Captioning for the Win

At some point last year my 8 year old started turning on the subtitles for all the TV shows and movies he was watching. When we asked him why, he found it hard to explain, but the gist was it helped him understand what is happening better.

What my little one discovered is supported by over 100 studies demonstrating that captioning a video improves comprehension of, attention to, and memory for the video; with captions particularly beneficial for children and adults learning to read, people who are hearing impaired and those watching videos in their non-native language.

In October last year Zoom launched captions on their platform, allowing live transcription or closed captions in the main room of meetings and webinars – bringing the benefits of captions to the pandemic-weary masses.

We are now using closed captions in our zoom workshops, and although the accuracy can sometimes be a bit off, it brings a greater accessibility to our sessions.

Here are some links if you want to learn more about Zoom live transcription and transcription on Teams.

Reference:

• Gernsbacher M. A. (2015). Video Captions Benefit Everyone. Policy insights from the behavioral and brain sciences, 2(1), 195–202. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732215602130

About Kathryn Renwick

Kathryn, our Engagement Lead, has over a decade’s experience in local government and not-for-profit, working across social and health planning, community development and engagement. Her work is grounded in social justice principles; recognising the barriers that exist within our society and trying to lower them.

She considers it a privilege to work with the community and discuss the issues that matter to them. Bringing an outcome focused, open and flexible approach, Kathryn has a passion for people, engagement, and data. Integrity and accuracy are important to her – being true to the data and what people are saying.