Guidelines for Captioning

Visit  the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) Captioning Key for more detailed guidelines.

Text

Case

• Mixed case characters are preferred for readability
• Use capital letters for shouting not for emphasis.

Font/Color

• White Characters on a dark translucent background
• Medium weight, sans serif font
• A drop or rim shadow
• Proportionally spaced, avoid overlap with other characters

Line Division

• Do not break a modifier from the word it modifies
• Do not break a prepositional phrase
• Do not break a person’s name or the title from the name with which it is associated
• Do not break a line after a conjunction
• Do not break an auxiliary verb from the word it modifies
• Never end a sentence/begin a new sentence on the same line unless they are short, related sentences containing only one or two words

Caption Placement

• Multi-lined captions should be left aligned when technically possible
• Captions are placed on the bottom two lines
• It is preferred that there are no more than two lines per caption
• If placing captions at the bottom of the screen interferes with visuals/graphics, place captions elsewhere on the screen where they do not interfere
• Place all captions with reasonable margins
• Placement should not interfere with names, faces, or mouths of speakers or text/graphics that are essential to the comprehension of the media
• Speaker identification should be used
  
  

Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar

Spelling and Capitalization

• Be consistent in the spelling of words throughout the media
• Capitalize proper nouns for speaker identification
• Lowercase sound effects, including both descriptions and onomatopoeia. Except when a proper noun is part of the description

Punctuation and Grammar

• When captioning a list separated by commas, use a serial, or Oxford, comma
• When a speaker hesitates or stutters, caption what is said
• Do not use an ellipses to indicate that the sentence continues into the next caption
• Use an ellipsis when there is a significant pause within a caption
• Use  quotation marks only for on screen readings from a poem, book, play, journal, or letter
• Beginning quotation marks should be used for each caption of quoted material except for the last caption
• Use italics:
  • When a person is dreaming, thinking, or reminiscing
  • There is a background audio that is essential to the plot, such as a PA system or TV
  • The first time a new word is being defined
  • There is off-screen  dialogue,  narrator, sound effects, or music
  • For foreign words and phrases, unless they are in an English dictionary
  • When a particular word is heavily emphasized in speech

Sound Effects and Music

Sound Effects

• Describe sound effects in present tense
• A description of sound effects, in brackets, should include the source of the sound. However, the source may be omitted if it can be clearly seen onscreen
• The described sound effect should be on the first line of the caption, separate from the onomatopoeia
• Described sound effects and onomatopoeia must be lowercased
• Caption background sound effects only when they are essential to the content

Music

• Do not caption background music with a duration under 5 seconds
• A description(in brackets) should be used for instrumental/background music when it’s essential to the understanding of the program
• If possible, the description should include the performer/composer and the title
• Use descriptions that indicate the mood
  
  

Lyrics

• Caption the lyrics verbatim
• Lyrics should be introduced with the name of the artist and the title in brackets, if the presentation rate permits
• Caption lyrics with music icons
• Use one music icon at the beginning and end of each caption within a song, but use two music icons at the end of the last line of a song