of two places:

You can edit the text inside the transcript window. Simply click on a subtitle and edit your desired text.

You can edit the timing/placement of your closed captioning statements in the Visual Track. If you move your cursor to the beginning or end of a subtitle block, blue handles will appear which will allow you to lengthen, shorten, or move the timing of your subtitle. If you need to enter a new subtitle track, enter your text above the transcript and click Enter / Press the + button. Your new subtitle will be added into the transcript as well as the visual track.

Step 8 Click the Publish edits button when finished. Are there other ways to create my subtitles? You also have the option to transcribe your video in YouTube on-the-fly. Make sure the Pause video while typing checkbox is checked. Then you can play your video to listen to the audio and when you type, the video will pause until you finish typing. To upload a transcript in YouTube, you must first create a transcript file. In order to create a transcript file, type the text of what was said in your video and save it as a plain text file (.txt). You can do this by converting other formats (like Microsoft Word, HTML, PDF) into a plain text file or you can use native programs on your computer like TextEdit or Notepad. In order to get the best results, use these formatting tips:

 • Use a blank line to force the start of a new caption. 

 • Use square brackets to designate background sounds. For example, [music] or [laughter]. 

 • Add >> to identify speakers or change of speaker.

Here’s an example of what your transcript file might look like:

>> ALICE: Hi, my name is Alice Miller and this is John Brown

>> JOHN: and we’re the owners of Miller Bakery

>> ALICE: Today we’ll be teaching you how to make our famous chocolate chip cookies!

[intro music]

Click on the Actions dropdown menu. Click on Upload a file. Choose the type of file to upload. Click Choose file. Click Upload.

* Please note: Uploading a file will overwrite your existing Closed Captioning track. 

Use the editor to make any needed adjustments to the text and timing of your new subtitle or closed caption.

Press Publish.

When you publish, your track will now become your selected Closed Captioning track.

How can I select which Closed Captioning track will display?

The Closed Captioning track which is active will have a green button displayed to

the left of the name. If the button is gray, it is not active.

In order to active a custom Closed Captioning track, you must first publish it (see

above).

You can unpublish a track by clicking on the name of an active track, click on the Actions dropdown menu, and

select Unpublish.

To delete a Closed Captioning track, clickon the name of an active track, click on the Actions dropdown menu,

and select Delete Track.