Closed Captioning Fundamentals
Learn what makes closed captions accessible, accurate, and meaningful. This instructor-led session covers captioning requirements, quality standards, file formats, tools, and workflows so you can make informed decisions about creating, reviewing, and managing captions for video content.
Your Instructor
Shawn Jordison – ‘The Accessibility Guy’
Shawn Jordison, known as The Accessibility Guy, has more than 17 years of experience helping organizations create accessible documents, training, and content that meet Section 508, WCAG, and PDF/UA standards.
About the session
Captions do more than put spoken words on a screen. Effective captions communicate dialogue and meaningful sounds accurately, appear at the right time, and remain readable without obscuring important visual content.
In this interactive, instructor-led session, you’ll learn what makes captions accessible and how captioning requirements differ for prerecorded and live content. You’ll explore the differences between captions, subtitles, and transcripts; common caption file formats; and the quality standards that help ensure captions provide an equivalent experience for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
You’ll also learn a practical captioning workflow—from generating and editing captions to exporting and verifying the finished content—and see examples of tools that can support the process. The session also explores when it makes sense to manage captioning internally and when a professional captioning service may be a better fit.
What You’ll Learn
- Why captioning matters and who benefits from accessible captions
- Captioning requirements under WCAG, Section 508, and the ADA
- Requirements for prerecorded versus live video
- The differences between closed captions, subtitles, and transcripts
- Common caption file formats, including SRT, VTT, and SCC
- What makes captions accurate, synchronized, complete, and readable
- Common captioning mistakes and how to recognize them
- A practical workflow for generating, editing, exporting, and verifying captions
- Tools and options for creating and editing captions
- When to use DIY captioning tools versus professional captioning services
- Best practices for organizing, naming, storing, and maintaining caption files
After This Session, You’ll Be Able To
- Explain what makes captions accessible and why caption quality matters
- Identify when prerecorded and live content require captions
- Distinguish between captions, subtitles, and transcripts
- Recognize common caption file formats and when they are used
- Evaluate captions for accuracy, synchronization, completeness, and readability
- Identify common captioning problems before content is published
- Describe a repeatable workflow for creating and verifying captions
- Make more informed decisions about captioning tools, workflows, and when to outsource
Who Is This Course For?
This course is a good fit for:
- People who create, edit, review, publish, or manage video content
- Communications, marketing, training, and content teams
- Educators and instructional content creators
- Employees who have recently taken on multimedia accessibility or compliance responsibilities
- New accessibility professionals who want to build their understanding of accessible captioning
Logistics
Location: Online via Zoom
Duration: 60 min
Start Time: 9:00 AM PT
Certification: Certificate of Completion issued to attendees who complete the full session
FAQs
Is there a prerequisite?
No. No prior accessibility or captioning experience is required.
Is this a hands-on session?
This is an interactive, instructor-led session that includes examples, activities, discussion, and demonstrations to help you understand captioning concepts, requirements, and workflows.
Do I need any captioning software for the session?
No. You do not need captioning software or accounts for any of the tools discussed during the session.
How is this different from an Applied course?
Fundamentals focuses on building your understanding of accessible captioning—what is required, what good captions look like, the tools and file formats involved, and how the captioning process works. Applied courses focus on putting accessibility concepts into practice through hands-on exercises and guided practice.
Do I get any materials?
Yes. Attendees receive a Closed Captioning accessibility cheat sheet to support what they learn during the session.
Will a recording be available?
The recording isn’t included, but it can be purchased separately for a fee.
Will a recording be available?
The recording isn’t included, but it can be purchased separately for a fee.
What do I need to attend?
Join from any computer with a reliable internet connection. We use Zoom to provide an engaging, interactive learning experience. A microphone is recommended for participating in discussions, and a webcam is optional but encouraged.
How accessible is the training?
As accessibility specialists, we design our training to be inclusive from the start. Sessions include live captions, and if you have accessibility requirements, we’ll work with you before the course to help ensure a successful learning experience. If you need additional support, contact us.
