The Importance of Closed Captions
Watching a video with the words on the screen at the bottom is nothing new to any of us. It’s been around for many years with the option to turn it off or change the language. We see it in the form of subtitles when watching movies or television shows that speak another language and of course at the bottom of even YouTube videos.
As society adapts and changes to everything going on in the world, our needs for accessibility are shifting as well. In many places, like Ontario there are accessibility acts in place to help make sure websites and other online materials are accessible to everyone. This includes any pre-recorded audio or video, which will require closed captions.
Below you will find some of the top reasons you should include closed captions in all of your pre-recorded audio and video files.
User Experience
In today’s society many of us are on our phones non-stop. It could be during a commute, waiting in a line or just relaxing at home. Unfortunately, all of these situations don’t offer silence and you won’t always have headphones available to you. This means that having closed captions is important to allowing your consumers to consume your content no matter where they are. The closed captions will allow the viewer to read what is being said, instead of moving on from the content or struggling to listen.
Increased Use of Online Videos
With apps like TikTok and the power of video taking over the internet, it’s important to keep up with trends. Users are more likely to watch your video in entirety if they are able to read the closed captions as well. The captions grab their attention and holds it longer than just the video itself. With the increasing number of videos on the internet, it’s important to stand out from the crowd and one way is by using the closed captions.
Improved SEO
That’s right, using closed captions does more than just keep the attention of your viewer and increase the accessibility to your content. The captions give search engines more keywords to pick up on. This means that the page your video is on will have a greater chance at being ranked higher on the search engines. Of course, this also means that more people will be able to stumble upon your videos.
Accessibility
We can’t forget the main reason. Accessibility is important in everything that we do. The easier we make our content to be available and found, the better is for both the consumer and the provider, business. This also means that you are complying to the accessibilities laws set out , where you are located and it also means you are being a great business by caring about others.
Translations
Yes, even your captions can be translated. Think about out – your primary language may not be that of the person speaking in the video or the captions that were provided. If this is the case, you will likely move on from the video and find one that caters to your needs. However, if the option was there for you to change the closed captions to the language of your choice, you would be more likely to stay. It’s also worth mentioning that this will also increase your SEO for these languages.
At the end of the day having closed captions on any pre-recorded audio or video is important for the growth of your company. This process can be time consuming which is why we are here to help. If you need help with your closed captions including translation of them, into any language, reach out today to get a quote.