Captions vs. Subtitles: Do You Know the Difference?

But, contrary to popular belief, the two are not synonymous. They differ from each other in definition and purpose – captions are designed for viewers who cannot hear the audio in a video, while subtitles are designed for viewers who can hear, but do not understand the language being spoken in the video.

What are captions?

Whether open or closed, captions differ from subtitles in that they’re designed to ensure that the viewer can understand all essential audio in a video – which may include more than just the spoken audio. Non-speech sounds that are necessary to a viewer’s understanding should be included in proper captioning and are normally shown in brackets, such as in these examples.

In the United States and many other parts of the world, federal laws require captioning for video content across a number of industries.

 Check out the Beginner’s Guide to Captioning ➡️ 

What are subtitles?

Subtitles were introduced in the 1930s, when silent film transitioned to film with spoken audio in order to accommodate foreign audiences who didn’t understand the language used in a film.

Still today, the primary purpose of subtitling is to translate spoken audio into a language the viewer will understand. In most cases, subtitles are not an appropriate accommodation for deaf or hard of hearing viewers because they don’t include the aforementioned non-speech sounds that provide a comprehensive, equitable viewing experience for people who cannot hear audio.