Video Accessibility: Closed Captions, Audio Description Services and BSL

When it comes to online or broadcast video accessibility, the ultimate goal is to ensure a video is described or captioned to provide the full audio-visual experience. At Capital Captions, we truly care about accessibility. We provide a full range of services including closed captioning, audio description services, voiceovers, and BSL translation. In this blog, we’ll delve into what each service involves and how they can all be used to enhance the video experience. 

Closed Captioning Services

To ensure accessibility for deaf and hard of hearing audiences, closed captioning is the go-to service. Closed captions give viewers the option to turn on and off timed onscreen text. SDH (subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing) should not be confused with standard subtitles which only include dialogue. Closed captions should include any speech within a video, including important descriptions in terms of intonation, e.g. whispers, sarcasm, shouting… Captions should also include description of sound effects and musical lyrics if present. In addition, speaker identifications are highly important, along with other information relating to the sound and its context within a video.

It’s a fact that closed captioning services are great for online content in terms of SEO and audience reach. However, more importantly, when it comes to VoD and broadcast closed captions are a legal requirement. Capital Captions write and format closed captions for use across an endless range of video distribution channels. Some of these include YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, iPlayer, BBC and many more…

BSL Translation Services (British Sign Language) 

For some Deaf and hard of hearing viewers who communicate through sign language, BSL onscreen interpreting can be a more natural way to engage with video content. Additionally, sign language can convey intonation and emotion in a way that closed captions sometimes can’t. Also, for viewers who are both Deaf and have visual impairment, reading onscreen text may prove a struggle. 

At Capital Captions, we work with translating your video into BSL within just a few steps. Firstly, the film needs to be transcribed and timed, similar to closed captions. Subsequently, a BSL interpreter will work with green screen, recording their translation in time with the video. Finally, we will edit and integrate the interpreter video seamlessly into the source film, ready for distribution. 

Audio Description Services and Voiceovers 

Deaf and hard of hearing viewers have been covered by the availability of closed captioning for decades. However, when it comes to accessibility for blind and sight impaired viewers, things are only now really starting to change. Audio description services consist of a recording which can be turned on in unison with a video in order to describe the visual elements as they occur. This therefore allows blind audiences a better understanding of what’s going on. In contrast to standard videos, voiceovers and translation may be preferable within graphical, informative or elearning videos. In summary, if you want to ensure accessibility for visually impaired audiences, audio description is the way to go.

The full audio description process involves a number of steps. Capital Captions are happy to offer services to audio describe your videos from start to finish. When we receive a source video for audio description, we will either use a script provided or create our own script to describe the onscreen action or visual elements. This text will be timed where we work with a voice artist who will record the audio description within a studio as required. Following on from recording audio description, it’s important to edit down the audio track so that voices don’t clash with any already onscreen dialogue.

Once the audio has been timed, edited and pared down, the audio description track can be supplied in the format required by the video distributor for use alongside the video, often in ESF, WAV or MP3 format. 

So there you have it, our guide to enhancing your audiences viewing experience. If you would like to know more about any of our services take a look at our Voiceover and audio description services or our closed captioning services for a more in depth look. If you already know what you are after use the quote button below to contact us and one of our friendly team will be happy to assist.