Similar to subtitles, closed captions should contain elements for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. This includes descriptions of sound effects, speaker identifications where speakers are offscreen and the use of specific formatting for elements such as voiceovers, music and lyrics. In addition, closed captions often utilise positional changes and colour changes to help indicate speakers where multiple people are speaking onscreen.

In order for closed captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH) to be fully accessible to viewers, reading speeds should be monitored closely to ensure there is time to read text onscreen. Broadcasters and streaming service providers will often ask for specific formats for closed captions, and at Capital Captions, we specialise in high quality captions, in numerous formats, conforming to a range of specifications.

BSL interpreting is a requirement in terms of ensuring accessibility for sign language speakers. BSL videos should feature an interpreter on the right hand bottom corner of the video screen. Interpreters should wear block colours with long sleeves and without patterns, where their face and hands are clearly visible. Videos which are translated in BSL are often shrunk slightly and moved to the left hand top corner of the screen, with a background colour added on the right and below the video in a colour that contrasts with the interpreter. This ensures that the onscreen BSL interpreter doesn’t block important visual elements of the video, and well-considered colour choices in attire and background ensure that all hand gestures are clear.

Audio description is a service which ensures accessibility for Blind and Visually Impaired audiences. A script is written which describes the visual elements in a video. Descriptions are recorded in between dialogue to ensure that they are easily heard and do not overlap.

For videos which require audio description to be turned on and off on a source video as it plays, scripts and recordings need to be very carefully timed with very strict timing constraints. In contrast, for videos that are published separately to the source video, a video can be paused in sections requiring description and then played again. This allows for a lot more detailed description, but does mean that the audio described video needs to be published separately as opposed to being turned on and off.

Typically, audio description is supplied in formats which include:

• .WAV (supplied as a standalone audio file which can be switched on and off by viewers as a video plays)
• .MP3 (supplied as a standalone audio file which can be switched on and off by viewers as a video plays)
• .MOV and .MP4 (where there is a requirement for the audio description to be overlaid directly onto a video)

Videos that require translation to ensure accessibility will often require foreign subtitles and editing of onscreen text and graphics. Working with over 50 languages, and various video editing suites, including Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects, Capital Captions are able to seamlessly translate and edit video content.