Online Video Captioning Standards

Captions allow deaf viewers to understand the spoken content of videos by displaying words in sync with the audio.

ADAdoes not specifically mention best practices for closed captioning.

WCAG 2.0 Level AAas the acceptable standard when complying with ADA.

Online Video Captioning Standards

Generally accepted captioning standards

• Each caption frame should hold 1 to 3 lines of text on screen at a time, viewable for 3 to 7 seconds.
• Each line should not exceed 32 characters. • Each caption frame should be replaced by
another caption.

• All caption frames should be precisely time‐synched to the audio.
• Acaption frame should be repositioned on the screen if it obscures onscreen text or other essential visual elements.

Best Practices for Caption Style and Formatting:

.Spelling should be at least 99% accurate.

Both upper and lowercase letters should be used.

The font should be a non‐serif, such as Helvetica medium.

Non‐speech sounds like[MUSIC] or [LAUGHTER] should be added in square brackets.

Punctuation should be used for maximum clarity in the text, not necessarily for textbook style.

Video Closed Captioning Tools

• Live Streaming – Boxcast • Camtasia
• YouTube Videos

• Closed Captions for Windows 10 • Sync Words
• Caption Service