Subtitles for short videos: why and how

Many people watch short videos in public, at work or in bed with the sound off. If your video depends on audio, those viewers leave. Subtitles fix this, and they also help viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing, who are not native speakers, or who simply prefer to read.

Burned-in versus uploaded captions

There are two kinds. Uploaded caption files can be turned on and off and are indexed by some platforms, but short video apps often hide them or style them in ways you cannot control. Burned-in captions are part of the picture. They look the same everywhere and cannot be hidden, which is why most short videos use them.

Word by word beats paragraphs

Showing a whole sentence at once makes viewers read ahead of the voice. Showing one to four words at a time, in step with the speech, keeps the eye where the voice is. This is the style most viewers now expect.

Size, weight and contrast

• Large. The text should be readable on a phone held at arm's length.
• Bold. Thin fonts disappear over busy footage.
• High contrast. Use light text with a dark outline or shadow, or a coloured highlight on the current word.
• Limited lines. Two lines at most.

Place them where the app does not

Every platform covers parts of the screen with its own buttons and captions. Keep subtitles clear of the very bottom, where the caption and username sit, and the right edge, where the buttons are. A position slightly below the middle is usually safe.

Highlight the key word

Colouring the word being spoken, or the most important word in a line, adds emphasis without more graphics. Use one highlight colour and keep it consistent.

Proofread

Automatic transcripts are good but not perfect. Names, brands and technical terms are the usual mistakes. Check them before you publish.

What Uma does

Uma creates videos with animated word-by-word subtitles burned in, and the same for clips produced by Cut clips. The captions are large, high contrast and placed to stay clear of the platform buttons.