CLOSED/OPEN CAPTIONS & SUBTITLES GUIDELINES
- Nikola Mateja
Please, carefully read the below information to ensure your submission is correct!
For RAZOR submission, you should follow the Australian CC accessibility standards and create Open Captions in the correct styling.
SubtitlesĀ provide a text alternative for the dialogue of video footage ā the spoken words of characters, narrators and other vocal participants. Most often used to translate audio to different languages.
Closed Captions (CC)Ā not only supplement for dialogue butĀ other relevant parts of the soundtrackĀ ā describing background noises, phones ringing and other audio cues that need describing. CC can be turned on and off.
Open Captions (OC)Ā are following the same rules as CC, but are always visible and canāt be turned off (are burned into the film).
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Captioning comes in two forms: opened and closed. Closed captions (CC) are the most common. SBS defines closed captions as captions that can be hidden (thus closed), until āopenedā by the viewer. Essentially, CC can be turned on or off.
Open captions have the same content as closed captions, except open captions are permanent and cannot be turned off. Whether captions are open or closed, the media producer has control over the way captions appear. This includes the location of captions, size, font, colour and duration.
Subtitles are generally applied to translated dialogue for media in foreign languages. In contrast, captions include descriptions of important non-dialogue audio like āmusicā or āsighsā. Many countries legally require both live and pre-recorded television programs to be CC.
- CENTRE FOR ACCESSIBILITY AUSTRALIA
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SUBTITLES , CC & OC COMPARISON
SUBTITLES | CLOSED CAPTIONS | OPEN CAPTIONS |
|---|---|---|
Assumes viewers can hear audio | Does not assume viewers can hear audio | Does not assume viewers can hear audio |
Only includes dialogue | Includes dialogue, sound effects, music etc. | Includes dialogue, sound effects, music etc. |
Designed for audiences whoĀ are not fluent inĀ the original language | Primarily designed for audiences who are Deaf or hard of hearing | Primarily designed for audiences who are Deaf or hard of hearing |
Developed prior to a film or TV show release | Often addedĀ after the film or TV show is released | Often addedĀ after the film or TV show is released |
Translates languages as text | Displays all dialogue and audio as text | Displays all dialogue and audio as text |
Can be burned in or not | Can be turned on and off (using .SRT file) | Burned into the film |
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If your film needs subtitles or captions, make sure to follow the guidelines below.
GuidelinesĀ for Subtitles and Captions:
Should holdĀ a maximum of two linesĀ of textĀ on screen at a time.
In case of CC - should have aĀ coloured backgroundĀ with high contrast (i.e. white on black).
In case of Subtitles - should have high contrast with the film (i.e. coloured background or stroke).
Font should be similar toĀ Arial (a sans serif font).
Font should beĀ large enough to read easily.
In case of CC -Ā Background noises, or non-speech sounds, should be added inĀ square brackets in capital letters.
Punctuation and both lower- and upper-case lettersĀ should be used.
Limit captions toĀ 20 to 30 characters on screen per second.
Left-justify or Center-justifiedĀ multi-line captions.
Should be placed in theĀ center of the lower third of the screen, butĀ move when obscuring important visual elements.
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VISUAL EXAMPLE OF SUBTITLES AND CAPTIONS
