Adding captions or subtitles to videos posted on Facebook will always ensure that videos are more accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing users, but there are several added benefits as well. Did you know that Facebook gets over 8 billion average daily videos views? If you answered yes, then you probably also know that 85% of Facebook users watch videos with the sound off, and that captioned videos can increase view time by up to 12%. So it stands to reason that adding captions and subtitles to your Facebook videos is a no-brainer. The question is how do you do that? Navigating Facebook's captioning process can be tricky so we are here to help. Let's get started.
Add Captions and Subtitles to Facebook Videos
The first thing you need to do is upload your video to Facebook. You probably already know how to do that but here is a link in case you need a quick refresher course.
Next, make sure you have the caption file you are going to upload ready by running your media through SyncWords. This is a quick and easy process. If you have never used SyncWords before you can see how easy it is in one of the following 2 videos:
Once SyncWords is done creating your captions you should download an SRT file. This is where it gets a little tricky. Facebook has a strict naming convention that captions files must follow: filename.[language code]_[country code].srt. The language code needs to be in lower case and the country code in upper case. For example a US English file would have a name of filename.en_US.srt, and a UK English file would have a name of filename.en_GB.srt. You can see a full list of available languages and country codes in Facebook's help center.
With your SRT properly named you can now find your video and click Subtitles and Captions (CC) on the right hand side. Click the Upload button that appears on the left hand side and provide your SRT file.
Make sure to Save and Publish your video and you are all set. Your video is now captioned.
Please note that people that have their sound turned off when watching your video will have the captions show up automatically. If they are watching your video with the sound on they will need to actively turn the captions on to see them.
