As you watch a movie with your family, hostel mates, and friends. Your deaf family member or a friend would start feeling confused as they miss out on the plot.
As a joke goes on and others burst into laughter, your deaf family member /friend might wonder what the banter is about. There might be hesitation on his/her part. Nonetheless, he/ she musters the courage to ask the closest person wanting to take part in the laughter. But they usually reply to us deaf people, “I will tell you later.”
Unfortunately, the scenario is prevalent in most households and meet up with friends. This is why my friends and family members, we need captions whether you like it or not. Yes, uploading a video with captions takes a chunk of time out of your schedule. It requires dedication to make sure everything flows smoothly.
My friends, we love and appreciate people who use captioning in their videos. Not only Deaf people do benefit from using the service of captioning, but there are also scores of people who also benefit from using captions.
Before I rant about how caption benefits us. Let me tell you about the difference between captions and subtitles. There is a subtle difference between captions and subtitles. Subtitles are an alternative text for the dialogue that takes place in a video. It is also intended for viewers who do not understand the language that is being spoken. Whereas caption specifically closed captions provide the exact dialogue and other sounds such as phone ringing or birds whistling. You can call them how you prefer. But know the difference between the two words.
To get the deaf people's perspective of how we watch a video without captions. There are a few things you can do. Try watching a short clip without audio or text presented in the clip. Try to see how much you can understand and learn. Please let me know your experience?
Here is why I would prefer closed captions? One, if the environment is too loud or if I am watching something in a quiet environment. If I am watching a clip with a sensitive matter in public or watching a video clip in a foreign language, captions are my preference. I could provide a variety of reasons, but the most critical point in failing to provide captioning service probably means losing a viewer.
This blog emphasizes the need for closed captioning and inclusion for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. Videos with captions are attractive, and it gets our attention. But not having captions is a kind of exclusion for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. To make it inclusive for your Deaf family members or friends, this will become a reality when closed captioning becomes more accessible, and the norm.
I was born profoundly Deaf and use cochlear implants. I'll definitely share this with my family and friends before I go to a gathering.