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BY KEVIN JONES
(download a PDF version of this Instructable from the DCMP's Clearinghouse of Accessibility Information.)
"How do I caption my streaming media?" "How can I caption my video for YouTube or my own Web site?" "How do I view captions on YouTube or Google Video?" "How can I caption my online advertisements?"
No matter what type of Internet-based video you have online, captioning is a great way to get your message to the millions of people worldwide who are deaf or hard of hearing as well as to people who don't have access to the audio on their computers. Captioning is a tool that helps promotes literacy for both children and adults, too. If you want to caption your streaming media, but don't know how or are confused by all the information out there, Kevin Jones, the former DCMP information technologist, will walk you through it step-by-step in this article.
(download a PDF version of this Instructable from the DCMP's Clearinghouse of Accessibility Information.)
"How do I caption my streaming media?" "How can I caption my video for YouTube or my own Web site?" "How do I view captions on YouTube or Google Video?" "How can I caption my online advertisements?"
No matter what type of Internet-based video you have online, captioning is a great way to get your message to the millions of people worldwide who are deaf or hard of hearing as well as to people who don't have access to the audio on their computers. Captioning is a tool that helps promotes literacy for both children and adults, too. If you want to caption your streaming media, but don't know how or are confused by all the information out there, Kevin Jones, the former DCMP information technologist, will walk you through it step-by-step in this article.
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If you have ever wanted to watch captioned streaming videos on the Internet, then you probably know how difficult they are to find. Outside of using Google's advanced video search capability to search for captioned videos on the google.com domain, there are very few methods for reliably locating captioned videos on the Internet. While the W3C Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) maintain that all videos on the Internet should provide both a synchronized text alternative and audio description for accessibility purposes, the reality is that very few actually do. There is growing awareness, however, of the many benefits of providing captions for streaming videos. In particular, captioning:
Improves clarity and comprehension of the sounds and dialogue, particularly when poor audio, heavy accents, background noises, and other such media elements are present.
+ Makes your video (and advertising) accessible to over 28 million Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing.
+ Creates a complete text transcript of the video, which can be indexed by search engines to provide far more accurate search results than keyword tagging alone.
+ Enables translation into multiple languages. Helps to meet regulatory compliance measures for governmental and educational institutions (e.g., Section 508 ).
+ Allows individuals to follow along with the video dialogue even when they do not have access to sound on their PC or mobile device (e.g., in a noisy area with no headphones or when using devices with faulty or missing sound cards or drivers).
+ Promotes literacy for children and adults by strengthening reading speed, comprehension, spelling, and grammar skills.
Unfortunately, captioning has not flourished on the Internet, in large part, due to the many incompatibilities between all of the various streaming video players and formats. The basis of all captions, however, irrespective of the format, begins with the creation of a "timed text file".
In its most basic form, a timed text caption file includes a text transcript of the sounds and dialogue contained in a video or audio production, along with starting and ending time values, which are used by the video player to synchronize the display of the caption text with the dialogue. Unfortunately, there is no single timed text file format that will work with every video player and format. You will therefore need to determine the type of player you prefer (e.g., Real, Windows Media, Flash) and, assuming you plan to use the Adobe Flash video format, which of the dozens of video-hosting providers you would like to use (e.g., YouTube, Google Video, or Metacafe).
Most free video-hosting providers take your video file and convert it from its original format into the Flash (FLV) format. They then display the Flash video on their site to attract more viewers. With rare exception, the video conversion and compression process that takes place after you upload your video does not incorporate a caption file, which would allow captions to be displayed during playback. One notable exception is Google Video.
The Google Video hosting service and player has the ability to accept several different types of caption files (sometimes called "subtitle" files) and subsequently display the video with closed captions, which can be turned on or off with the push of a button. Additionally, Google Video offers a great deal of storage space for uploading larger video file sizes and can even be used by producers to upload a large video production via the Google desktop loader application. It is best to upload a high-quality video file (e.g., MPEG-4) to ensure that the converted Flash video is of the highest possible viewing quality.
Improves clarity and comprehension of the sounds and dialogue, particularly when poor audio, heavy accents, background noises, and other such media elements are present.
+ Makes your video (and advertising) accessible to over 28 million Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing.
+ Creates a complete text transcript of the video, which can be indexed by search engines to provide far more accurate search results than keyword tagging alone.
+ Enables translation into multiple languages. Helps to meet regulatory compliance measures for governmental and educational institutions (e.g., Section 508 ).
+ Allows individuals to follow along with the video dialogue even when they do not have access to sound on their PC or mobile device (e.g., in a noisy area with no headphones or when using devices with faulty or missing sound cards or drivers).
+ Promotes literacy for children and adults by strengthening reading speed, comprehension, spelling, and grammar skills.
Unfortunately, captioning has not flourished on the Internet, in large part, due to the many incompatibilities between all of the various streaming video players and formats. The basis of all captions, however, irrespective of the format, begins with the creation of a "timed text file".
In its most basic form, a timed text caption file includes a text transcript of the sounds and dialogue contained in a video or audio production, along with starting and ending time values, which are used by the video player to synchronize the display of the caption text with the dialogue. Unfortunately, there is no single timed text file format that will work with every video player and format. You will therefore need to determine the type of player you prefer (e.g., Real, Windows Media, Flash) and, assuming you plan to use the Adobe Flash video format, which of the dozens of video-hosting providers you would like to use (e.g., YouTube, Google Video, or Metacafe).
Most free video-hosting providers take your video file and convert it from its original format into the Flash (FLV) format. They then display the Flash video on their site to attract more viewers. With rare exception, the video conversion and compression process that takes place after you upload your video does not incorporate a caption file, which would allow captions to be displayed during playback. One notable exception is Google Video.
The Google Video hosting service and player has the ability to accept several different types of caption files (sometimes called "subtitle" files) and subsequently display the video with closed captions, which can be turned on or off with the push of a button. Additionally, Google Video offers a great deal of storage space for uploading larger video file sizes and can even be used by producers to upload a large video production via the Google desktop loader application. It is best to upload a high-quality video file (e.g., MPEG-4) to ensure that the converted Flash video is of the highest possible viewing quality.
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Dec 11, 2008. 11:26 AM
kelseymh
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kelseymh
says:
Thank you for putting this together and posting it! I've added it to Instructable's Assistive Technology discussion group.
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