How to Add Captions to Video: To Integrate, or Not to Integrate?

With such a wide variety of video platforms, players, and applications (oh my!) available on the market, it’s not always easy to understand how to add captions to video content on the platform you’re familiar with.

This post serves as your directory for how-to guides on adding captions to 70+ video players, platforms, lecture capture systems, and other applications. No matter where you work with video content, 3Play has step-by-step instructions for effectively and efficiently adding captions and creating accessible videos.

Browse our resources: Find the how-to guide for your platform ➡️

Why do captions matter?

Closed captions provide a text alternative to relevant auditory information in a video. They originated as the outcome of an FCC mandate in the 1980s to accommodate D/deaf and hard of hearing television viewers – as a result of this, closed captions are required to be time synchronized and include details like speaker identifications and relevant non-speech elements. Most businesses and organizations are now legally required to add captions to video content.

But including closed captions is more than just legal best practice. For starters, it’s the right thing to do! Millions of people around the world experience disabling hearing loss, and including captions ensures that this audience has equal access to your organization’s video content.

However, the benefits of captioned content are not limited to individuals experiencing deafness or hearing loss. We’ve published plenty of information on the business benefits of captioning and transcription, because they’re powerful tools for expanding your audience and creating a better user experience. Captions can improve comprehension among viewers who speak English as a second language, and have proven to play a significant role in increasing overall audience engagement, comprehension, and information retention.

This can translate to better brand awareness and expanded reach – but in order to reap the benefits and make a positive impact on your video’s performance, it’s crucial to build an accurate and efficient captioning workflow. 3Play offers captioning workflow integrations with most popular video platforms and players, so we can work where you already do.

What is a captioning integration?

In tech, integrations link disparate systems or platforms to make sharing information and building workflows between the two much easier. At 3Play, our integrations streamline the captioning process to eliminate the need for manually uploading videos every time you require captions.

We integrate with most leading video platforms, players, lecture capture, file sharing, and learning management systems, including:

1. Brightcove
2. Canvas
3. Kaltura
4. YouTube
5. Zoom

And that’s just to name a few. Don’t see the platform or player you’re used to working on? Find a complete list of available integrations using the link below.

See the full list of 3Play Media integrations ⚙️

How to add captions to video

Don’t fret – if you’re not using a captioning integration yet, there are still plenty of ways you can add captions to your organization’s video content.

We’ve published step-by-step instructions on uploading, creating, and adding captions to 60+ platforms, including Adobe applications, iMovie, Quicktime, Microsoft, and iOS.

Check out our full directory of how-to guides below to see the full scope of the solutions we have available for big film projects, short video clips, and everything in between.

This blog was originally published by Jaclyn Leduc on October 27, 2020 and has since been updated for comprehensiveness, clarity, and accuracy.