Sonoma State University

Captioning and Transcription Style Guide

All audio/video content reaching a large audience must include closed captions to be Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG 2.1) compliant. In order to meet these guidelines, certain stylistic requirements must be met.

General Rules for Captions and Transcripts:

Video captions should include:

  • All verbiage spoken in the audio track

  • Identification when music is playing, and any song lyrics

  • Identification of off-screen speakers, unless there is only a single off-screen narrator for the entire video

  • Descriptions of any other sounds that are important to the video’s content

Video captions should NOT include:

  • Descriptions of sounds that do not contribute to the content of the video

  • Text that is already displayed on screen (i.e. presentation slide text)

Audio transcripts should include:

  • All verbiage spoken in the audio track.

  • Identification when music is playing, and any song lyrics.

  • Descriptions of any other sounds that are important to the video’s content.

Audio transcripts should NOT include:

  • Descriptions of sounds that do not contribute to the content of the video.

Visual Guide for Captions:

  • Captions should use a white sans serif font (i.e. Arial, Verdana) on a black background, or with a black outline to ensure high color contrast.

    • Most video hosting platforms, such as YouTube or Vimeo, will ensure font and size guidelines are met.

  • Captions should use proper sentence punctuation and grammar, as the speech is verbally delivered.

  • Numbers under ten should be spelled out, numbers 11 and higher should use numerical digits..

  • Each line should be no more than 37 characters in length.

  • Each caption should run over no more than two lines.

  • Line and caption breaks should reflect the natural flow of the sentence and its punctuation.

Timing

  • Captions should be synchronized with spoken verbiage.

  • Reading speed should not exceed 180 words per minute.

  • Common abbreviations or shortened setences can be used where appropriate for timing.

  • No sentence should remain on screen for less than 2 seconds.

Sound and Speaker Identification

  • Any noise or music that enhances the visuals, contributes to characterisation or adds atmosphere should be captioned.

  • Sound effects should be shown in square brackets, i.e. [dog barking]

  • The speakers name should be identified in round brackets, i.e. (John)

If you have questions or would like more information, please contact the Accessibility Services Analyst.