Closed Captioning
Text display of speech and sound effects that can be toggled on or off by the viewer, typically used for accessibility compliance in broadcast and live events.
Understanding Closed Captioning
Closed captioning (CC) is distinguished from open captioning by the viewer's ability to toggle it on or off. In broadcast television, closed captions are encoded in the video signal using CEA-608 or CEA-708 standards. For live events, closed captioning can be provided through dedicated screens, audience devices, or browser-based displays. The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and FCC regulations require closed captioning in many contexts. Modern AI captioning tools like Selah Translate make live closed captioning accessible to any organization without expensive CART services.
How Selah Translate Uses Closed Captioning
Selah Translate provides live captioning that viewers access on their own devices via QR code or broadcast link — functioning as viewer-controlled closed captions. The display modes (lower-third, full-screen, pop-out) can be embedded in ProPresenter, OBS, or any browser-capable display for venue-wide captioning.
Related Terms
Real-Time Captioning
The process of displaying text on screen in real time as someone speaks, providing visual access to spoken content for hearing-impaired audiences or multilingual settings.
Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)
Technology that enables computers to understand and transcribe human speech into text, also known as speech-to-text or voice recognition.
Broadcast Translation
The technology enabling a single translation session to be shared with an unlimited number of viewers in real time via a web link or QR code.