/
Elements of Quality Captioning and Best Practice When Captioning

Elements of Quality Captioning and Best Practice When Captioning

Students, faculty, and staff can edit captions for videos on Kaltura, YouTube, and other video streaming platforms. The most current captioning information is available on the Described and Captioned Media Program's Guidelines and Best Practices for Captioning page. 

For more information about captioning content, such as Chemistry terminology, contact the DCMP directly for guidance.  

Elements of Quality Captioning

Found on the Described and Captioned Media Program Website

  • Accurate
    Errorless captions are the goal for each production.

  • Consistent
    Uniformity in style and presentation of all captioning features is crucial for viewer understanding.

  • Clear
    A complete textual representation of the audio, including speaker identification and non-speech information, provides clarity.

  • Readable

    • Captions are: 

      • displayed with enough time to be read completely

      • synchronized with the audio

    • Captions don’t: 

      • obscure the visual content

      • be obscured by the visual content

  • Equal
    Equal access requires that the meaning and intention of the material is completely preserved.

Best Practice When Captioning

  • Use a maximum of two lines of text for captions

  • Line Division

    • When a sentence is broken into two or more lines of captions, it should be broken at a logical point where speech normally pauses.

  • Indicate speakers. You can use their name if it is known. You can also identify speakers by narrator or by gender and number, as shown below. 

    • (Jack)

    • (female #1)

    • (male narrator)

  • Indicate sound effects. Examples include:

    • (audience cheering)

    • (explosion)

  • Indicate changes in intonation Examples include:

    • (whispering)

    • (angrily speaking)

  • Indicate music. Examples include: 

    • (lyrical flute solo)

    • (Louis Armstrong plays "Hello Dolly")

  • When people are seen talking, but there is no audio, caption as shown in the examples below:

    • (no audio)

    • (silence)

  • When content is inaudible, such as when a speaker is too quiet, caption as (inaudible).

Professional Captioning Services

Kaltura

If you need professional caption services, UConn has a contract in place with Kaltura.

  • Submit a PO to Kaltura for the amount of captioning you need to do (there is no pay as you go)

  • Contact the Academic IT department at techsupport@uconn.edu to create a group in Kaltura so you can request professional captions.

Related Articles