Subtitling and closed captioning: The 2025 complete guide

It’s not news that an increasing number of people are watching their favourite shows with subtitles – even newspapers such as The Guardian covered this phenomenon back in 2023. Since then, subtitles and closed captioning have only become more common, thanks in part to the boom of short-form videos on TikTok and Instagram that have us glued to our phone screens day and night. To cut a long story short: subtitling and closed captioning are now essential components in the creation and distribution of multimedia content.

This is only further supported by increasing audience appetites for foreign-language content through streaming services such as Netflix.  Many non-English natives are used to dubbed or subtitled media, but English-speaking audiences have typically shied away from foreign-language media. That’s all changed. And subtitles and dubbing are at the forefront of that push.

That’s all before we even get started on the importance of providing accessible options for viewers with auditory difficulties. Put simply, choosing not to provide multilingual subtitles for your content is choosing to shut out vast swathes of your potential audience – and limiting your return on investment.

Subtitling: Start with the essentials

So, you think you know subtitles? Let’s just recap the basics. Subtitling is the process of displaying readable text onscreen that translates or transcribes the spoken dialogue of a video. Subtitles are a tool that is mainly used to help bridge language gaps and enhance viewer understanding. Typically placed at the bottom of the screen, subtitles should adhere to readability, accuracy, and timing standards.

While subtitles are typically associated with TV shows or films, they are also present in other forms of interactive visual media, including video games. As the gaming industry begins to adopt wider accessibility practices as part of a move to expand its audience, a range of subtitle options are becoming standard across major titles. Of course, these too should adhere to best practices – including making subtitle options available before the opening sequences.

There are two major types of subtitles:

• Standard Subtitles: These translate or transcribe original dialogue.
• SDH (Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing): Includes not only dialogue but also speaker IDs, sound effects, and other relevant audio information.

Guidelines for effective subtitling

To ensure subtitles are helpful and unobtrusive, every line must be short, clear, and accurately synchronized with speech. Typically, subtitles are kept to two lines per screen and a maximum of 47 characters per line, making them easily readable without covering important visual elements. The timing is also crucial: subtitles stay visible for at least one second but no more than seven, appearing only when the dialogue is spoken and disappearing promptly after.

It’s never quite as simple as just enforcing hard breaks after 47 characters however. High quality subtitling isn’t just about relaying words, but about conveying meaning, maintaining a natural reading flow, and ensuring clarity. This means line breaks should occur at logical points in the dialogue, never splitting articles from nouns or separating names. Technical accuracy is also key: UTF-8 encoding accommodates global languages, while standardized fonts such as Arial ensure legibility across all devices.

Professional subtitling services will also be aware of conventions such as using brackets to indicate foreign languages or capitalizing speaker IDs for clarity. In many video games, for example, players will be able to select character names to appear in a separate colour from their spoken dialogue. Lyrics and off-screen sounds may use italics or musical notes to set them apart from dialogue. Combined, these strategies contribute to a smooth, accessible viewing experience.

Closed captions: levelling up your accessibility game

While many might conflate subtitles and closed captions, they are in fact slightly different things. Whereas subtitles only display a text-based recreation of dialogue, closed captioning takes accessibility a step further by representing all meaningful audio, including sound effects, music cues, and non-verbal signals. This is essential for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences, but it also aids comprehension in noisy settings or when viewers can’t rely on audio.

Closed captioning standards

Closed captioning creation demands accuracy and thoroughness in order to ensure a truly accessible experience for your audiences. Here are some things to consider during your closed caption creation process:

• Accuracy: Must reflect dialogue and sound effects completely, preserving original language and intent.
• Synchronization: Captions must appear in time with the audio; remain on screen long enough for comfortable reading (usually 3-7 seconds per caption).
• Placement: Should not block important visuals; flexible positioning preferred.
• Completeness: Captions must run from start to finish of the media content without gaps.

Editorial guidelines

Clear language, correct vocabulary, and rigorous proofreading underpin quality captions. Identifying speakers and providing non-speech descriptions where appropriate adds valuable context, helping all viewers follow the narrative fully.

Multilingual subtitles to take your content global

With increasingly global audiences, multilingual subtitles are an essential way to reach and engage your viewers. They allow people everywhere to experience your content in their own language, broadening its appeal and reflecting a dedication to inclusion and accessibility.

There are many options out there for organizations looking to translate their subtitles into multiple languages, ranging from simple Google Translate to professional translation agencies. The option that works best for you will likely depend on your intended goals, but whenever your brand identity or authority is in question, expert localization agencies are the way to go.

Localization agencies use expert linguists alongside tech solutions to ensure both speed and quality. Think of all those videos that you’ve seen on your Instagram feed recently – how many of them were riddled with subtitling errors? While it might not seem like much, the cumulative effect is that your brand reputation could suffer.

With professional linguists working on your content, you can ensure that idiomatic expressions, humour, and the cultural context required to create an authentic experience are preserved across your chosen languages. Maintaining consistent terminology, character names, and tone is critical to ensure each version aligns with the original.

Not all translation agencies are created equal – if you’re working on videos, collaborating with a company like Alpha CRC, which has extensive audiovisual experience through our own recording studios, will help reduce cost and improve final output quality.

The subtitling and captioning workflow

Creating subtitles for your audiovisual content typically follows a four-step workflow, although this will increase to five if you’re looking for multilingual content.

1. Transcription: A verbatim transcript is created for all spoken and relevant non-verbal audio. This can be done manually, but many agencies will now use automated tools in order to improve efficiency. Even when automation is used, it’s often worth giving your transcription a human review to ensure that there are no errors. This is always going to be important, but it only becomes more so when your transcription is going to be sent to translation: any errors here will be replicated in your target languages. Avoid potential disaster and wasted money by taking the time to check now.
2. Translation (if needed): Adapt script accurately for target audiences. Remember that spoken language is often full of idiomatic expressions and broken sentences. While automated translation tools can be useful, make sure that you’ve accurately taken cultural context into account during the localization process.
3. Timing/Spotting: Sync the text to the correct in-out frames of the video. You don’t want dialogue or closed captions appearing before the characters on-screen begin speaking: this could mean accidentally revealing important story beats before intended and ruining narrative impact.
4. Formatting: Split lines for readability, adhere to character limits and technical specs. As a reminder, you should keep it to two lines per screen, with a maximum of 47 characters per line. Introduce line breaks and cut subtitles according to the grammatical standards of each language.
5. Quality Control: Ensure timing accuracy, correct placement, and compliance with standards. Professional subtitling providers such as Alpha use expert linguists to ensure natural flow as part of a linguistic sign-off.

Professional tools and formats

Popular offline subtitle editing tools include Subtitle Edit, Aegisub, and EZTitles. These programs offer advanced features such as waveform audio visualization, frame-accurate timing, and customizable formatting options, allowing detailed control over subtitle positioning, style, and synchronization.

Standard subtitle and caption file formats are crucial for seamless integration into broadcast and streaming systems. The most widely used format, SRT (SubRip), supports basic timing and text but lacks styling and positioning options. WebVTT (VTT) builds on this by enabling richer presentation, including text formatting and additional metadata suited for web videos.

Other professional formats include SCC (Scenarist Closed Captions), commonly used in North American broadcasting, which supports multiple caption streams and is compliant with FCC regulations. DFXP (Distribution Format Exchange Profile), based on XML, enables comprehensive styling and placement controls and is widely adopted by broadcasters and streaming platforms for captions and subtitles.

All subtitle files are typically encoded in UTF-8 to support the full range of international characters and symbols needed for multilingual content. Proper file naming conventions and organization ensure efficient management and delivery across different languages and platforms. Understanding the strengths and limitations of each tool and format is essential to producing subtitles and captions that are accurate, accessible, and compatible with all viewing environments.

Conclusion

Subtitling, closed captioning, and multilingual subtitles form the foundation of accessible, audience-friendly media. Alpha Studios’ expertise, from precise translation and timing to technical mastery and cultural sensitivity, ensures your content connects with viewers across borders and backgrounds—delivered with the highest quality and professionalism.