Subtitles Have Outgrown Their Initial Function

Closed captioning is discussed a lot in a global world. It helps diverse international audiences understand information more quickly and even develop foreign language skills by listening and reading simultaneously. Meanwhile, the subtitles make life easier for the native speakers, too! 

The Guardian, a British news and media website, argues that subtitles are no longer just for the hard of hearing. 

The respondents of their article have shared their experience on how closed captioning helps them daily. For example, some TV shows have very complicated plots that one has to follow attentively to be up to speed with the story's development. Some shows as Game of Thrones make the audience process a lot of information, and subtitles help keep track of it. 

Gen Z appreciates the subtitles as they help teenagers and people in their early 20’s to multitask. They engage in many various activities, which cause quite a bit of ambient sounds as well. Having several means to comprehend the content is of well-appreciated help for them to keep their busy lifestyles undisturbed! 

Numbers also prove the usefulness of closed captioning. Sixteen years ago already, a study by Ofcom had concluded that out of almost 8 million UK TV viewers, only 1.5 million had a hearing impairment. The Guardian observes that the number now should be much higher, taking social media into account and the prevalence of subtitling in the online content. This is especially useful in public setups, where people shy away from disturbing others by sounds from their devices if they don’t have the air phones: thanks to closed captioning, they can still enjoy the video content on mute! 

Some reckon that up to 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound. The users have attention captured while scrolling their devices, thanks to the subtitles that help them notice some content they are interested in. 

Subtitles are not all about capturing one’s attention, though. Research by Indian academic Brij Kothari, gives some insight that subtitles may significantly increase children's literacy levels. 

Thus, the applications and benefits of closed captioning for both the users and the content creators are plenty. Therefore, we always encourage our clients to do this, and we offer some fantastic deals on closed captioning. Check our offering!