Our different types of captioning services

Captioning services come in all different shapes and sizes, but fall into two main categories; live and offline.

Live captioning services

Live captioning is exactly what it sounds like – written captions appearing on screen as the person is speaking.

It takes a highly-skilled person to type that fast (at least 250 words per minute, usually closer to 300) but a trained and experienced stenographer can do the job.

Business

Businesses are legally required to make “reasonable adjustments” to accommodate those with hearing difficulties. This means that providing live captioning during meetings complies with anti-discrimination laws, providing equal access for employees.

Education

Again, The Equality Act not only applies to businesses and employers, but also places of learning, including schools, technical colleges, and universities, making it illegal to discriminate against deaf and hard of hearing students.

Of course, it’s not just a matter of law, captions have been proven to help comprehension and test results. On top of that, they are an excellent way for foreign students to keep up with what’s going on, especially if the speaker or tutor has an accent or mumbles.

Zoom meetings

Live captioning can help keep all staff members informed and involved with what’s going on, especially during Zoom meetings where people can have technical issues. And of course, transcripts are available to read back at a later date, keeping everyone on the same page about what was agreed.

Offline captioning services

Offline captioning happens after the fact, and usually falls into one of three categories:

Corporate videos

Promotional videos for companies, inductions videos for new employees, or training videos should all have captions encoded. It not only complies with the Equality Act, but makes life easier for those who are not hard of hearing, as videos with subtitles are easier to follow, comprehend and remember.

Entertainment videos

Subtitles and closed captions are standard now on TV and in movies, but they are also more frequently found on YouTube and other internet platforms. Closed Captions are more useful than subtitles because not only show what is being said on screen, but they will also show other sounds and music that are happening in the video, such as a telephone ringing, the emotion of an actor’s voice, or a buildup of tense or dramatic music.

Transcribing

The next best thing to live captioning is transcribing what was said during a meeting, and is used across a wide range of industries.

Almost every business can benefit from transcribing audio to text, and they use it for various purposes. Recordings of interviews, teleconferences and meetings should be transcribed to ensure that none of the details are omitted.

Many busy students record lectures and seminars to transcribe later and use for studying, and in the medical industry, doctor’s notes are transcribed later for reports.

Insurance companies are obligated by law to record their telephonic conversations to clients, and that audio recording must be made available in text upon the client’s request.

Call us for all your captioning services

When it comes to captioning services, live or after the fact, 121 Captions are the leading experts in the country.

We have years of experience captioning events, lectures, and conferences, all over the world and in many different languages.

All our captioning work is checked and re-checked as part of our commitment to quality, with time-coding, translations, and mastering all available upon request.

We provide subtitles in over 30 document formats, including SBV for YouTube, .STL for DVD Authoring, or XML for Final Cut Pro.

If you would like to know more about our offline captions and how they can help your business, then please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Our friendly and professional staff will be happy to help in any way they can.