Captioning Key for Educational Media

Sound effects necessary to the understanding and/or enjoyment of the media should be captioned.

1. A description of sound effects, in brackets, should include the source of the sound.
   

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2. Description can be eliminated if the source of the sound can clearly be seen on-screen.
   

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3. If the presentation rate permits, also include onomatopoeia. A study by Gallaudet University showed that “A combination of description and onomatopoeia was the preference of more consumers (56%) than was description alone (31%) or onomatopoeia alone (13%).”
   

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4. Offscreen sound effects should be italicized. This includes background music.
   

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5. Place the description of the sound effect as close as possible to the sound source.
6. Both sound effects and onomatopoeias must be lowercased.
7. If description is used for offscreen sound effects, it is not necessary to repeat the source of the sound if it is making the same sound a few captions later. Example:
   First Caption [pig squealing]

   Later Caption [squealing continues]
   

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8. The description should be on the first line of the sound effect caption, separate from the onomatopoeia. Example:
   Inappropriate [machine gun firing] rat-a-tat-tat

   Appropriate [machine gun firing]
   rat-a-tat-tat
9. Use punctuation to indicate speed or pace of sound. Examples:
   Slow [clock chiming]
   dong…dong…dong

   Rapid [gun firing]
   bang, bang, bang
10. A sound represented by a repeated word is not hyphenated. A sound represented by two different words is hyphenated. Examples:
    Repeated Words [doorbell ringing]
    ding, ding

    Two Different Words [doorbell ringing]
    ding-dong
    

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11. When describing a sustained sound, use the present participle form of the verb. When describing an abrupt sound, use the third person verb form. Examples:
    Sustained Sound [dog barking]
    woof, woof…woof [papers crinkling]

    Abrupt Sound [dog barks]
    woof! [papers crinkle]
12. Caption background sound effects only when they’re essential to the plot.
13. Caption the audience response only when it is essential to a better understanding of on-screen or offscreen action. Example:
    Inappropriate (John)
    Bring out the band!

    Appropriate (John)
    Bring out the band!
    
    [audience cheering]
14. When possible, use specific rather than vague, general terms to describe sounds. Examples:
    Vague/General [horse running] [bird singing]

    Specific [horse galloping] [robin singing]
15. Never use the past tense when describing sounds. Captions should be synchronized with the sound and are therefore in the present tense.

1. If the speaker is not visible on-screen, or visual clues that denote the emotional state are not shown, indicate the speaker’s emotion. Example:
   Inappropriate Well, whatever!

   Appropriate [angrily]
   Well, whatever!
2. When a person is whispering, captions as:
   [whispering]
   Okay, you go first.
3. When feasible, describe puns. Example:
   Why do they call her “Ouisy”?
   [“Wheezy”]
4. When people are seen talking, but there is no audio, caption as [no audio] or [silence].

1. When possible, use caption placement to identify an on-screen speaker by placing the caption under the speaker.
2. If offscreen speakers are speaking simultaneously, appropriate speaker identification must be added.
3. When a speaker cannot be identified by placement and his/her name is known, the speaker’s name should be in parentheses. Also, the speaker’s name needs to be on a line of its own, separate from the captions. Example:
   Inappropriate [Jack]I don’t see
   how blasting would work
   on this building.

   Appropriate (Jack)
   I don’t see how blasting
   would work on this building.
4. When a speaker cannot be identified by placement and his/her name is unknown, identify the speaker using the same information a hearing viewer has (e.g., “female #1,” “male narrator”).
5. If a speaker is offscreen and his/her offscreen position is known, place the captions to the far right or left, as close as possible on-screen to the offscreen speaker’s assumed position.
6. Do not identify the speaker by name until the speaker is introduced in the audio or by an on-screen graphic.
7. If there is only one narrator, identify as (male narrator) or (female narrator) at the beginning of the media. It is not necessary to identify gender for each caption thereafter.
8. When an actor is portraying another person or character, identify the actor as the person being portrayed. Example:
   (as George Washington)
   If the freedom of speech
   is taken away,
   
   then dumb and silent
   we may be led,
   
   like sheep
   to the slaughter.

1. Keep the captions as closely synchronized to the original audio as possible.
2. Borrowing 15 frames before and after the audio occurs is hardly noticeable to the viewer. This “borrowing” technique can be used occasionally when presentation rate is a factor.
3. Do not simultaneously caption different speakers if they are not speaking at the same time.

1. When captioning music, use descriptions that indicate the mood. Be as objective as possible. Avoid subjective words, such as “delightful,” “beautiful,” or “melodic.”
2. If music contains lyrics, caption the lyrics verbatim. The lyrics should be introduced with the name of the vocalist/vocal group, the title (in brackets) if known/significant, and if the presentation rate permits.
   

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3. Caption lyrics with music icons (♪). Use one music icon at the beginning and end of each caption within a song, but use two music icons at the end of the last line of a song.
   

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4. A description (in brackets) should be used for instrumental/background music or when verbatim captioning would exceed the presentation rate. If known, the description should include the performer/composer and the title. Examples:
   [Louis Armstrong plays
   “Hello Dolly”] [lyrical flute solo] [pianist playing
   the national anthem]
5. Beware of misplaced modifiers in descriptions. Example:
   Inappropriate [frantic piano playing]
   
   
   Appropriate [frantic piano music]
   

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6. For background music that is not important to the content of the program, place a music icon in the upper right corner of the screen.

1. If possible, caption the actual foreign words. If it is not possible to caption the words, use a description (e.g., [speaking French]). Never translate into English.
2. If possible, use accent marks, diacritical marks, and other indicators.
3. Indicate regional accent at the beginning of the first caption. Example:
   Inappropriate If y’all want me to.

   Appropriate [Southern accent]
   If y’all want me to.
4. Keep the flavor of dialect. Example:
   Inappropriate You are sure not
   from around here.

   Appropriate You sho’ ain’t
   from ’round here.
5. Keep the flavor of the speaker’s language when necessary to portray a character’s personality. This includes captioning profanity and slang. Examples:
   Inappropriate I’m not going anywhere. [cursing]

   Appropriate I ain’t going nowhere. Damn!
6. When a word is spoken phonetically, caption it the way it is commonly written. Examples:
   Original Narration “N-double-A-C-P” “www dot D-C-M-P dot org” “eight or nine hundred” “a thousand” “One thousand”

   Captioned As NAACP www.dcmp.org 800 or 900 a thousand 1000

Spelling Out

1. Unless otherwise specified below, spell out all numbers from one to ten, but use numerals for all numbers over ten. Examples:
   Inappropriate The fifty-four DVDs
   need to be shelved. He’s at the thirty, the twenty,
   and scores!

   Appropriate The 54 DVDs
   need to be shelved. He’s at the 30, the 20,
   and scores!
2. Spell out any number that begins a sentence as well as any related numbers. Example:
   Two hundred guests
   and eleven guides entered.
3. Spell out casual, nonemphatic numbers. Example:
   He gave me
   hundreds of reasons.
4. Numerals with four digits can either have a comma or not. Be consistent throughout the media production. For numerals having over five digits, a comma is necessary. Example:
   Inappropriate 50000

   Appropriate 50,000
5. Use numerals in a listing of numbers if one or more is above ten and these occur in one caption or one sentence. Example:
   Inappropriate Steven has 21 books,
   11 oranges, and three cats.

   Appropriate Steven has 21 books,
   11 oranges, and 3 cats.
6. Use numerals when referring to technical and athletic terms. Example:
   He scored 3 goals
   in today’s game!
7. When indicating sequence, capitalize the noun and use numerals. Exceptions are the indication of line, note, page, paragraph, size, step, or verse. Examples:
   Building 2 Channel 5 Chapter III Room 438

   page 31 size 12 step 3 paragraph 2

Dates

1. Use the numeral plus the lowercase “th,” “st,” or “nd” when a day of the month is mentioned by itself (no month is referred to). Example:
   Captioned As Bob went fishing
   on the 9th.

   Original Narration “ninth”
2. When the day precedes the month, use the numeral plus the lowercase “th,” “st,” or “nd” if the ending is spoken. Example:
   Captioned As My birthday is
   the 17th of June.

   Original Narration “seventeenth”
3. Use the numeral alone when the day follows the month. Example:
   Captioned As I will meet you
   on May 9.

   Original Narration “nine” or “ninth”
4. When the month, day, and year are spoken, use the numeral alone for the day, even if an ending (“th,” “st,” or “nd”) is spoken. Example:
   Captioned As Paul will marry
   on July 6, 1996.

   Original Narration “six” or “sixth”

Time

1. Indicate time of day with numerals only. Examples:
   I awoke at 5:17. If you wish to attend,
   you must arrive by 6:25 p.m. We were expected to report
   no later than 1400 hours. I awoke at 4 o’clock.
2. Always use numerals when the abbreviation “a.m.” or “p.m.” is present. Double zeros are not necessary to indicate minutes of the hour when a whole number is used with a.m. or p.m. Examples:
   She leaves at 3:20 p.m.
   for the airport. Our hours are
   from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. We’re leaving
   at 6 in the morning.

Periods of Time

1. A decade should be captioned as “the 1980s” (not “the 1980’s”) and “the ’50s” (not “the 50’s”).
2. If a decade or century is in noun form, do not use hyphens. Example:
   This vase is
   from the 17th century.
3. If a period of time is used as an adjective, use a hyphen. Example:
   This 19th-century painting
   was done by Van Gogh.

Fractions

1. Either spell out or use numerals for fractions, keeping this rule consistent throughout the media. If using numerals, insert a space between a whole number and its fraction. Example:
   Numeral Used Do you plan
   to eat 1 ½ pizzas?

   Fraction Spelled Out Do you plan to eat
   one and one-half pizzas?
2. Do not mix numerals and spelled-out words within the same sentence. Example:
   Inappropriate Malika is 13
   and a half years old.

   Appropriate Malika is
   13 ½ years old.
3. If a fraction is used with “million,” “billion,” “trillion,” etc., spell out the fraction. Example:
   The population was
   over one-half million.
4. Fractions expressed in figures should not be followed by endings, such as “sts,” “rds,” “nds,” or “ths.” Examples:
   Inappropriate 3/10ths

   Appropriate 3/10

Percents

1. Use numerals and the percent sign to indicate all percentages except at the beginning of a sentence. Examples:
   Middle of Sentence Only 6% of the votes
   were counted.

   Beginning of Sentence Fifty-one percent of the people
   voted “yes.”

Dollar Amounts

1. Use the numeral plus “cents” or “¢” for amounts under one dollar. Examples:
   I need 15 cents. I owe you 32¢.
2. Use the dollar sign plus the numeral for dollar amounts under one million. For whole-dollar amounts of one million and greater, spell out “million,” “billion,” etc. Examples:
   John brought only $11. Bob brought $6.12. The budget of $13,000
   will be sufficient. Taxes will be reduced
   by a total of $13 million. He owes $13,656,000.
3. Use the word “dollar” only once for a range up to ten. Example:
   I hope to find
   three or four dollars.
4. Use the dollar sign and numerals when captioning a range of currency over ten dollars. Example:
   Alice expected a raise
   of $6,000 to $7,000.

Measurements

1. Spell out units of measurement, such as “inches,” “feet,” “yards,” “miles,” “ounces,” “pounds,” and “tablespoons.” However, if spoken in shortened form, symbols should be used. For example, if the original narration is “I’m five eight,” it should be captioned as:
   I’m 5'8".
2. For whole numbers, use numerals. For example, caption “3 cups of sugar” instead of “three cups of sugar.”