As the world becomes more interconnected, the need for effective communication through various mediums has become exceptionally crucial. However, not everyone can communicate or engage in dialogues similarly. People with hearing impairments, different language speakers, and non-native speaking audiences may easily lose out during presentations and other business activities. That makes subtitles, closed captions, and SDH subtitles essential in translation services.
In this article, The Language Doctors will examine how subtitles are now helping businesses to have a more inclusive communication pattern, unlock new demographic segments, and increase their outreach. Let’s dive into the power of subtitles and explore the potential of their usage in translation services!
The Role of Subtitles in Accessibility
What are subtitles?
If we talk about subtitle definition, subtitles are the so-called textual accompaniments to audiovisual products, usually appearing as inscriptions at the bottom of a TV or screen. They can be used to translate foreign films or television productions, accompany audio or a speech during conferences, etc. Alternatively, they can be a written reproduction of the dialog in the original language.
The role of subtitles is significant, even if it’s not seen at first. Subtitling content is a very large market, as it ensures easy work with audio and video and makes such pieces of content more convenient to understand for people with hearing impairments and limited language speakers.
For example, subtitles help foreigners to learn languages more easily through video or audio, as well as simply understand the content better.
A big advantage of subtitles is their ability to make content more accessible to people with hearing impairments.
Subtitles for people with disabilities
As we have already mentioned above, subtitles are very helpful in understanding audiovisual content for people who have hearing impairments and cannot hear well or are completely deaf.
Besides, subtitles are an important part of business development, as this way, you will not lose a large part of the audience with certain health problems that may be interested in your content or services.
Subtitles for language accessibility
The need for subtitles may also arise due to a language barrier. If we are talking about movies, TV shows, anime, or dramas, dubbed content is everything, as a person in India may want to spend their evening watching the American “Mean Girls”. In this situation, subtitling will greatly facilitate understanding and develop listening comprehension because when we read a text and at the same time hear it pronounced by a native speaker, our brain will better perceive it next time.
Subtitles for contextual accessibility
Remember that there are often situations when people consume your content without sound due to certain circumstances, when it’s not convenient to turn on the sound, etc.
And now, let’s take a look at the contexts in which subtitles are necessary:
- Short-format content. Subtitles help to keep the consumer’s attention on the content.
- Content that is consumed while listening to music. Let’s say you are enjoying listening to music and studying, working, or reading some information about something you are interested in. However, sometimes, you need to watch something and understand the sense of content or find the right information for work or study. In this case, having subtitles and the ability to watch a video without sound makes it very easy to do several things simultaneously without distractions.
- Videos that a person watches in a public place where it is noisy or the headphones do not work well and do not allow you to hear everything. There are different situations when you urgently need to watch something but do not have access to the information in text format. In there cases, subtitled content helps to solve this problem.
Types of Subtitles
There are two types of subtitles:
- Open captioning;
- Closed captioning.
Open captioning is the type of subtitles that are constantly visible on the screen. For example, when watching a movie, TV, or video on YouTube. Their main feature is that the viewer cannot control them, i.e., turn them on or off.
Why are they beyond the viewer’s control? It’s very simple: such subtitles are recorded on the video track and added during the production stage itself.
Closed captions meaning is almost the same as open captioning, but the difference between subtitles vs closed captions is that it can be controlled, i.e., the viewer can turn it on or off. This type of subtitles is popular among content creators on social media, making content easily accessible to the viewer.
Benefits of Subtitles and Closed Captions
| Advantage | Description |
| Accessibility in Noise-Sensitive Environments | Closed captioning and subtitling are indispensable in environments where noise is a concern, such as offices, libraries, public transport, and crowded public spaces. They allow viewers to watch videos without disrupting others or when audio is not feasible. |
| Enhanced Clarity | Subtitles enhance content comprehension by providing a textual representation of spoken words. This is particularly beneficial when dealing with technical terminology, proper nouns (company or individual names), or complex dialogues. Subtitles help prevent the loss of key information and improve overall understanding. |
| Language Skill Improvement | Subtitles serve as a valuable language-learning tool. They assist viewers in improving their language skills, both in their native language and in foreign languages. Subtitles help users learn proper word spelling, grammar, and punctuation, making it an educational resource. |
| Improved Comprehension | In situations where characters mumble, speak softly, or have strong accents, closed captioning and subtitling ensure that the dialogue is clear and comprehensible. Viewers can understand what is being said regardless of the pace and tone of the spoken words. |
| Translator Efficiency | For content translation or localization, having the original language subtitles is a significant time-saver. Translators can use these subtitles as a reference, making their work more efficient and accurate. This is particularly valuable in the production of dubbed content or translated subtitles. |
| Inclusive Viewing Experience | Closed captioning and subtitling make videos more accessible to a wider audience, including individuals with hearing impairments or those who speak a different language. This promotes inclusivity and ensures that content can be enjoyed by a diverse range of viewers. |
| Retention of Information | Subtitles provide a means to note down and remember key information, making it easier for viewers to recall and reference details from the video. It helps retain complex concepts, statistics, or facts in the content. |
| Compliance with Regulations | Many countries and regions require closed captioning for videos to ensure accessibility and compliance with disability regulations. By adding subtitles, content creators and distributors can meet legal requirements and avoid potential penalties. |
| SEO and Content Discoverability | Subtitles improve search engine optimization (SEO) for videos. Search engines can index the text, making the content more discoverable and enhancing its visibility in search results, boosting its overall reach and viewership. |
How Closed Captions and Subtitles Improve User Experience
Closed captioning was originally introduced to provide access to content for the deaf and hard of hearing. Still, very soon, it became very popular as it opened up many new possibilities for a large audience, and so did the user experience.
The user experience is improved both when more people with hearing impairments access content and in other life situations that we have already mentioned in the article. For example, more and more people are using captioning when they are in noisy environments or in places where sound is not allowed. This way, they can access the information they need at any time, regardless of where they are.
Also, a huge advantage of subtitling is that it, as we have already mentioned too, improves learning languages and their understanding. A person may not be fluent in the language in which the content is filmed. Still, the subtitles presence will help enjoy watching a favorite movie in the original, with real emotions, jokes, phrases, etc. When dubbing, many unique phrases are simply lost due to the inability to translate them literally. So, subtitles preserve that unique atmosphere.
So, if you want to improve the user experience for your business, The Language Doctors are ready to provide you with the highest quality professional translation and subtitling services for your content. Take your first step towards huge success and request a free quote now! https://thelanguagedoctors.org/request-a-quote/
Localization and Translation of Subtitles
Subtitles localization involves not only translating a text into another language but also fully adapting the version to the cultural nuances and context to look as natural as possible for a foreign user. This process also requires a thorough knowledge of the target and source languages.
Let’s take a closer look at the main stages of localization and subtitling:
- Transcription:
The first step is to create a source content written transcription in the original language.
- Translation:
Professional specialists translate the transcript into the target language, preserving the context and meaning of the original text as much as possible, considering the number of characters and reading speed.
- Adaptation:
Various sentence paraphrases and abbreviations are often used while preserving the original meaning to ensure the subtitles are well adapted to the screen and the viewer’s reading pace.
- Synchronization:
Precise timing ensures the subtitles synchronize perfectly with the video or audio.
- Quality assurance:
When the subtitling work is completed, the files are thoroughly checked for grammatical errors and correct formatting to ensur the work is done following industry standards.
- Testing:
After checking the text quality and correctness, the specialists test the work by viewing the content with the finished subtitles. This way, they ensure it perfectly synchronizes with the video or audio and the subtitles convey as similar and correct meanings as possible.
- Check for compliance with legal requirements and accessibility standards in certain regions or on different platforms.
Cultural Sensitivity in Translation
What are the cultural issues to consider in translation?
Well, when translating subtitles, it is very important to consider culturally sensitive aspects. That is, to translate the text as accurately as possible while respecting the culture of the target audience.
Often, a specialist must translate a word literally to preserve the original meaning. Still, there are also situations when a freer translation should be used to save the cultural context.
Besides, when performing culturally sensitive translation, it is necessary to have in-depth knowledge of the different cultures involved and how they will perceive the translation. There are several key points to note in this regard:
- Often, it is necessary to use a looser translation that preserves the meaning, as the target audience culture may not accept a direct translation.
- The word connotations in both the source and target languages are also important. Positive or negative connotations can change the text meaning in a way that some cultures will not perceive as intended.
- Cultural references should be preserved in translation. It is often necessary to provide explanations to ensure that the target audience understands the full meaning of the text.
The Language Doctors team of specialists and professionals knows how to meet all these requirements for cultural sensitivity, as we are experts who are fluent in more than 200 languages and have in-depth knowledge of different cultures to understand how the audience will perceive the translation! Visit our website now and find out what we can do for you in terms of localizing your translations: https://thelanguagedoctors.org/translation-services/localization-services/
SDH Subtitles: A Deeper Dive
Subtitles for the Deaf or hard of hearing (SDH)
SDH subtitles are created for viewers with hearing impairments and non-native speakers. They significantly expand the access of a much wider audience to movies and programs.
What to choose — subtitles or SDH? Let’s look at the similarities and differences between these two concepts.
Similarities:
- Textual visuals are perfectly synchronized with sound in movies and TV programs.
- Both forms can make it easier for viewers to enjoy the content when you need to watch something without sound.
- All text forms represent dialog and other sounds in videos, movies, and TV shows.
- Usually, the viewer can control them by turning them on and off.
Differences:
- Their appearance. SDH subtitles usually appear at the bottom of the screen and can vary in color. Closed captioning appears as white text on a black bar that covers part of the image. It also can usually be aligned to different parts of the screen. However, the positioning can vary in all forms.
- Closed captions do not contain sound effects.
- SDH is used for projects in different languages, while closed captions – for any media content in only one language.
- SDH subtitles must meet standard conditions, e.g., all spoken and non-verbal audio cues are included. Closed captioning, on the other hand, is governed by local legislation, and the requirements may differ slightly, such as how to identify speakers, use single or double notes, etc.
We at TLD recommend choosing SDH subtitles because it allows a much larger number of people to access the content. Even if someone has hearing impairments, they can still enjoy watching their favorite movie or TV program!
Case studies
Using the example of well-known organizations, we want to show how content subtitling has influenced their development:
- Netflix: Many of us love this platform because of the huge content library to watch, and especially because Netflix subtitles our favorite movies and TV shows in many languages. This has helped their content to become widely distributed by providing access to a global audience.
- TED Talks: TED Talks has also implemented subtitles in many languages in their videos. This has expanded their audience to a global level and enabled many people to enjoy their inspiring talks.
- BBC: They were one of the first to make their content available through subtitles, as they broadcast news, documentaries, and entertainment content that can interest a huge number of people. So for BBC, it was necessary to introduce subtitles into their content structure.
- YouTube: A well-known platform where you can find answers to many questions or create and share your own content. YouTube allows content creators to add subtitles to their videos to make user-generated content more accessible to a wider audience.
Conclusion
Subtitles and closed captioning allow deaf or hard-of-hearing people to access global content, watch movies or TV programs, and easily understand the meaning of what they see. They are also a convenient way to learn languages and improve listening comprehension.
Moreover, subtitles help to promote businesses since they give a huge audience access to your content. So, despite hearing impairments or the inability to turn on the video sound, a person will be able to familiarize themselves with the content.
Finally, if you need high-quality text translation and subtitling, The Language Doctors will help you. Our qualified specialists will do everything for excellent quality and ensure they stick to all subtitling requirements.
Contact us right now, we will consult you and help you make the best decision for your business! https://thelanguagedoctors.org/
