Stop being confused about where to start with accessibility. 
You might think that video captions are only for accessibility and for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. Here are 7 reasons to add captions to videos that may surprise you.
Music: https://www.bensound.com
Accessibility is absolutely necessary for some individuals but it is also helpful for everyone. One aspect of this is captions for videos.
Captions versus Subtitles
Captions are often confused with subtitles. But they are different. Captions are in the same language that is spoken in a video. Subtitles are translations of what is spoken in a video.
Closed versus Open Captions
Now, there are closed captions and open captions.
Closed captions are those that can be turned on and off. This gives the viewer the ability to control whether or not they wish to see them.
On the other hand, open captions are always on. They appear on screen. There are a ton of videos with these types of captions on social media. Unfortunately, most of them are not done in a user-friendly manner and instead are just obnoxious. But that’s a topic for another day.
Who Uses Captions
OK, so let’s get into who uses captions.
A lot of people don’t think about adding captions to a video. They might think it’s too much work or they don’t know how to do it. I’ll cover that in another episode.
They might also think that their audience doesn’t need or won’t use captions.
Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals account for about 5% of people worldwide. You might think they are the only people who use captions. But that’s not the case.
We have lots of statistics to show otherwise. In the United States, individuals spend almost 6 hours a day watching videos.
Not only that but a Verizon Media survey showed that 80% of people who use captions are not deaf or hard of hearing.
I have lots of great examples to demonstrate why this is the case.
Benefits of Closed Captions
1. Situational Accessibility
The first one is situational accessibility.
For example, my husband and I will be watching something on TV and then he will up and go into the kitchen to make popcorn in the middle of it. It drives me nuts, but at least he warns me before he turns the popcorn maker on.
Sometimes I pause the show and wait for the popcorn pandemonium to be over with.
But sometimes, especially if it’s just getting to a really juicy part in the show or movie, I don’t want to wait. In that case, I will turn on the captions while the popcorn maker is running, so I can still understand what is happening.
Once he’s back in the room, we can go back to that part and both watch it.
Think about that next time you’re watching something good on TV and someone’s making noise in the next room—spouse, teenagers, toddlers, whoever.
It could also be someone talking loudly on the phone in the next room. Instead of telling them to pipe down, just turn on captions.
2. Inclusivity
Another example is inclusivity.
I went to a Matthew West concert a few months ago. I love his songs, but I’ll admit I didn’t know all the words his songs.
So when we were at the concert, I was excited to see that the lyrics appeared on a large screen behind him on stage. Nobody had to know that I didn’t know all the words, so that was great.
Because of that, I could sing along to every word. And so could everyone else.
It made for a more inclusive experience for everyone to participate in.
I just wish he’d caption his music videos on YouTube!
3. Not Disturbing Others
Another situation for using captions is when you don’t want to disturb others.
Almost 70% of people use captions in a public setting and 85% videos on Facebook are watched with sound off.
This could be:
- someone riding on the subway,
- a parent trying to watch a video next to a sleeping baby,
- a parent letting their child watch a video on a device without sound in a restaurant,
- someone at work who wouldn’t want coworkers to know they were watching a video on YouTube or Facebook. Ha!
4. Understanding Words You’re Not Familiar With
Another example is if you are watching a video with words you may not be familiar with but you’re trying to understand what is being said.
Let’s say you’re watching a video that has a lot of technical terms, such as medical terms. Maybe you want to be able to spell that word so you can look it up later.
I’m familiar with a lot of medical terminology, because I worked on a medical journal for 10 years.
But as I’ve been watching a lot of veterinary videos on YouTube and trying to understand cancer in dogs more, unfortunately, I’ve found myself turning on captions to understand certain words.
For instance, I love the Veterinary Secrets YouTube channel with Dr. Andrew Jones. He is absolutely amazing. But his Canadian accent sometimes throws me.
So I occasionally find myself turning on the captions. They are not always 100% accurate, but when they are, I can understand what he just said.
5. Understanding Accents and Non-native Languages
Speaking of accents… In addition to that example I just shared, here’s another one.
My husband and I watch a lot of Jason Statham movies. But this one movie… I can’t remember which one it was… But there were several British actors in it.
We just couldn’t understand what the heck any of them were saying! The movie was in English, but the British accents were so strong.
We had to turn on captions so we could understand what they were saying. We would not have been able to watch the movie otherwise.
Captions also benefit someone who is not a native speaker of the spoken language.
For instance, I have my degree in Spanish and French, and my Spanish is really strong. But I don’t get to practice it much. So I am not fluent.
I love listening to Spanish music, especially Evan Craft and Danny Gokey. I love Spanish music and I also don’t want to lose my Spanish skills.
But sometimes I can’t make out a few words, so I turn on the captions. Unfortunately, not all of the words are always accurate, but that’s for another episode.
6. Improving Learning
Captions can improve learning.
Individuals who are visual learners who find it helpful to see the words benefit from seeing the captions as they watch a video. They use captions as a learning aid and to help them focus.
In fact, almost 99% of students find captions beneficial. Not only that but 71% of students without hearing difficulties use captions sometimes.
Captions have also been shown to significantly impact video completion rates. A whopping 80% of people are more likely to watch a video to completion if captions are available.
7. Increased Ad Recall
If the first six reasons don’t convince you enough, how about this one…
Last but not least, captions help consumers remember ads better, as much as an 8% increase in ad recall. So that’s great for marketing and sales.
So there you have my 7 reasons to caption videos. Did any of them surprise you?
If this was helpful, let me know in a comment, and be sure to like, share and subscribe.
Love this article on captioning! I have it on my TV, never turn it off. More reasons I use it all the time:
1. I have an average TV but the speakers are in the back! Don’t want the expense or hassle of improving the sound by having to add additional speakers.
2. Many, many shows and films just have bad sound design. Some audio is blaring, some, especially whispers, are impossible to hear or comprehend.
3. Documentaries and regular programming often have background music that’s very loud, and there’s a strain just to hear the narration over the music. It’s called “background” for a reason!
4. Many people talk very fast, especially younger ones and it’s simply hard to keep up with they’re saying.
And of course all of your seven reasons, especially needed when speakers have heavy accents.
Love all your content, thanks!
Thanks so much, Rebecca! Those are all excellent points. I can definitely relate to all of them too. Thanks for sharing!