focusing on captions on YouTube and their importance, in celebration of

international week of the deaf.

In the first video I went through what captions are and why they're useful.

the second video is a quick breakdown of how to

actually add those captions to youtube videos. And the third was a run-through

of captioning do's and don'ts.

But, in this video I'm going to explain the secret world of captions,

what these things actually mean,

and a few YouTube tricks to give you a better experience as a viewer.

Welcome to the secret world of captions

Unlike subtitles, captions aren't just dialogue written on the screen.

If you're British and really confused we call both

captions and subtitles..'subtitles' because it's a thing.

They also need to give some clue about what those words actually mean.

I've played to this glossary from the many realms of the Internet

including the BBC guidelines for best practice in online captioning.

These are not the be-all and end-all rules of captioning however.

If there are any captioning rules or quirks you think I've missed

then please do leave them in the comments down below.

There are of exceptions to every rule and these will be different in different countries

I'm actually really intrigued to learn about captioning and other languages

so if you are from a different country and

English is not the language that you use please do let me know the kind of

captioning practices that you have in your country.

As I told you in the previous video

80% of people who use captions are hearing

and 20% are deaf or hard-of-hearing

but if I say

or

we all know what I'm trying to say

the way you use captions is just as important as having them in the first place

because alternatives like plugging in earphones or waiting until you're not in

a crowded noisy space just don't exist for that 20%

and that's a really huge demographic to exclude

so let me help you decode the language of captions

and help you make the best ones you possibly can

I shall start with the exciting questions

like how to swear in captions

You already know the answer to this one

just mash a load of symbols together

like these, preferably with the same

number of characters as the swear word you're trying to replace

That's a grawlix

They're comical and nonsensical but alternatively, if you're not just trying

to amuse your viewer but instead escape the census

(cough) Algorithm

Simply write the first and last letters of the word

and use stars in between

Asterix!..

Astra..

Asterixis..

like so

'Narration'

When used on TV or streaming services, narration is usually italicised

However we are talking about YouTube

where you can't control such a thing unless of course you've already created

a file off-site and then uploading it using the upload a file feature which I

talked to you about in video 2 which you've definitely watched

If you have a video that involves a narrator or a voiceover best practice would

probably be to name this with 'narrator'

at the start of whatever they're saying and

then their words

Which leads to

'Change of Speaker'

Again this can be done just

by naming the voices at the start of their speech and then shortening them to

just an initial if they continue to be a back and forth

You could also use three greater than symbols

but I think the tidiest is just to use a hyphen

'Words You Can't Hear'

So you're transcribing your vlog or someone else's and there's

the sentence that no matter how many times you bump up the volume and replay

you just cannot get.

Simply use brackets (indistinct) or brackets (unclear)

'Style'

Captions display dialogue sound effects and music but also give it a good

information about them

For example

Some lyrics are delimited by either a musical note or

the pound sign that's not the Sterling sign it's this thing also known as the

number sign or the hash sign and now the hash tag

Forever

Put it at the start and end of the line

For a hashtag use the word

'hashtag'

not the symbol

Because the person watching it may also believe

that symbol donates music so they're going to get very confused

Although they are on the internet

they managed to find their way here

so

maybe not.

But to save confusion, just you know write it out in full

Oh! However with the @ symbol you should use the @ symbol

because apparently that's less confusing.

'Puns'

This will be obvious once you get it

But

Words don't always make sense if you've never heard words

Just because two words rhyme doesn't mean they look like they do

A double meaning of a sound isn't funny when you have to choose one of those

options to then write down on in the captions there's just no joke there

So, the best thing to do in that case is to write down the two things

or three things it could be and then put a slash in between

'Rhetorical Questions'

In the same mode as sarcasm, either right out 'rhetorical'

or use the brackets (?) brackets

with no space between the last word and that bracket.

'Incredulity'

If you're not sure whether to put a question mark or an exclamation mark

put both!

Use CAPS to indicate when the word is STRESSED

probably not that much

but you know don't ever use it either

You can also use it to indicate

when a word is SHOUTED or screamed

Sorry, didn't actually want to scream that.

There's a puppy asleep on my lap so..

Just put whisper at the front of the sentence in

caps because its direction and then a colon and then the words

or you can just use brackets to indicate an aside.

'Accents'

If you suddenly say a sentence in

a different accent

she says not even trying

or you want to make a point of

where someone else in your video is from perhaps with a really strong southern accent

Use a label before the sentence

I suppose mine is going to say RP isn't it

'Dramatic Effect'

If the joke is that what you're saying makes no sense

then type out so it makes no sense

but if the joke

is the way that it's said then just write that as well

like slurred or high pitched

for a pause within a sentence leave three dots immediately following the pause

...

then continue immediately afterwards

...

without leaving a space

'Punchlines'

Do actually put the punchline in a different subtitle so I won't

accidentally read it before I've read the set up

Thank You!

'Music'

Label any music you've added in post-production

with MUSIC in capital letters

then add the name of the song

along with the artist if you know it

If it's more mood music

like creepy Halloween time then use sound effect label

and a final grammar point sound labels described sounds alone

they are not stage directions

If I can see you shut the door just write

'door shuts'

not

'I shut the door'

And that's all I have for you

although this is in no way exhaustive

I hope you've enjoyed this video and you've learnt a lot

If you're new to my channel then please subscribe

Come and have a look at the other types of content I make

It would be great if we could get all YouTubers to caption their videos

So please share this series of videos with your favourites and give

love to these creators who are already captioning their stuff and just

generally being amazing