What is closed captioning?
Closed captioning is sometimes called, for short, 'CC'. Closed
captioning is a type of method that embeds written text into
videos to help those who are deaf or hard of hearing to enjoy a
movie or video. Closed captioning is also widely used to help
those who are first learning how to read in a language. Together
with the audio/video they are watching, they are also learning
how to read from the closed captioning they can see on the
screen. This method has been proven to be a very effective way
in teaching a language.
Sometimes, closed captioning is not verbatim, meaning word for
word. The wordings for closed captioning may not be precise but
the meaning is always the same. Some people don't know how to
make the difference between 'subtitles' and 'closed captioning'.
Subtitles are different because the text will merely tell you
what is being said on the video/audio part. They won't tell you
who said it and what other things (auditory) are going on.
Closed captioning will not only tell you what is being said on
the screen, but it will also tell you who said it and what other
sounds can be heard before and after that.
Example; Subtitles : What are you doing here? I thought you'd
gone to the movies?
Closed captioning: Sarah: (gasp) What are you doing here? (door
slams in the background). I thought you'd gone to the movies?
Since closed captioning is beneficial to the less fortunate
members of society, the Government (particularly the Department
of Education) grants loans to those who interesting in closed
captioning their videos, presentations and other audio/video
materials. In fact, the Government encourages closed captioning
to the extent that in 1998, it became a law that all television
programs in the United States should be closed captioned. Close
captioning all movies and shows on television will benefit a
large part of the American society; this is the view of the US
government.
There are, generally speaking, three different methods of
displaying closed captioning on TV. The roll up closed
captioning version will display one line at a time and when
there's no more space, the entire batch of text moves up,
removing the first line and replacing the new line at the
bottom. The pop-up close captioning display style is when the
entire line of words comes up at the same time. When there's new
text to be displayed, the previous text is completely erased.
The paint-on closed captioning style is a way of displaying text
one word at a time, anywhere on the screen. There's no need to
erase or roll-up the line of words to make way for the next
line.