Situation
I'm deaf, I'm watching a video, I turn on the subtitles. They're white and are directly embedded at the bottom of the page over the images. When the image is too bright, it becomes illegible. This causes me a problem understanding the work.
Information
A video must always be subtitled. It's a legal requirement. While they're necessary for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, they're also useful for those who prefer written text and those who don't understand spoken language well.
Subtitles must reproduce in text format all of the audio content conveyed by the video as well as significant noises, such as fire engine sirens, shouts, etc. At all times, the reader must know who is speaking.
Subtitles are displayed over the video and are synchronized with the audio.
It is necessary to give the reader enough time to read them.
The viewer must have the choice of whether or not to activate subtitles and the possibility of choosing whether or not to enlarge them, of applying color styles, because all information must be readable.
Our recommendations
Choose a suitable font, neither too condensed nor too wide.
Remember to contrast the colors between the subtitles and their background for better readability, for example by using a dark banner for white writing.
Do not exceed two lines.
Avoid any devices that allow you to point out the word being spoken (such as the words appearing at the same time as the pronunciation, or highlighting them with a different size or color). It is up to the reader to choose their reading speed; it should not be imposed.
Don't rely solely on automatic subtitles: they contain errors that need to be corrected by human intervention.
Explore more!
- W3C: Subtitles ;
- Cine-Sense: Subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing ;
- The Messenger: How to better understand TV subtitling?
Status
Sent to staff: June 16, 2025