Closed Captions Vs. Subtitles: Do You Know the Difference?

There are several ways to increase your global audience and reach. Huge giants like Netflix and YouTube use closed captions and subtitles to improve the visibility of their videos and target wider audiences.

You can also opt for a similar strategy!

There are several uses of closed captions and subtitles rather than just increasing your reach, and we will discuss them in this blog.

But closed captions are often confused with subtitles, so it's better to understand the difference between closed captions and subtitles to use them exactly when you need them.

Video content is increasing daily, but do you think everyone watches your videos?

The answer is "No."

You need to shape your videos in a way that everyone will watch your video and understand the message behind them.

Closed captions and subtitles can cater to the barrier and make your videos accessible to all!

What are Closed Captions? 

Closed captions are used to show the audio in text on-screen, which makes understandability easier for viewers. However, adding closed captions to your videos makes them more engaging because the audience can connect with the content.

Exploring the use and importance of closed captions can help your organization grow and spread your message from a broader perspective.

Importance of Closed Captions 

Having  closed captions in videos have numerous benefits: 

• Make videos accessible for the deaf and individuals with hearing impairments.

• Make videos compliant with legal requirements.

• Increase audience comprehension and understandability in sound-sensitive surroundings.

• Advanced SEO and video views.

• Enhance video search and user experience.

Helps Individuals with Hearing Impairments

Closed captions are helpful for individuals dealing with hearing impairments, and establishing entertainment is possible with accurate captions; however, manually adding closed captions does not support synchronization.

An Enterprise Video Content Management (EVCM) can help organizations deliver their message effectively and allow organizations to add closed captions and subtitles.

A suitable example of an EVCM is VIDIZMO EnterpriseTube which offers automated closed captions, reducing manual efforts and resources.

These closed captions add diverse clarity to your audio by providing machine-generated transcriptions.

Make Videos Compliant with Legal Requirements 

Organizations also face significant challenges while making their videos compliant with legal requirements. However, Section 508 complaint is a rehabilitation act imposed by the US government, ensuring that people with disabilities can access your content.

You must choose robust video content management software that meets and fulfills legal compliance requirements such as section 508.

To achieve Section 508 compliance, you must add closed captions, transcriptions, and keyboard shortcuts to your videos to increase their accessibility.

Increase Audience Comprehension

Including closed captions in your videos is not only a legal requirement, but students find closed captions helpful and improve their focus, retention, and engagement.

Closed captions are everywhere; not using them in your videos can leave your organization behind.

That's why making closed captions available for the audience is a significant need for organizations.

Source: Oregan State University

Greater Understandability 

The closed caption defines audio in the text; however, it also increases understandability. Viewers can also use closed captions if the audience is unavailable and conveys the message.

In addition, closed captions are worth using when people are traveling or are in a noisy environment. That's why including closed captions in your videos should be a common practice.

Increased SEO and Video Views 

The search engine can't hear your videos, and that's why most of the time, your videos fail to reach the right audience. By including closed captions in your videos, the Search Engine crawls through your transcripts and finds precisely what people are searching for.

What are Subtitles?

Subtitles are different from closed captions, but what are subtitles? Subtitles are classified as captions that translate audio into another language. An excellent example of subtitles is when you want to watch a video in Chinese but do not understand Chinese; turning on the subtitles in English will allow you to understand the video instantly.

Importance of Subtitles

Subtitles are a powerful way of increasing reach and spreading content globally. Individuals will understand and consume content via subtitles. In this way, organizations can enhance their visibility, and foreigners would connect with your videos.

Source: Preply

But why do Americans love to use subtitles? Subtitles play a positive role when audio or accent is hard to understand, especially when you do not want to disturb people around you!

However, Americans are also obsessed with subtitles because they love watching videos on the go! They turn on subtitles whenever they need to manage videos in public.

Closed Captions Vs. Subtitles

Closed captions are compelling for viewers who like to watch videos without audio or help deaf people with hearing difficulties to find out every element within the video, including relevant background sounds and music. On the other hand, subtitles are suitable for people who want to understand content in a different language.

Can You Auto-Generate Closed Captions for a Video?

Generating automated closed captions for videos is a time-saving choice for organizations. A video solution platform can help you achieve closed captions on-demand or generate them automatically for each upload.

Similarly, VIDIZMO's Video Solution also offers the capability of a customized interactive video player within its Enterprise Video Content Management, which supports closed captioning with SRT, DFXP, and WebVTT formats which transcribe videos and generate closed caption files in no time.

The Ending Note

Everything is automated, and switching to AI-based software is the need of the hour! An advanced and interactive player can help you achieve organizational goals and stay ahead of competitors by enabling closed captions and subtitles. 

Do you want to explore more features of VIDIZMO?