“That person doesn’t even know how to spell.” “They can’t type correctly.” “How come in today’s age of technology can’t they get the captions right?” If you don’t know how captioning works, you’ve probably thought or said this yourself. The captioner’s ability to spell and type is not usually the reason a viewer sees garbled captions. So you ask yourself, “Why?”
The following are reasons why captions appear garbled:
• The most common is the combination of the quality of the video signal and the quality of the decoder chip in the television itself. If the quality of either is poor, it will display words with missing letters, separate letters incorrectly or a miss a word entirely.
• The technology of encoders and decoders working together to reveal the captions properly
• When watching a live program, the captioner may mistroke resulting in a typo
• When watching a live program you may see a word spelled phonetically. This happens when the captioner doesn’t have that particular word in their dictionary. The more experience the writer has, the more words in their dictionary and typically better captioning results.
So the next time you view captioning, pass on the word as to “Why captions look garbled?”
More and more Americans are depending and counting on closed-captions in their video entertainment. As a program producer or television station program director, you’re probably aware of the regulations that require all programs to be closed-captioned. Most of you probably dread the additional costs and coordination efforts it will take to deliver your programs with closed-captions. As in life, you have a choice as to how to view your circumstances. You’d most likely change your point of view if you spent the day in the shoes a deaf or hard-of-hearing person. When Saddleback Church in Lake Forest California had VHS tapes closed-captioned for the first time, Rhonda, the leader of the deaf ministry had this to say:
“Praise God! We won’t need to pay the cost of a signer and will be able to reach those that don’t know signing. I can’t begin to explain the positive impact this will have on our group. It is going to grow by leaps and bounds. We’ll be able to deliver God’s word and teaching those people that previously have been ‘left-out’.”
No one wants to be “left-out” and by providing closed-captions, you’ll be giving these people a chance. Did you realize that very few of the 30 million Americans that are deaf or heard-of-hearing are Christians? They typically live in a lonely world that most Churches and Christian broadcasters have ignored? This is fertile ground! It’s time to turn on the closed-captioning!
WANTED: Caption Editor, degree in English preferred. Hmmm… a caption editor? I can edit. I have a degree in English. I guess I meet the requirements. But, what exactly is the job? Oh, I know! Maybe I can “google” the term and find a job description…No such luck. Google doesn’t know either. Well, I am always up for an adventure…
These were the thoughts that were running through my head as I was looking for a new job. I was looking for an editing job and my previous experience was with book editing and publishing. I knew very little about closed captions, as did the majority of people I knew. One friend actually thought the television itself transcribed the audio and spit out the words onto the screen. As silly as that may seem, my knowledge of the process wasn’t far from that. However, my curiosity was piqued, so I decided to apply.
Joanna, the post-production manager, called me to set up an interview. She also asked me how I felt about technology. Technology? Well, I know how to use a computer and I can text message with my eyes closed. But, somehow I wasn’t sure those were the exact skills she was looking for. I tentatively replied that I was not intimidated by technology and immediately panicked thinking, “What am I getting myself into?!”
You can only imagine how my fears intensified when I walked into the office to interview and saw large towers full of computers and machines that looked like something out of the Matrix. Cords, plugs, headsets, decks, monitors…yikes! But, what’s the fun in life if you don’t challenge yourself? To make a long story short, I accepted the challenge and here I am today: Caption Editor Extraordinaire!
It took two months of training to really feel comfortable with captioning. There is so much to learn and you never really stop learning. Questions and new challenges arise every day. There are many guidelines to follow and “styles” of captioning to learn. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are important but equally important are the placement, line breakage and speed of the captions. Everything is done to ensure that the viewer is getting an accurate understanding of the show. Basically, caption editors work with post-production shows (ones that are already recorded). We have transcribers translate the audio and send us a transcript. We then import the transcript in a computer program that allows us to break up the lines and “press on” the captions in sync with the video/audio. Presto!
Effective caption editing is an acquired skill. And once you know what “good” captions look like, you immediately become a full-fledged critic. It is now impossible to watch captions on television without critiquing the placement, speed, and accuracy. Sadly, you also realize that the majority of captions out there are poor. All of us at Aberdeen care about quality and accuracy and we all take pride in our work. Hopefully, now that most shows are required by law to be closed captioned, more people will understand the importance of not only providing closed captions, but providing good closed captions.
I am so lucky to have found this job. It has truly opened my eyes to the world of closed captioning and the importance of providing closed captioning, not just for the hearing impaired, but for the entire population! Another great benefit of this job is the plethora of knowledge you will receive from watching these programs. I learn something new from every show I caption, whether it is a Bible verse, a recipe for nachos, the history of anthropology, new scientific terminology, or the latest in fashion and design! I am sure to triumph in any game of Trivial Pursuit!
Written by Christina Hill, Caption Editor
