CLOSED CAPTIONING AND YOUTUBE

New: Captioning Your Zoom Recordings

This video will walk you through the process of using YouTube to generate captions for your Zoom recording. How to Use YouTube to Caption Your Zoom Video (6:56)

Closed Captioning Resource

Need help finding already captioned videos for your course? This website lists several resources that link instrutors to already captioned materials. Where to Find Captioned Media

Requesting Captions from YouTubers

How you ask depends on who posted the video. For YouTubers who are private individuals and not a major news network you may have to use social media to reach them. For major news networks, there is specific contact information provided on each networks website.

Step 1. Watch the video.

Does it need closed captioning? If the video has the content written out in words in the video itself try watching it without sound. Is it understandable? Does it accomplish your educational objective? If you do not need closed captioning, you will not need to contact the YouTuber. If the video needs closed captioning, proceed to Step 2.

Step 2. Contact the YouTuber

Who posted the YouTube video? If the video was not posted by a major network you can follow the tips below. All closed-captioning requests should contain the following information.

Title of video/episode
Where it is being viewed
Problem encountered
When problem was encountered
A timeframe in which the captioning is needed
Your contact information

YOUTUBE

Bigger Youtubers usually have a business email listed on their channel. If you go to their “About” section, there should be a business email listed. Please be aware it is strictly for business only. Sometimes their contact information can be found in the description box below their videos

Click on video author name
Select About
Choose one of the websites/social media labels where the YouTuber has a presence. They are listed. Use whatever method works for you.

Send a short, polite email/message/tweet asking if they'll please caption a video on their channel. Include a link to video. Be concise. YouTubers may not have a lot of time to read wordy emails.

Contribute translated content

Some channels let you contribute titles, descriptions, subtitles and closed captions to their videos. They're viewable on the video watch page and by clicking on the [CC] icon in the player. Approved content is controlled by the video owner, but you can get credit for your contributions on the video.

You can submit content for an entire video or just add what you know. If you see existing content that's been added by someone else from the community, you can add the parts that are missing — every little bit helps.

If enough people have already contributed transcriptions or translations for a video, you'll be prompted to help review the content instead of adding to it.

You can see how many other people are currently working on the same translations with the contributor icon . If there are a lot of people working on a version, consider coming back later or working on another video that's been suggested for you in your Contribute tab.

Submit contributions

Go to the video that you want to contribute translations or transcriptions to. Note that not all videos support community contributions.
In the player, select the gear icon.
From the drop-down menu, select Subtitles/CC > Add subtitles or CC. You can also get there from under the video player by selecting ...More > Add translations.
Choose what you want to work on:
Closed captions (same language as the video)
Select the video's language.
Play the video. When you get to the part where you want to add a caption, type your caption into the box.
Repeat this process for all the audio in the video, then click Submit contribution.
You'll be asked if the captions are complete or if there's still more to be done. This helps us figure out if other contributors need to pick up where you left off. Choose No - Let others keep working on them or Yes - They're ready to be reviewed.
Click Submit.

To speed up your work, you can also use these keyboard shortcuts:

Shift + left arrow: Seek back one second.
Shift + right arrow: Seek forward one second.
Shift + space: Pause or play the video.
Shift + enter: Add a new line.
Shift + down arrow: Edit next subtitle.
Shift + up arrow: Edit previous subtitle.
Enter: Add the subtitle.

Help review submitted content

Once the submitted titles, descriptions, closed captions, or subtitles are completed, they go through a review process. YouTube moderates for spam and inappropriate contributions, but you may also be able to help review content. If enough people have already contributed translations for a video, you'll be prompted to help review the content instead of adding to it.

When reviewing content, make sure to:

Check for and fix typos or wrong subtitles.
Report spam or offensive translations by clicking Report.
If you want to ask the community to make more improvements, click Needs more work.
If you're happy with the content, click Looks good to finish your review. When a submission gets enough reviews, it'll be automatically approved — or it can be approved by the owner.

Remove your contributions

You can remove your contributions so they are no longer associated with your account. This will not delete the contribution itself, as approved content is controlled by the video owner.

Sign in to YouTube.
In the top-right corner, select your Account icon > Creator Studio.
In the left-hand menu, go to Your Contributions.
Select the video and language you want to remove your contributions from.
Click Remove My Contribution.

If you want to keep a record of your contribution for which you’re credited, but simply prefer not to be credited any longer, you can remove credits.

Contact a Major network

If the video is posted by a major network you will have go through their closed captioning inquiry process. Following are the ways to contact four major networks.

ABC News Closed Captioning Inquiries

All full length content provided by ABC on television and online has closed captioning available. Please use the following methods to contact us regarding closed captioning.

The following methods are for closed captioning inquiries only. For all other issues, please go to http://abc.go.com/feedback.

Online Closed Captioning Inquiries:

Han Kim, Disney ABC Digital Media
ABC Player
Email: digitalclosedcaptioning@abcsupport.zendesk.com
Phone: (818) 483-6537
Mail: 3800 West Alameda Ave, Burbank, CA 91505
Fax: 818-450-0493

NBC News Closed Captioning Inquiries

The NBC Broadcast Network is pleased to offer closed captioning on long-form content and certain other content that it makes available on television and online via websites and apps on mobile devices. To report an issue or concern regarding closed captioning on NBC Network programs viewed on television or online, please contact us at ClosedCaptioning@nbc.com or 1-866-787-6228. If your concern relates to a local program (such as local news or sports) or syndicated programming (such as Steve Harvey, Ellen DeGeneres, Meredith Vieira), please contact your local NBC station.

To assist us in resolving the issue, please provide the following information when you contact us for assistance with captions:

Your name, address, telephone number and email address
Your preferred method of contact (phone or email)
The name of the program with the captioning issue
A brief description of the captioning issue, including the date and time you experienced the problem
If you are watching on television, please provide the call sign or channel number of the station you are watching and, if applicable, the name of your pay TV provider
If you are watching online, please identify the device and brand (e.g., computer, tablet, smartphone) and software (including version) you are using.

If you wish to submit a written complaint, please send it to:

Margaret Tobey
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
NBCUniversal
300 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20001

CBS Closed Captioning Inquiries

PROGRAMMING

Please contact us if you have a concern or a complaint about closed captioned programming on the CBS Television Network (e.g, CBS News, CBS Daytime, CBS Primetime, CBS Late Night and CBS Sports) which you watch on a CBS affiliated television station.

For closed captioning concerns or complaints about local programs (e.g., your local news, local sports, etc.) or syndicated programs (e.g., DR. PHIL, THE DOCTORS, JUDGE JUDY, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, etc.) it is necessary for you to contact your local program distributor (e.g., your local CBS station) as these type of programs are NOT distributed by the CBS Television Network.

CLOSED CAPTIONING CONCERNS/COMPLAINTS

E-mail: CTNCCcomplaints@cbs.com
Phone: 212-975-5858
Fax: 212-881-9005

Mark Turits
Vice President, Captioning and Video Description
CBS Television Network
524 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
Att: Mail Stop 555/1327-CTN

ABOUT CBS.com (INTERNET) PROGRAMMING:

Please contact us if you have a concern or a complaint about closed captioned programming on CBS.com via the Internet.

Contact for IPCC (Internet): CONCERNS/COMPLAINTS

E-mail: IPCCcomplaints@cbs.com
Phone: 212-975-5858
Fax: 212-881-9005

Mark Turits
Vice President, Captioning and Video Description
CBS Television Network
524 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
Att: Mail Stop 555/1327-CBSi

FOX News Closed Captioning Inquiries

Fox News is pleased to offer closed captioning on many Fox News programs made available online and through mobile apps. Programs with closed captioning will have a "CC" icon in the player controls. Just tap to enable or disable.

To report an issue or concern regarding closed captioning on foxnews.com, please contact us at closedcaptioning@foxnews.com. Please detail your issue or concern by providing the following information:

Name of the program
Type of issue (e.g., garbling, missing captions on a certain episode, captions cut off at certain times or on certain days)
Website or application where you viewed the program
Approximate time and date that the issue occurred
Your name and contact information including mailing address, email and phone number

Written complaints concerning captioning on Fox News programs made available online or through mobile apps may be sent to:

Paula Firestone
Vice President Program Operations
Fox News Network
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212.301.3000
Fax: 212.301.5785
closedcaptioning@foxnews.com