One of the incredible things about accessibility is how a product or tool developed for one group can end up benefiting many others. This is sometimes called the “curb cut effect” — when a modification for a niche group (in the case of curb cuts, wheelchair users) becomes widespread and improves access and quality of life for people with strollers, walkers, rolling luggage and more.
Closed captioning is another great example of this. For many years, television and movie programming was less than ideal for people who were deaf or had hearing loss. If you’ve ever been in a waiting room or workout area where all the TVs were on mute and it was difficult to follow what’s happening in the show, you can imagine how frustrating it might be if that were the case for everything you watched.
Captions roll out… very slowly
The very first attempts at captioning were in the late 1940s, when producers began to experiment with etching captions onto the film once it was complete. But concerted efforts to make captions widely available did not begin until the early 1970s, when broadcast networks began to experiment with different ways to embed the captions within the television signal.
In 1973, Julia Child’s show, The French Chef, became the first open captioned program on TV (meaning that captions were on for all viewers and could not be turned off). As technology advanced, broadcasters were able to encode captions into the television signal, but users needed a special (and expensive) decoder box attached to their TV in order to access the captioned programs.
During the 1980s and ‘90s, more and more programs were captioned until finally, in 1993, all new TV sets came with the decoder chip embedded, so that users could turn captions on and off as needed.
Watch this video from PBS American Experience about the evolution of captions
The 2020s: A captioning renaissance?
In recent years, artificial intelligence has made it possible to live-caption many kinds of digital content, like YouTube videos or social media posts (though the accuracy of AI-generated captions is often questionable). One of the most interesting developments from widespread use of captions is the growing audience of younger people with mild or no hearing loss who prefer to watch programs with captions on.
Baby boomers and Gen X parents and grandparents have been surprised to see their Millennial and Gen Z family members frequently turning on closed captions for TV, movies and streaming content.
“I like having captions on when they’re professionally done,” said high school student Noah K. “It helps me pay attention and not miss anything.” It also allows viewers to watch things as a group with friends and family members with hearing loss.
A new type of captions
Caption with Intention© is adding even more value to the experience of watching movies and shows with captions. According to their website, “Caption with Intention© is a dynamic captioning system that adds unprecedented emotion, context, and clarity to enhance the viewing experience for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities.”
It has three key features:
- Attribution – Using different colors for each character to indicate who is speaking.
- Synchronization – Aligning the captions with the timing of the actor’s speech, so that everyone watching gets the joke at the same time, for example.
- Intonation – Using visual cues to convey the emotions, volume and pitch of the words.
Importantly, the new system was designed with extensive involvement from people who are deaf or have hearing loss. Focus group participants at the Chicago Hearing Society described it as “like seeing the movie for the first time,” even when viewing films they’d watched with traditional captions many times before.
The system is available for studios, producers and creators to download and apply to their content. Keep an eye out on the closed caption or accessibility menu of your device for Caption with Intention© viewing options in the years to come.
How hearing aid users can enjoy watching TV
For those who have hearing loss and wear hearing aids, there are often other ways to improve your TV viewing experience without cranking up the volume too loud. For instance, some hearing aid users can connect their hearing aids directly to the TV sound system or their phone or tablet. Each manufacturer is a little different, so consult your hearing aid manufacturer’s website or phone support line for help with getting connected.
And while captions are great — and becoming even better — you still want to take care of your hearing for those face-to-face moments of connection. A licensed audiologist can provide comprehensive hearing evaluations and ongoing care for people who are experiencing hearing difficulties, tinnitus or balance issues.
