Providing open (always visible) captions

ID: G93

Technology: general

Type: Technique

When to Use

Any synchronized media technology, even ones that do not support closed captions.

Description

The objective of this technique is to provide a way for people who are deaf or otherwise have trouble hearing the dialogue in audio visual material to be able to view the material. With this technique all of the dialogue and important sounds are embedded as text in the video track. As a result they are always visible and no special support for captioning is required by the user agent.

NOTE: Captions should not be confused with subtitles. Subtitles provide text of only the dialogue and do not include important sounds.

Examples

In order to ensure that everyone can view their online movies, even if users do not know how to turn on captions in their media player, a library association puts the captions directly into the video.
A news organization provides open captions on all of its material.

Tests

Procedure

Watch the synchronized media with closed captioning turned off.
Check that captions (of all dialogue and important sounds) are visible.

Expected Results

#2 is true