So, you've contracted with a closed-captioning company (or closed-captioner service provider) and now you must put your full confidence in them to caption your program accurately. With the plethora of closed captioning companies out there, this is not always an easy thing to do. Keep in mind that a large percentage of viewers will watch your program with captions, therefore turning the captions into a representation of your programming.
To confide in your captioning company, you first need to understand how captioning works. Captioning has its own standard just like journalism or publishing does. Be sure you understand exactly what service you will be getting. If your program will be captioned in roll-up style, many of the captioning "rules" do not apply as it is a simplified version of pop-on captioning. If the captioning company has a standard, be sure to ask what it is.
When you watch captions, you might wonder why certain punctuation is being used that is normally not used in other writing.
Here are some examples:
- Double dashes are used for breaks in speech.
- Ellipses are used for directing viewers to the screen and for long pauses in speech to add to the effect.
You may often wonder why poor grammar is being captioned. Usually, captioning companies do not correct grammar in speech. The hard of hearing and deaf community should read the exact same thing as the hearing people hear. In other words, they get relayed the same message. For example, in a movie where the main character speaks with broken English, should not be changed as it is part of the actor's character. Correcting grammar can change the meaning to the closed-caption viewer.
If you are still uneasy about giving over your captions to a captioning company, know that you can always have the option of proofing the closed caption transcript before the final recording. Your closed-captioning company should give the captions three quality checks, but even so, a book for publishing gets many more reviews for publishing and still winds up with errors. Be careful when proofing the transcript that you do not make preference changes, as the captioning company may end up charging you for extra time spent.
Your closed-captioning company should be experts in their field, so remember that you are working with them to make captioning judgment calls and decisions for your programs.
Roll-up captions
Roll-up is a style where the text rolls onto the screen from the bottom or top one line at a time, rolling up to make room for a new line. Normally, a maximum of 3 lines are shown on the screen before the first line is taken off of the screen. This is the least time-consuming post-production process but still allows for good viewing. Roll-up captions are always used in live captioning and are typically used for one speaker programs such as teaching or preaching.
Pop-on captions
The text actually pops on the screen in blocks of 1 to 3 lines and is placed on the screen to not cover up any on-screen text or vital video. The time codes from your master are used to place these captions perfectly in sync with each frame. Pop-up captions are the preferred viewing style of the hearing impaired and are typically used for programs with multiples speakers or characters that are on the screen at any given time.
More on our Captioning Services...
Who benefits from captioning?
Everyone!
A study conducted by The National Institute on Deafness concludes that over 28 million American have a hearing impairment. Elderly people, who experience hearing loss later in life, compose a large percentage of the hearing impaired community. Consequently, only 10% of the hearing impaired community understands sign language. Therefore, the majority of the hearing impaired community relies on captioned television programs and movies for education and entertainment.
However, studies show that captions are increasingly being used to promote literacy and language development amongst children and those learning to speak English. Captions are also ideal for televisions that are being watched in noisy public areas such as gyms, restaurants, waiting rooms, and airports.
Expanding Your Message or your Market
Whether you want to better serve your congregation, reach a larger market, reach out to the hearing-impaired population, or provide opportunities for the ESL community, captioning is your answer. Captions will enhance the true meaning of your program by ensuring that all viewers have the ability to accurately comprehend your message.
