Add Closed Captions to Videos
Captions make Lesson videos usable for Learners who cannot hear the audio, and this article shows Content Developers how to find the videos that still need captions and upload a caption file from the Video Library.
Why add closed captions?
Captions put the words of a video on screen, so a Learner can follow it without hearing it.
Reason |
Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Learners who are deaf or hard of hearing | Without captions, the video carries no content for them at all. |
| Noisy places | Frontline Learners often train in a warehouse, a truck, or a store aisle, where audio is hard to hear and headphones are not practical. |
| Quiet places | A Learner on a customer site or in a shared space may not be able to play sound at all. |
| Accessibility standards | Captions are one of the things standards such as ADA look for in video content. |
Note: Captions help far more Learners than the ones who need them. Many people watch with sound off by habit, so captions raise how much of a video actually lands.
Which videos still need captions?
Open the Video Library and look at the Lesson Videos tab. A video with no captions carries a gold Missing Captions badge across the bottom of its card.
The badge names the language that is missing, as a language code. Missing Captions: en means English has no caption file. Select the badge to see the language written out.
Note: The badge tells you what is missing. It does not upload anything. Selecting it shows the missing languages and nothing else, so use the card's ... menu to add the file.
Which videos does this apply to?
Captions belong on Lesson Videos, the finished videos Learners watch.
Source Videos are the footage a subject matter expert records for building Lessons, and they are used in Replica Video Capture rather than shown to Learners. They do not need captions.
What caption file does Skyllful accept?
Skyllful accepts two caption formats.
Format |
File extension |
|---|---|
| WebVTT | .vtt |
| SubRip | .srt |
Both hold the same two things: the words, and the times they appear on screen. Most captioning tools export either one.
Note: Prepare the caption file before you start. Skyllful takes a caption file you already have, so the transcribing and timing happen in a captioning tool, not here.
How do you add captions to a video?
Step |
Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open the Learning Program, then select Video Library under Quick Links. |
| 2 | Select the Lesson Videos tab. |
| 3 | Find the video. Use the Name filter, or sort by Upload Date, if the library is long. |
| 4 | Select the ... menu on the video card. |
| 5 | Select Upload Captions. |
| 6 | Choose your .vtt or .srt caption file. |
What else can you do with captions?
Three caption commands sit together on the card's ... menu, and two of them stay unavailable until the video has captions.
Command |
What it does |
|---|---|
| Upload Captions | Adds a caption file to the video. |
| Download Captions | Saves the caption file already on the video. Use it to correct captions in your captioning tool and upload them again. |
| Remove Captions | Takes the caption file off the video. |
Note: Download Captions and Remove Captions are greyed out on a video that has no captions yet. That is the expected state, not a problem.
How do you caption more than one language?
Add a separate caption file for each language you support. The badge names every language still missing, so it tells you what is left to do.
What if captions do not work as expected?
Symptom |
What to do |
|---|---|
| Selecting the Missing Captions badge does not let you upload | The badge only reports what is missing. Use the ... menu on the card, then Upload Captions. |
| Download Captions and Remove Captions are greyed out | The video has no captions yet. Both become available once a caption file is uploaded. |
| The badge still names a language after you upload | That language has no caption file yet. The badge clears one language at a time, so add a file for each language you support. |
| You cannot find the video | Check the Lesson Videos tab rather than Source Videos. Filter by Name, or sort by Upload Date to bring recent uploads to the top. |
| Skyllful will not take your caption file | Skyllful accepts WebVTT (.vtt) and SubRip (.srt). Export the captions again from your captioning tool in one of those two formats. |
| The captions are wrong or out of time | Select Download Captions, correct the file in your captioning tool, then upload it again. |
Where can you get help?
If you need help, start with your manager, then your Local Administrator. If additional assistance is needed, your Local Administrator can submit a support ticket to Skyllful.
Skyllful Knowledge Base | Content Developers, Instructional Designers