ELCA Web and Multimedia Development Blog

In the midst of our complete Web site overhaul, one of the areas we are revamping is Video. We want to offer the highest quality video, in every format, downloadable to play at your own leisure. But we also want to make sure that they are accessible to the hearing impaired and to those who speak languages other than the language the video was recorded in. The easiest way to accomplish this is with subtitles.

Bishop Hanson’s Christmas message this year is a fine example. We created a Flash version (all our videos are done in that format) and added an XML file that overlays on the video. This method varies greatly with how you post your videos.

But did you know that you can add subtitles to your You Tube videos? Here are the steps we took to add English and Spanish subtitles to Bishop Hanson’s video on You Tube.

1. First you must have a subtitles text file. See below, for more info.
2. Navigate to the video you want to add subtitles to (You must be signed in).
3. You should see an “Edit Video” button in the right-hand column. Click it.
4. In the navigation across the top that starts with “Info&Settings”, click on “Captions and Subtitles.”
5. To upload your subtitle file, click the “Browse” button. Then find the file on your computer and upload it.
6. Choose a name (I used the name of the language of the subtitles) and then choose the language from the drop down menu.
7. Repeat from step “5″ with your other languages.

To create a subtitle file:

1. The easiest way is to choose a subtitle application. There is a free one called Subtitle Workshop.
2. Open the video in the software and add your subtitles as you scrub through the video.
3. Save the file in the format you need. You Tube only accepts files in the following formats: SubViewer (.sub) or SubRip (.srt)
4. Repeat with your other languages, and save them as other .sub or .srt files.

As with all things Web, there is hardly a quick and easy way to do things if you are striving for Cutting Edge and Professional. But it is relatively easy and cheap to add Accessibility to your videos, especially the ones that are in the public forum.

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