Add Closed Captions to Video

The MixCaptions app has a number of features to help both creators and businesses add captions quickly and easily – all while keeping everything on-brand, seamless, and accessible for a wider range of people. 

Add Closed Captions to Video Content Easily 

What is the difference between open and closed captions?

You may have heard the term ‘closed captions’ and immediately think of subtitles. However, there’s much more to captioning video content than you may have realized. Here, we’ll walk through what captioning is and the difference between closed and open captioning, and how to decide which to use.

Closed captioning: 

Captioning is defined as the act of adding text that is explaining what is going on in a video, including dialogue and background noise. This is used specifically for the deaf/hard of hearing, when the audio is in a foreign language, or for moments when listening to the video isn’t possible. And – a majority of people who watch short videos on social media have it muted.

Closed captioning is what most are most familiar with – it’s captioning that can be turned on or off by the viewer. This is the best option to cater to the most people, and is great especially for videos on Facebook and Instagram. 

Open captioning: 

Unlike closed captioning, open captioning means that the viewer cannot turn off captions – the default is captions. Unlike closed captions, they’re burned into the video track, rather than being added later as an external file. However, if the viewer doesn’t want captions, it may be distracting for them and they may feel frustrated. 

Benefits When You Add Open Captions to Video 

The main benefit to adding open captions to video is to provide more inclusivity and accessibility for your audience. This drives engagement and views because captioned content can be consumed by those who watch with or without audio, and text on screen is easier to digest than hard-to-understand audio. Additionally, some websites or devices do not support closed captioning, so at times it may be the only option. 

Other benefits include providing an easier experience for the viewer so they don’t have to work or figure out how to turn captions on. Viewers cannot accidentally turn them off, and captions will be automatically on short clips (like on social media), where in most cases, people do not have their sound on. Lastly, when you add captions to video, it greatly benefits those with hearing disabilities – giving them a chance to join the social conversation and providing an inclusive experience for all. 

Video Captions Increase Discoverability 

Captions also boost SEO. Transcripts and captions allow Google to crawl everything that is said in your video, increasing your keyword density and keyword diversity. This helps your video rank higher, and in more places. 

On top of discoverability, a research study found that 80% of participants would be more likely to watch a video in its entirety when captions are added.

Guarantee Captions Are 100% Accurate

Ensuring that every word in your captioning is correct, MixCaptions has an editing feature that helps you correct mistakes and makes sure everything is 100% accurate. 

Accessibility For The Deaf/Hard of Hearing

Taking captioning a step further for the deaf/hard of hearing, MixCaptions gives the ability to customize captions – like changing the font, color, size and background – to make sure captions are visible and accessible for everyone to see. 

Custom Branding, Look & Feel 

To bring the customization even further and on-brand – MixCaptions allows you to import your own fonts, watermarks, logos, and added effects to your captions. 

Add Captions to Video On These Social Media Platforms

While each social platform is slightly different, MixCaptions’ features make adding captions to videos simple.

TikTok Videos (Open Captions) 

• Promote your brand by importing your personal or business logo
• Custom caption placement to avoid being covered by buttons of text
• Profanity? “Bleep” it out so you don’t get reported or flagged.

Facebook & Instagram Reels and Stories (Open Captions) 

• Save time by generating your captions once and export for all video ratios:  9:16, 16:9, 4:5
• Maintain consistency with your brand aesthetic by importing your preferred font
• Repurpose audio (like your favorite podcast episode or voice memo) into a video with captions 

Add Captions to These Video Platforms

Adding captions to your next YouTube or Vimeo video is as easy as 1,2,3. 

YouTube & Vimeo Videos (Closed Captions) 

• Supports longer form content. Caption videos up to 30 minutes long!
• Export videos with captions in stunning 4K.
• MixCaptions makes it easy to export the SRT files from the app and import into YouTube or Vimeo.
• Use our subtitle translator feature to help reach a global audience on YouTube or Vimeo.

What You’ll Need to Add Captions to Video 

• Choose the pre-recorded video you’d like to add captions on
• You can also upload audio files (i.e. podcasts) to generate captions
• Want to use this on other social platforms? Import or export the SRT files. It’s that simple.

How to Add Closed Captions to Video 

Adding closed captions to video on MixCaptions is seamless, and can be done in more than one way. 

Create a Video Quick & Easy

If you’re a creator or business looking to add captions to video in a quick and simple way, here’s how easy the process is:

1. Insert your video 
2. Allow MixCaptions to automatically caption it
3. Review captions for accuracy 
4. Share to the social media platform of your choice

Create a Fully Custom Video 

If you’re a creator or business that enjoys being more hands on with creating a fully custom video, there’s more customization points available:

1. Follow the instructions to create a quick and easy video 
2. Import your own font and move the captions anywhere on the screen
3. Easily make minor edits or adjust the timing
4. Personalize your video with text or image (i.e. watermark/logo)