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Why use Captions

Captions benefit everyone, but they’re imperative for making video content accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Screen view of Captions edit page showing edit in progress
5 reasons why youÌýshouldÌýcaptionÌýyourÌývideo content

Accessibility

When you make your content accessible, you allow people who might be deaf or hard of hearing to have access to the videos you produce. More than 5% of the world's population has some form ofÌýhearing loss, by adding captions there is an opportunity to serve and reach this group.ÌýAccurately captioning content is anÌýinclusive step which, can have aÌýdramatic impact not only for learning and teaching but also forÌýstudent marketing content. Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ is now as open and inclusive as possible and accessibility is a core component of the universityÌýmarketing plan.

If you’re not sure how to add captions to your video content, we’ve created aÌýguide on how to that. We also show how you can do this for whatever platform you are using - not just Mediacentral.

Helping people with English as aÌýSecond Language (ESL)

If you want to reach a larger audience, you should add captionsÌýto a video to make it easier for non-native English speakers to understand.Ìý

Viewing videos with captions over the spoken audio allows learners to develop an ear for the more nuanced features of the English language, especially when idioms and slang terms are used.ÌýBy offering captions, you’re aiding the viewer in their use ofÌývocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, syntax, and many other linguistic features.

Improve the average video watch time

Captions tend to grab and hold an audience’s attention, people are more likely to watch a video to itsÌýcompletion if they have the option to turn on captions.Ìý

If you’veÌýjotted down notes at a lecture, knowing that this will assist you to recall the information at a later date, then you haveÌýexperienced how effective it is to engageÌýmultiple senses. An audienceÌýsubjected to a continuous flowÌýof informationÌýfrom multiple directionsÌýis more likely to remember theÌýcontent in a video when the message is reinforced with text.

Indexing for search engine optimization (SEO)

Search engines can’t crawl video. However,Ìýthey can crawl the text on websites. If it is important toÌýrank your videoÌýhigherÌýon Google, then add captions and a transcript to your video.

User Experience

80% of people who use captions are notÌýdeaf or hard of hearing.ÌýCaptions give anÌýaudience the ability to enjoy videoÌýcontentÌýregardless of the environment they are in. This isÌýusefulÌýwhenÌýan individual is in aÌýnoisy areaÌýor when it's important that there is aÌýneed to focus on the speech in the video and especially when the speech is difficult to understand.ÌýUsing captions givesÌýviewers wherever andÌýwhenever theÌýflexibility to watch in a way that suits them.