The importance of live captioning in the business landscape of today comes as no surprise. With the growing number of lawsuits that are being filed due to the inability of organizations to provide digital accommodation for those with hearing disabilities and the missed opportunity to seize a sizable market and generate higher revenue, more and more enterprises have begun to incorporate captions into their video content.
However, its relevance extends beyond litigation and promotional purposes. And in this piece, we’ll talk about some of the reasons why every business in today’s digital age needs live captioning.
Captioning – what exactly is it?
Captioning refers to the process of splitting transcripts into smaller chunks called caption frames and having each frame time-coded and synchronized to the video’s audio. This allows the viewers to go along with the content, especially those who are deaf or suffering from hearing-related problems. It also provides people who may not understand the language with assistance in digesting the information.
1. Increasing popularity of video use
The popularity of video use has increased rapidly in recent years. These days, the medium of preference has become videos. The vast majority of people today would rather watch a video than read text because it is more engaging. Because of this, there are a lot more businesses today are making use of it for marketing and promotional purposes than there ever was in the past. And the role of captioning is to make videos much more accessible in several ways.
For starters, it allows those who have a hard time hearing or are deaf to understand the information that is being released from the videos. It also removes the language barrier and allows those unfamiliar with the dialect to follow it. And by capitalizing on these demographics, a company can market more effectively to a wider audience.
2. Evolution of technology
The ADA or the Americans with Disabilities Act is a law that enforces public accommodation for those who are disabled. Although internet accessibility isn’t written explicitly into it, the recent litigations have ruled more towards it, specifically to websites and imposing standards of accessibility that include captioned videos. And just because it doesn’t address accessibility specifically into technology, it doesn’t mean that captioning is any less important.
With the evolution of technology, companies have started to leverage the digital platform for both communication and training purposes. Captioned videos are becoming standard learning aids and organizations are relying on captions for Zoom and other video calling programs for conferences and to keep everyone on the same page despite the new normal of remote working. Simply put, it benefits business operations in more ways than one.
3. Growing population of those with hearing disabilities
Captions undoubtedly benefit everyone. However, they are imperative to giving those with hearing disabilities the same level of accessibility to videos as those who don’t. And with the growing population of this community, it is vital to use captioning solutions to attract and keep them engaged to your business. If not, you’ll fail to benefit from this broad market.
No one can deny that live captioning is important to a business. It doesn’t just help companies grow their customer base. It also allows them to improve their operations. So if you aren’t making use of it yet for your enterprise, there’s no better time to start than now.
