Libraries and Accessibility

80% of people who use captions are not deaf or hard of hearing.

Learn more at Accessibility and Online Video stats from 3Play Media.

Captioned video

• ensures that deaf or hard of hearing individuals can use the video
• supports different learning styles, especially for people who prefer to read instead of listen
• is useful when it’s not possible or convenient to play the sound

There are two types of captions

• Closed captions: This is the technique to use because the viewer can turn off the captioning.
• Open captions: Captions appear without the option to remove them.

How to add captions or subtitles while recording the video

• Clips: a free app for Apple products with many features for recording videos. While recording your video within the app, you can add live captions to the video, which you can edit after recording. 

How to add captions or subtitles to video recordings post-production

• Amara: caption and subtitle any video for free. You will have to manually type the subtitles; they are not generated automatically. - works better for short videos or those without a lot of talking. 
• Cadet: A free, downloadable captioning program from the National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH (NCAM).
• Facebook: you can auto-generate, upload, or type your own captions when uploading a video to a Facebook Page.  To learn more, visit the add captions to your page's video on Facebook page of of the Facebook Help site.  
• Google Drive: Learn about captioning google drive videos at the Google Drive add captions to an uploaded video help page. You need to have captions or a transcript typed up first.
• Kapwing: an online editor for subtitling your videos. The free version has a maximum video length of of 10 minutes. After Kapwing creates the subtitles automatically, you can correct and edit them.
• Veed: an online tool with the options to create subtitles automatically, type subtitles manually, or upload your subtitle file. There is a free version for videos under 10 minutes and 50MB, but they'll add a Veed-branded watermark to the upper left corner of your video.
• YouTube: upload your video to YouTube and use the platform to add automatic captions. Be sure to review and edit the captions for accuracy. (More info on video translations and captions in YouTube.) Here's another set of instructions.
• Zubtitle: an online tool that automatically adds subtitles to any video by transcribing the audio and generating subtitle text. Transcription of the first video is free, but subsequent videos require a monthly subscription.

In Connecticut, live real-time captioning for telephone calls is available for free through T-Mobile IP Relay or Relay Connecticut. Both offer services for conference calls.  Relay Connecticut can provide captioning for virtual meetings as well. 

Companies that create subtitles/captions/transcripts, with an associated cost.

• 3PlayMedia
• Ai-Media
• Caption First
• Rev 
• Verbit
• Vitac