{"id":2853,"date":"2025-11-18T10:01:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T15:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/it.rutgers.edu\/digital-accessibility\/?page_id=2853"},"modified":"2025-12-03T22:06:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T03:06:22","slug":"captions-and-transcripts","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/it.rutgers.edu\/digital-accessibility\/accessible-web-content\/captions-and-transcripts\/","title":{"rendered":"Captions and transcripts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n
\n \n
\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t

Captions and transcripts<\/h1>\n\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n <\/section>\n\n\n
\n\n
\n \n

According to U.S. government figures, one in eight people has some level of functional hearing limitation, and this number is expected to rise as the population ages. Beyond individuals with disabilities, captions also benefit people who only partially understand the language presented. Additionally, captions are helpful in noisy environments like airports, quiet settings like libraries, and for supporting multimodal learning.<\/p>\n

Appropriate use<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Captions on audio\/video content:<\/strong>\u00a0You can use tools like\u00a0Kaltura Media Space<\/a>\u00a0as a starting point for creating automated captions. For people with disabilities, automated tools may not be enough to provide fully accessible versions. You will want to review the captions to ensure that they are accurate.<\/p>\n

Transcripts as alternative media:<\/strong>\u00a0Transcripts, unlike captions, are not always properly synchronized with audio content. For items like podcasts, TED Talks, interviews, or other mediums where there aren\u2019t a lot of additional movement and sounds that need to be referenced, a transcript could be an acceptable media alternative.<\/p>\n

Captions in third-party sites:<\/strong>\u00a0If you\u2019re using a third-party tool like YouTube, you can often use the filter option after searching to show only videos with captions.<\/p>\n

On YouTube, after performing a search, click the filter button on the right and select \u201cSubtitles\/CC\u201d to show only videos with captions. Please note that you\u2019ll still need to verify the accuracy of these captions. You can then import them into Kaltura to make any necessary edits.<\/p>\n

Captioning guidelines<\/strong>: The Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) has created standards for formatting and displaying captions. In addition, the W3C Web accessibility Initiative (WAI) has technical standards for WebVTT (closed caption formatted files).<\/p>\n

Below are some of the highlights for you to review:<\/p>\n