How companies ensure that all their content is closed captioned, of course, varies. That also includes all streaming services. Unlike subtitles that are only shown when the characters appear, closed captions will let viewers know if a dialogue is happening offscreen.Ĭlosed captions are a legal requirement for all content that’s publicly broadcast and televised following the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. Closed captions will recreate the conversation in text, just like subtitles would, but also describe the background sounds, usually within brackets like. While subtitles show a text version of the dialogues of characters as they appear on the screen, translated or not, closed captions recreate on-screen dialogue and narration, describe background sounds and noises, and even tell viewers the characters’ tone.įor example, imagine a tense scene in a horror movie that has dialogue but also has mood-setting noises happening in the background.
Sometimes mistaken for the same thing, subtitles on your TV and closed captioning CC are two different tools that serve different purposes. Control the cable channels using the cable box remote.Order Closed Captioning Services What Are Closed Captions on TV?.