• contact us
•  
• log in
•  
•  

• jump to content
• jump to subnavigation
• jump to sidebar

• Overview
• Web Captioning
• DVD/Videotape Captioning
• Broadcast Captioning
• Video Search
• Google Video
• Podcast Captioning

For More Information

Podcast Captions

Captioned podcasts foster a better viewing experience, which in turn leads to higher adoption rates, better retention of the presented material, and higher user satisfaction.  The CaptionSync automated web-based captioning service allows users to quickly and easily submit their podcast files and obtain caption results.  If you are able to provide a transcript of your content, you will get caption results in about 5 minutes.  Don't have a transcript?  Simply check a box and we'll get it for you.

There are a number of ways to caption podcast content. Besides the traditional captioning for QuickTime and iTunes, Apple now also supports encoding SCC caption files directly into a MV4 or MOV for display with QuickTime (v7.1.6 or greater), iTunes (v7.4 or greater), iPods (Classic, Nano, or Touch), and iPhones.

The following tutorial series will walk you through the various ways of captioning podcast content. They have been captioned with SCC files, so you will be able to see captioning in QuickTime, iTunes, iPods, and iPhones if you have captioning enabled.

• Podcast Captioning Overview Launch with QuickTime [3.6 M]
• Obtaining your Caption Files Launch with QuickTime [5.5 MB]
• Open Captioning a Podcast Launch with QuickTime [10.2 MB]
• Captioning for Apple Devices with Compressor Launch with QuickTime [6.3 MB]
• Captioning for Apple Devices with QuickTime Launch with QuickTime [9.4 MB]

Known Issues

Apple's support for encoding SCC caption files into M4V or MOV files is fairly recent, and there are still a couple of bugs that Apple has yet to address. While these are not major issues, you should be aware of them if you choose to use SCC captions with your podcast material:

• When using Compressor 3 to encode the caption data, portions of the caption text are sometimes dropped during playback in QuickTime or iTunes. This does not appear to occur for playback on the iPod or iPhone devices.
• When using Compressor 3 some media appears to exhibit a lag when displaying captions; the lag is short at the beginning of the file but grows as you get further into the file. It may not be evident for short files, but is clearly visible by the time you get about 15 minutes into the file.
• While SCC captions work on the iPod Classic, they do not work for older Video iPods (the iPod Classic's predecessor).

These findings suggest that it is probably safer to use QuickTime Pro to encode SCC caption data into your podcast media as all of the issues we have encountered to date surface only when using Compressor 3 to encode.

Input

Captioning your podcast is as simple as logging on to the AST server and submitting your media file for captioning.  We accept many different formats of media files, including:.WMV, .WMA, .MOV, .RM, .RA, .WAV, .MP3, .FLV, .M4A, .M4B, .M4V, or .MP4.

If you are providing a transcript file, no fancy formatting is required - just a simple .TXT file is all that is needed.

Output

If you supply your own transcript, the process takes about 5 minutes; if we need to get a transcript for you, it takes about 2-3 business days (24 hour rush transcription is also available).  And of course our automated solution is available around the clock -- whenever you need it!

Available output formats for podcast content include

• .scc files for encoding into m4v videos (plays on iPods, iPhones, iTunes, and QuickTime)
• Quicktime caption files for playback on iTunes, QuickTime, or for open captioning
• Caption files for Windows Media, Flash, and Real

Benefits

Besides the obvious benefits to viewers with hearing disabilities, captioning also offers a number of additional benefits to a much broader community of users that should not be overlooked:

• Indexing and Searching: Because captioning involves the synchronization of text content with the audio/video material, it allows the content to become easily searchable with traditional text searches.
• Compliance: ADA and Section 508 require streaming media to be accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing.  Captioning your podcasts can help you meet these requirements.
• Universal Access/Universal Design: Design your content from the ground up to be as usable as possible by as many people as possible.
• Flexibility: With the increasing popularity of mobile devices, viewers may be in environments where access to the audio is limited.  Captioning allows them to view your content whether they are in the library or on a noisy bus.
• Improved Accessibility for LD Viewers: Viewers with many types of Learning Disabilities will benefit from the increased comprehension and increased retention that captioning brings.
• Improved Accessibility for ESL Viewers: Viewers with English as a Second Language will also realize increased comprehension from captioned material.
• Improved Comprehension for All: Material that is technical, uses many unfamiliar terms, or is delivered by a non-native English speaker can be difficult for any viewer to comprehend.  Captioning provides a mechanism to addess all of these issues and improve the delivery of your content for all viewers.

Get Started Today!

Contact AST for pricing details and to set up a login ID on the caption server, and get captioning today!