Captioning for On-Demand Fitness Video

There are many benefits of providing captions and transcripts as a supplement to video content – especially for on-demand fitness video.

In an ever-increasing digital world, people are ditching their gym memberships and opting, instead, for a virtual gym experience; a fitness regimen when and where they want.

Providing closed captioning and transcription for on-demand fitness video is essential for accessibility, user engagement, and helping people in sound-sensitive environments understand the audio information.

While each industry will ultimately have different needs, we’ll cover what’s important, the common challenges with captioning and transcribing content, and which vendor features are most desired for on-demand fitness video.

What is Important for Accessible On-Demand Fitness Video?

• Accuracy: correct spelling and terminology are important for this industry. Fitness style content isn’t going to be useful if it’s inaccurate. If members can’t understand what the instructors are saying, it can be distracting and look bad on the company, whose members are paying top dollar to enjoy their content.
• Turnaround Time: many on-demand fitness companies are producing large amounts of content in order to offer their members new and exciting workouts. With so much content being produced, it’s imperative that videos aren’t delayed and delivered in a timely manner.
• Accessibility: there are 466 million people worldwide with some form of hearing loss. Captions and transcripts make on-demand fitness video accessible to the millions of people who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing.
• Legal Compliance: when the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1990, the internet was not as commonplace as it is now. While the ADA does not specifically mention online businesses, disability advocates have utilized the law to win a number of cases. These cases have created a precedent that the ADA applies to online video, including on-demand fitness video.
• User Engagement: video content is on the rise, and with so many videos to choose from, brands must keep their users engaged. Providing closed captions and transcripts help members watch videos in more places, which is important since members value convenience. According to the United Kingdom’s Ofcom, 80% of people who watch video with closed captions on are not d/Deaf or hard of hearing.

What Are Common Challenges of Captioning for Fitness Video?

• Volume of Content: as mentioned, on-demand fitness companies are consistently producing new content. It can become very expensive to caption and transcribe in-house – especially when you want to ensure high-quality, accurate captions and transcripts.
• Difficult Content: on-demand fitness videos can be long and difficult files. Usually, there’s an instructor teaching a class with loud music playing in the background. When using ASR technology alone, it can miss words said by the instructor. When you add difficult audio with music, accents, and other background noise, the accuracy rate can decrease significantly. 
• Deadline Compliance: turnaround is crucial for on-demand fitness companies. If there are delays, members will be left without the latest workouts. Fitness brands need a captioning vendor that meets their strict deadlines and offer multiple turnaround options.  

 10 Questions to Ask a Captioning Vendor   ➡️

Which Vendor Features Should You Look For?

• Cheat Sheets and Glossaries: many on-demand fitness companies have live and recorded classes. In these classes, there may be unique terms and names used. For example, instructors may give shoutouts to members who are performing well or say unique terms used exclusively by the brand. With 3Play Media, you can upload a cheat sheet with correct names and terminology for the transcriptionist to follow.
• Custom APIs: we have a versatile upload system that you can customize for different video players. Our flexible APIs allow you to build your own workflow and programmatically import media files, export transcript and caption files, and use video plugins.
• Speaker IDs: if you have one or more instructor per video, 3Play offers speaker identifications to make it easy to determine who is speaking in the video.
• Flexible Turnaround: 3Play offers a number of turnaround options to fit your workflow. Whether you need it sooner or later, we have two-hour, same-day, next-day, two-day, four-day, and 10-day turnaround options.
  
• Guaranteed Accuracy: we understand how important accurate captions are to your brand. We always guarantee 99% accuracy, even in cases where there is difficult content,
  multiple speakers, or background music. Our certified transcriptionists ensure your caption files are always high-quality.
  
• Intuitive Account System: our Account System is robust and user-friendly. If you need to upload a large amount of content, we’ve got you covered. In case you may need help, our support team and vast amount of support documentation are always available.

On-Demand Fitness Brands Using 3Play

The 10 crucial questions in this white paper will help you compare your options and find the right solution for you.👇