How to make your corporate video more accessible
Adding subtitles for d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers (SDH), also known as closed captions (CC), is one way to make your video more accessible during post-production. But did you know you can play a role in setting your captions up for success? For this, it’s important to start thinking of accessibility at the production stage too.
Remember captions are not just used by d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing people. These days, 80% of young people prefer watching content with captions. People might be watching your video on their commute in a noisy environment, they could be non-native speakers or they may find captions help them process information better. With so many people watching the captioned version of your video, it’s vital to make sure that your audience and potential customers are taking in all the important information, rather than being overwhelmed by it. Whether you have a corporate video where you’re informing your audience about a topic you’re passionate about, or a marketing video where you’re trying to persuade your audience about your offering, you need your message to be conveyed successfully.
Here are some tips for making your content more accessible and suitable for subtitling from the get-go:
Don’t overload your video with on-screen text
On-screen text or graphics is a great way to highlight key information about your service or product, but once captions are added, that on-screen text becomes very hard to read at the same time. Remember, your viewers don’t have superpowers. Good subtitlers will take into account what is happening on screen and lower the reading speed of the subtitles accordingly, but it is difficult if there is constant text, for example in a presentation. Add text sparingly to emphasise key terms, rather than big blocks of text.
Leave space for captions
Try not to place text in the lower third of the screen, where the captions would go. Wherever you place it, make it consistent, so the captions are not having to jump around the screen to move out of the way. That would be very tiring and stressful for your viewers.
Leave text on screen for long enough
If you have a large chunk of text without speech at the start of your video, for example, make sure you leave it on screen long enough for your viewers to read at a leisurely pace. Try reading the text to yourself slowly in the allotted time. If it’s too fast, extend it for slightly longer.
If you also want to translate your video by adding subtitles in another language, the subtitler will have to match the timings of the on-screen text, perhaps segment the text into individual subtitles and condense the subtitled text to adhere to a comfortable reading speed. If your text flashes up and disappears, there won’t be enough time for the translation. This is challenging for all viewers: those watching the original version and the subtitled version.
Speak slowly and clearly
Content in corporate videos can be quite complex. You might be explaining your new software product or presenting a study on a drug. To top it all off, you might be talking at a thousand miles per hour: you’re nervous because it’s live and unscripted, or you have a lot of information to get through. When you add graphs, charts or graphics into the equation, it’s a lot for your audience to get their head around.
Viewers prefer verbatim subtitles, but if you speak too fast, verbatim will be very difficult to read even for a non-lay audience and your captioner will be forced to condense speech a lot. But condensing technical speech is challenging, because there’s little redundancy. This means the viewers reading your subtitles will potentially miss out on information. Alternatively, if verbatim is prioritised over a lower reading speed, your video will be very strenuous. Watching fast subtitles for an extended time is tiring, making your viewers zone out. Plus, they will barely get a chance to look up from the subtitle area and take in what’s happening on screen.
The solution? Simply ask your speakers to talk slowly and be mindful that your video might be captioned or subtitled into a different language.
Ready to improve the accessibility of your videos?
I hope you found this guide useful for making sure your corporate and marketing videos remain just as enjoyable as the original once captions are added. A professional captioner considers all of these challenges and constraints to produce the most readable captions for your audience, so they don’t switch off before you’ve got your message across. But by thinking of accessibility earlier, your video will be even more successful.
If you need any help with your corporate or marketing project, don’t hesitate to reach out! We can talk about the best solution to communicate with your audience.