THE BASICS

What are captions?
Captions are the visual representation of a video's soundtrack. They are created according to very specific style rules by captioners and caption companies, and are available on almost all television programs and television sets. Captions are mandated by the FCC and have been proven to not only help audiences that cannot hear their television, but also serve as a valuable tool for educators and people learning English as a second language.

How do I turn captions on?
All television sets with a screen measuring 13 inches or larger are required to have the ability to show captions.    To turn the captions on, find the CC button or caption menu on your television remote control.   Following the menu, choose CC1 for English captions, CC2 or CC3 for Spanish captions (not always available).  

With new HDTV sets and the upcoming transition to digital television, turning on captions can sometimes be a bit more difficult..

Back to Top

Why do captions look so different from station to station, show to show?
Just as programming on television is either live (sports, news, weather, etc.) or pre-recorded (sitcoms, dramas, made–for–TV movies), captions can be created live or in advance of a program's airdate.

Live programming is usually captioned by realtime captioners who listen to a program at the same time as the audience and “write” what they hear on steno machines, similar to those used in courtrooms.   The caption viewer can tell that a show is captioned live because the captions appear one word at a time, occasionally fall behind and write “ errors.”    Pre-recorded programming is almost always captioned in advance of air, with captioners taking the time to match text with audio and format it for easy reading.

In both cases, the quality of captioning is dependent on the skill of the captioner or caption company, the willingness of the programmer to invest in quality captioning and a smooth connection between the broadcaster and your television set.

Back to Top

Why do captions look different from television set to television set?
Different television manufacturers use different fonts for captions, and high definition TVs provide a wide variety of options as well.    We advise viewers to test the captions in the store before purchasing, as the difference can be substantial.

Back to Top

Would machines be better at captioning than people?
Voice recognition technology is not yet at a point where captions can be produced at a readable level.  Indeed, this is a long way off.    Some companies use “voice writers” where a trained voicer re-speaks program dialogue.    Even this results in lower quality captions than those currently created by human stenocaptioners, though.

Back to Top

What is the difference between captions and subtitles?
In the United States, “captions” generally refer to the text embedded in a television broadcast which can be turned on and off by a viewer.  Captions are usually white letters in a black box, sometimes uppercase, sometimes mixed case.    “Subtitles” are most often seen on DVDs and in foreign language films – they may be a permanent part of the video or turned on and off, and are usually in an Arial font, white or yellow, without a surrounding box. 

In other parts of the world, including the UK, "captions" are referred to as "subtitles."

Back to Top

THE RULES

What has to be captioned?
The FCC requires nearly all programming on television to be captioned, with some exceptions for new networks and for programming airing between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Click for more info

Other laws which apply to captioning include the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), The Rehabilitation Act, and Section 508 Accessibility guidelines for the Federal Government.  For more information on how these rules apply to captioning, visit the National Association of the Deaf’s Captioning Advocacy page and the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology

Back to Top

If the government says a network has to have captions on their TV programs, why don't they have to have them on their programming shown on the Internet?
The FCC does not mandate captioning on the Internet, DVDs or video games. 
It is important that people who rely on captioning are not left behind as more television programming is provided via the Internet.   A number of groups are addressing the issue, including the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, and some networks are even providing captioning solutions, including NBC.

Back to Top

CAPTIONS FOR TELEVISION SHOWS

What is captioned on television?
All programming airing between 6:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m., with some exceptions for new networks and producers who claim captioning is an “undue burden,” must be captioned.

Back to Top

Why are some shows still not captioned?
Some shows may not be captioned because the network is new, or the time is outside the mandated hours.   If your favorite show is not captioned, or you are not seeing captions on a show that should be captioned, contact the network and/or your cable company.  Try our viewer relations bureau for an automated solution to reach the program provider.

Back to Top

Are there captions available in Spanish and other languages?
The government has different requirements for Spanish-language programming, but by 2010, 100% of all Spanish-language programming should be captioned, with some exceptions.  In addition, some networks are airing Spanish captions on CC2 for English language programming.

Programming broadcast in languages other than English and Spanish are not required to be captioned.

Back to Top

Is it just me, or is trying to get captions on and functioning on my HD television a problem for everyone?
It’s true.  Viewers who rely on captioning to understand and participate in programming are finding it increasingly difficult to even turn on captions on their new television sets, relying on misinformed cable technicians, sales associates and television and set-top box manufactures who often blame each other.

Once captions are on, an entirely new set of hurdles presents itself, as viewers struggle to understand why the captions on their state-of-the-art television are garbled, overlapping, running off the edge of the screen, or missing – problems they thought they’d solved in the analog days. These issues are new, confusing and upsetting to a community that, in 2006, had finally reached a point where nearly all programming on television must be captioned.

One of the biggest differences between HD television and your old analog set is that the television relies on your cable box to “open up” the captions for broadcast.   In some cases, the cable box must be turned off to turn captions on.  If you’re not seeing captions, the best place to start is your cable or satellite company. If you’re seeing garbled captions, or captions on some channels but not others, please contact the network individually or through our viewer relations bureau.

Back to Top

CAPTIONS FOR OTHER MEDIA

Are there captions on/available on the Internet?
It is easy to create captions for almost all Internet video formats (Flash, Windows Media Player, MP4, Quicktime, etc), and we are seeing more and more video providers add captioning to Internet video.  It’s an automatic way to increase viewers, but still a far cry from the accessibility provided on television right now.   To ensure more programming is captioned, contact the programmers either through our viewer relations bureau or directly via their website.

Back to Top

What about movie theaters?
Captions make movie soundtracks accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990, only a limited number of film prints with laser-etched (open) captions were available for distribution to movie theaters. As such, the ADA guidelines, also issued at that time, say that movie theaters are not required to present open captioned films. However, Congress also intended that access accommodations keep pace with technological advances. Today, a variety of technologies are available to display captions in movie theaters. To learn more, visit the National Association of the Deaf Movie Advocacy page.

Back to Top

DVDs?
There is no requirement that DVDs be released with captions or subtitles.  If you know of a DVD that is not captioned, write to the DVD studio or production company.   To learn more about captioned DVDs available now, visit http://dvd-subtitles.com/.

Back to Top

Ads on television?
The FCC requirements are only for videos that are longer than five minutes.  Captioning rules do apply to presidential candidates who receive federal funding, as part of the Form 1040 "check off" provision.   Approximately 30% of all advertisements on television are captioned – the remaining advertisers need to know that captioning will only increase their audience… and sales.   For more information on captioning for one big annual event, visit this page: http://www.captions.com/.

Back to Top

Sporting Events?
All televised sporting events must be captioned, with very few exceptions.   Some stadiums offer captioning on their video screens for fans.  Read here about a deaf advocate in Washington DC, trying to gain better access to Redskins games.

Back to Top

Educational material for adults as well as young people?
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires public school districts to provide an "appropriate" education to children and youth with disabilities.   This can include captioning, but does not guarantee that all videos shown in the classroom are shown with captions.   The Described and Captioned Media Program provides captioned and described educational videos at no charge to the student or teacher.

Back to Top

iPods and Mobile Phones?
It is possible to add captions to video displayed on iPods and mobile phones.  Early concerns about screen size (how can you see the letters?) have been resolved with the increasing use of text messaging – if you can read a text message on your phone, you can read captions or subtitles on your iPod.   New iPods and iTouches have the ability to display captioning, but there are no requirements for providers of video to caption.  

Back to Top

DIDN'T FIND YOUR QUESTION?

If I want captions on in more places, what should I do?
The most effective way to indicate you want captions is to contact the company or person  responsible for creating  the material you’re watching.    Do not stop and do not assume that anyone else is speaking for you.  For great advice on reaching decision makers, see this advocacy article written by Janice Schacter.   Janice is currently the chair of the Hearing Access Program Consortium of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the League of the Hard of Hearing and the Hearing Loss Association of American.   The article was originally published by Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc.

Back to Top

Should teachers tell their students to turn on captions if captions are helpful?
Many studies, including this one, have proven that captioning improves language and literacy skills among deaf and hearing children alike.  CaptionsOn urges teachers and parent–teacher organizations to include captioning when sharing video programming with their children.

Back to Top

I haven't seen captions on in doctor's offices or at nursing homes/long-term care facilities - if captions help cut down the noise/volume of the television and help keep your mind fit - why aren't they turned on?
Sounds like someone needs to be educated.  Whether in a restaurant, doctor’s office or hospital, captions can only help.   Pick up the remote, or ask for the remote, and turn the captions on!

Back to Top

Is it really worth the effort to complain if captions aren't the quality I think they should be?
Absolutely!  Networks, cable companies and caption companies all care about the quality of the captioning they put on the air.  In many cases, though, they won’t know about a problem unless notified by the viewer.

Back to Top