This week we discussed video and audio in video curation.

One specific topic that caught my interest was talking about closed captions. Closed captions are something I use often and don’t give much thought to anymore. For as long as I can remember I have turned on my closed captions when watching streaming sites like Netflix or Hulu. I enjoy reading along with what they are saying and find it helps me better understand it. Whether it’s just one word I misheard or just to comprehend the dialogue. I’ve had people ask me why I always use closed captions and when people dislike them they tell me it is because they find them distracting on screen. I understand their point, but for me, it is very helpful.

Weirdly enough I don’t turn on closed captions when watching youtube video but we did discuss how the technology for it is very advanced. The accuracy is quite impressive and it’s important to have that inclusivity for everyone to enjoy the video. In class, we also had a discussion of closed captions in other languages. After a long night of studying for my Spanish exam a couple of years ago, I took a break to watch Netflix. I had made the brilliant decision to change the language of the captions to Spanish and follow along as it went. This way I was able to incorporate my studying into my “free” time. I could quickly translate the English dialogue and see it appear in Spanish, paying attention to spelling and grammar. I would also pause when the captions appear but before the dialogue had been spoken yet to test myself on my Spanish reading skills. I suppose you could also change the dialogue to Spanish (or whatever language you’re learning) with English subtitles if you had that option available.