Making Accessible

MEDIA

Version 1.0March 2017

Humber College Captioning Style Guide

Table of ContentsCaptioning at Humber ......................................................................1Differences Between Captions & Subtitles .................................1Transcription Guidelines ..................................................................2

Filler .................................................................................................................. 2

Discourse Markers ......................................................................................... 2

False Starts ....................................................................................................... 3

Punctuation ..................................................................................................... 3

Sound Effects and Music .............................................................................. 4

From Transcript to Captions ............................................................6Breaking Lines ................................................................................................. 6

Compressing .................................................................................................... 8

Moving Captions ............................................................................................ 9

Multiple Speakers ........................................................................................... 9

Conclusion ...........................................................................................12

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Captioning at HumberCaptioning is one of the tools Humber College uses to help our students prosper in an inclusive, barrier-free environment. By captioning audio-visual material – including lectures, classroom materials, Humber-produced media and student projects – Humber ensures that deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing people can fully engage in the college learning experience. Captions are also valuable tools for those looking to develop language and literacy skills. Additionally, online search engines such as Google and Internet Archive use captions to find relevant videos.

Captioning has been available on television since the mid-1960s, and has been expanding in the media marketplace ever since. The Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRtC) imposed captioning requirements on television broadcasters in the 1990s, and has recently begun pressing for more captioning of online video. Other regulations, such as the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), necessitate captioning on video shown by any public or private institution in the province, whether broadcast over the air, shown to a live audience, or posted online.

At Humber, with very few exceptions, we provide closed captioning for videos. This allows the viewer to choose whether or not the captions appear on the screen. When a video is meant to be played in an area where the volume is permanently muted, such as a public hallway or the gym, open captions – captions permanently “burned” to the video that cannot be turned off – may be utilized.

Differences Between Captions & SubtitlesThe word “caption” is sometimes used interchangeably with the word “subtitle,” but there are subtle differences between the two.

Captions are designed for an audience that cannot hear any of the audible content in a video. Speakers need to be clearly identified, either by the caption’s placement or speaker identification markers. Sound effects, music and other audible cues also need to be captured and presented. In most cases, foreign language content is identified but not translated.

The assumption with subtitles is that the audience can hear what’s happening on screen, but the dialogue is spoken in a foreign language, drowned out by background noise, or obscured in some other way. The audience is otherwise able to identify speakers and on-screen sounds without assistance.

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Transcription GuidelinesThe first step to captioning video is creating a transcript of the audio. The goal is to capture the audio as verbatim as possible while making the speakers’ meaning clear. However, written language and the spoken word can be completely different beasts; what makes sense coming out of a person’s mouth can seem unintelligible when transcribed to text. In order to maintain clarity, the “fully verbatim” rule has a few exceptions.

Filler

Much of our spoken language -- more than most of us would care to admit -- is taken up by filler. “Um,” “uh,” “er,” and other sounds that pepper the edges of words are generally meaningless. When we speak and listen to others, our brains rarely process filler, ignoring it in favour of the “real” words that convey meaning. When transcribed, filler can make captions difficult to understand and time properly. Unless a filler word seems deliberate or conveys aspects of the character speaking it, it is ignored.

Discourse Markers

Words and phrases like “so,” “well,” “I mean,” “you know,” “like,” “okay,” and others are, in an academic sense, used to manage flow and structure in speech. In the real world, they’re often used and overused so much that they become just like filler. These words should be captured during the transcription phase, but when editing captions, judgment should be used as to whether to keep them or not. If discourse markers cause confusion and removing them will not change the meaning of the text, they can be omitted.

“So, you know, if we take a look at this example…” → “If we take a look at this example…”

They’re also one of the first places to look if a caption needs to be edited for timing. Again, be sure that removing the discourse marker does not change the speaker’s meaning before considering taking it out.

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False Starts

False starts are common in speech, and present a challenge when transcribing. As a rule of thumb, single word false starts or stutters can be left out.

“When, when you consider...” → “When you consider…”

“I, I, I think…” → “I think...”

If a false start goes on a little longer, then capture it.

“So when we look at… let’s take a look at this.”

“This is what I mean when I say… when we say this is a theory.”

If the false start causes problems when trying to create or time a caption, consider removing it if its removal doesn’t alter the speaker’s meaning.

Punctuation

Conventional rules of Canadian English grammar should be followed consistently when transcribing text. However, if following a grammar rule sacrifices clarity in a transcript, go for clarity. A transcript cannot be rewritten into clean copy, so we have to work with what we’re given.

Serial or “Oxford” commas should be employed for clarity, paying special attention to the speaker’s meaning. For instance, “The colours of the flags are red, and green, and blue,” denotes three flags while, “The colours of the flags are red, and green and blue,” describes two flags, one of one colour and one of two colours. A sentence like, “I like peanut butter and jam, and tuna sandwiches,” conveys a much different meaning than: “I like peanut butter and jam and tuna sandwiches.”

Parentheses should not be used in text as they are used in captions to denote sound effects or other audio content that is not narration or dialogue. In parenthetical statements where commas would not be clear, double-dashes should be used.

“The colours you see, red, green, and blue, are often found on flags.”

“The colours you see -- red, green, and blue -- are often found on flags.”

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Sound Effects and Music

As the focus of captioning is to make a video presentation understandable to an audience that cannot hear any of the audio, sound effects and music must be captured and described.

The source of a sound effect can be on-screen, off-screen, abrupt or sustained. A description of the sound and, if necessary, the sound’s source should presented in brackets.

a) Sound Effects1 ̶ If the source of the sound is obvious, a description of the sound itself is sufficient

(cries)

(laughing)

2 ̶ If the source of sound is not obvious, it should be described

(baby cries)

(clown laughing)

3 ̶ Off-screen sounds should be italicized

(wolf howling)

(rain falls)

4 ̶ Abrupt sounds should be described in simple present tense

(dog barks)

(horn honks)

5 ̶ Describe ongoing sounds in present continuous tense

(dog barking)

(horns honking)

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6 ̶ If an ongoing sound continues through several captions, this should be indicated where time permits

(barking continues)

(honking continues)

b) MusicThere are many ways music can be used in a video presentation, leading to many different ways the captioning of music is handled.

1 ̶ When the music isn’t known and/or lyrics are not discernable, a description of the mood and style of the music can be used

(mournful orchestral music plays)

(bright jazz plays)

2 ̶ If the musical piece or the artist is known, that should be described

(“Ode to Joy” by Beethoven plays)

(Louis Armstrong sings “It’s a Wonderful World”)

3 ̶ During musical passages when a song’s lyrics are discernible for an extended period of time and captioning them would not interfere with narration or dialogue, caption the lyrics with musical notes

I see trees of green Red roses, too I see them bloom For me and you

End a lyrical passage with double music notes

And I think to myself What a wonderful world

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c) Foreign LanguagesUntranslated foreign language content in a video is tagged in the same way as sound effects.

1 ̶ If the language is known, include that in the description

(speaking Russian)

2 ̶ If the language is unknown or indiscernible, simply tag it as a foreign language

(speaking foreign language)

3 ̶ When subtitles are used on screen to provide a translation, no captions are necessary

From Transcript to CaptionsAfter completing a transcript, it must be imported into MacCaption and broken up into captions. Captions are a maximum of 42 characters per line, with no more than two lines. A reading speed of 140 words per minute is ideal, but can go up to 160 words per minute if editing the content for time would sacrifice clarity.

Caption in-and-out times should coincide as closely as possible to shot changes, and each caption should be on the screen for at least one second, and no longer than three seconds.

Breaking Lines

When breaking lines of text, both within and between captions, try to keep the line length balanced. Also, avoid breaking up phrases that work as “syntactic wholes.”

1 ̶ Keep articles (a, an, the) and nouns together

INCORRECT CORRECT We link back to the We link back to raw footage. the raw footage.

2 ̶ Keep the adjective with the noun that it modifies

INCORRECT CORRECT Is this green Is this green frog frog poisonous or not? poisonous or not?

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3 ̶ Keep a preposition with the thing that it refers to

INCORRECT CORRECTThe car is parked beside The car is parkedthe house. beside the house.

4 ̶ Avoid splitting proper names

INCORRECT CORRECTToday, we’ll look at Albert Today, we’ll look atEinstein's theories. Albert Einstein's theories.

5 ̶ Clauses should be kept together

INCORRECT CORRECTWe visited Paris first, and then We visited Paris first,went to Rome. and then went to Rome.

6 ̶ Also, try to maintain a balance between the top and bottom lines

INCORRECT CORRECTYou want video tracks and audio tracks You want video tracks andto be included. audio tracks to be included.

7 ̶ Sound effects and other descriptors should be presented in their own caption

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If it’s impossible to break a caption properly, it may be necessary to split the caption in two, making necessary adjustments to any adjoining captions in order to maintain presentation speed and synchronization.

Compressing

Although it is something we try to avoid, there will be times when editing the content of a caption to maintain a comfortable reading speed is inevitable. As mentioned in the transcription guidelines, first look for filler, discourse markers and false starts that can be removed without altering the speaker’s meaning.

Other places to look when captions need to be compressed include:

1 ̶ Adverbials such as “really,” “pretty,” “totally,” etc.

This is really the most logical choice. → This is the most logical choice.

2 ̶ Quantifiers such as “all,” “more than,” “over,” etc., being mindful of maintaining the speaker’s meaning

ACTUAL EDITEDAll of these factors lead to These factors lead toone conclusion. one conclusion.

3 ̶ Introductory phrases such as “well,” “you know,” “so,” “yeah.”

ACTUAL EDITEDWell, you know, things look Things look differentdifferent from this angle. from this angle.

4 ̶ Repetitive synonyms like “big, huge,” “teeny, tiny,” etc.

This has a big, huge impact on results. → This has a big impact on results.

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Moving Captions

Captions generally reside at the bottom-middle of the screen, centre justified. Often, they need to be moved out of the way to make room for on-screen elements.

1 ̶ In the case of a lower-third graphic element, captions should be moved to the top of the screen. The same rule applies if there is an extreme close-up of a speaker and normal caption placement would cover the speaker’s mouth, or if the speaker is demonstrating something near the bottom of the screen

2 ̶ Do not break up sentences to move captions. This may mean that captions move to the top of the screen a few seconds before or stay on top a few seconds after the element that prompted the move is off the screen

If the speaker is restating on-screen text, no captions are necessary.

Multiple Speakers

It can be challenging to ensure captions are clear in a video with multiple speakers, and there are several ways to ensure speakers are properly identified.

1 ̶ In situations where only one speaker appears on the screen at a time and speaker changes are visibly obvious, no mitigating action is needed

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2 ̶ A hyphen should be used to differentiate speakers with dialogue in the same subtitle. Each speaker should have their dialogue on a single line

3 ̶ Speakers can also be identified by changing the placement and alignment of captions. As many media players are incompatible with caption placements other than bottom-centre, this method is generally reserved for dramatic and cinematic videos.

When there are multiple speakers on screen, align the captions to the right, left, or centre as appropriate to identify the speaker

If dialogue between multiple speakers is too quick to allow for necessary caption timing, multiple captions can be placed on screen at the same time

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4 ̶ Off-screen characters who are interacting with characters who are on screen should have their dialogue placed on the side of the screen they’re speaking from and italicized

5 ̶ Voice-over and narration is placed at the top of the screen in italics with a speaker identification in the first caption

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ConclusionThis is a basic overview of how to caption effectively. Any changes to captioning regulations and procedures, as well as further examples and answers to frequently asked questions will be added to this document regularly.

There are many other sources of captioning information online, including:

Closed Captioning Standards and Protocol for Canadian English Language Television Programming ServicesCanadian Association of Broadcasters, 2008 http://www.cab-acr.ca/english/social/captioning/captioning.pdf

TED Subtitling Resourceshttps://www.ted.com/participate/translate/subtitling-resources

The CBC Captioning Style Guide, CBC, 2003https://www.dcmp.org/caai/nadh218.pdf

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When using information from other resources, please refer back to this guide to ensure Humber style elements. Any questions in regards to captioning style and procedures can be directed to either of Humber’s Closed Captioning Technologists:

Adrienne Smith David Widmann adrienne.smith@humber.ca david.widmann@humber.ca

Created with generous support from: