YouTube - What They Don't Tell You
S is for Subtitles
"I think MTV should consider using subtitles. Half the time even I can't
understand what the f**k I'm talking about." – Ozzy OsbourneMy AtoZ theme this year is my YouTube journey with my new fiction channel, and all that I have learned - plus some free fiction - scroll down to the embedded vid for that.
There are a surprisingly high number of people who use subtitles [Edit: Thanks to some helpful input in the comments, I think I may be talking about closed captions, but YouTube just calls them subtitles in the back end so I failed to realise there was a difference 😉] when watching
videos. They are not just useful for those with a hearing impediment, but for
neurodiversity, or those who need to watch the vids without sound because they
forgot their headphones, or aren't allowed to use them and more.
There is also some evidence that Google spiders subtitles to help list pages, which can only help with the visibility of videos.
There is also some evidence that Google spiders subtitles to help list pages, which can only help with the visibility of videos.
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Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash |
So, if we can, we should add subtitles to our videos. First and foremost, to be inclusive, and secondly because it can help us too.
I do this by typing them in by hand in YouTube's Studio. When using this method there are a couple of things that are good to know:
- Wait until the vid is fully uploaded and processed to be able to see the waveform of the soundtrack. This makes it much easier to see where to begin and end each subtitle.
- It is awkward to resize a subtitle using the mouse if it's too long or not long enough. Move the timeline pointer to where the end needs to be, look at the timestamp just above the waveform and type it into the second box on the subtitle in question. It is much easier than trying to get the little arrow to show up when clicking around with the mouse.
- When creating a new subtitle, put the timeline pointer where the end should be before clicking the plus button below the previous subtitle to create a new one. The new subtitle will then appear at the correct length without having to fiddle with it.
- If you have a long vid with large gaps in the subtitles, it is faster to note down where these need to go using the preview pane, then type in the approximate times for beginning and end of the next one, rather than trying to scan through vid on the timeline panel. At least for me it is.
If you have much longer videos that would require a great deal of time to subtitle, there are companies that offer specialist services.
Do you use subtitles when watching videos? Why?
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Just a note to say that closed captioning is also a helpful thing to have -- CC is *not* subtitling; they are similar but different -- and both CC and subtitles are helpful to people for whom the language used in the video is a 2nd language. (i.e., if the video is in English but English is a viewer's second language, then having the written information accessible makes a difference.)
ReplyDeleteA lot of YouTube captioning is TERRIBLE. But there are organizations that provide captioning -- good captioning -- at low or free cost for the purpose of accessibility.
YouTube just call them subtitles, so I assumed they were the same names for different things. I think mine should actually be called closed captions since they are in the same language as the audio.
DeleteI usually don't turn on the captions.
ReplyDeleteThe new YouTube website interface seems to use them automatically if you hover over a vid, so I assume they are doubly useful now.
DeleteYour youtube walkthroughs would be really helpful to someone who is thinking to start a channel ! Great tips there on subtitles. Even if I understand English I opt for subtitles coz of accent. I Cant figure out American english many times :) Like Mrs fever said above CC option is most of times not correct!!
ReplyDeletegood day Tasha
Dropping by from a to z "The Pensive"
I hope so, it can be a bit intimidating when first starting out and sometimes interfaces have quirks. The first time I subtitles a vid I spent ages fiddling, then I realise the part about putting the cursor in the right place for the end and it was soooo much easier 😂.
DeleteYouTube used to let creators allows others to do their captioning for them, but they took that away (I assume it was being abused), so now it is all down to the creator, or the auto-create, which is a bit dodgy.
I didn't know about this. Thanks for explaining!
ReplyDeleteRonel visiting for the A-Z Challenge My Languishing TBR: S