Adding Subtitles to Instructional Videos

Introduction:

Welcome! These tutorial videos will show you two simple methods you can use to add subtitles to your instructional video, as well as a few more advanced techniques.

We encourage you to add subtitles to your videos to increase engagement and learning, and to support your Emergent Bilingual students/English Language Learners by including translations of your subtitles as well.

*Note: the subtitles in these videos were transcribed by Descript, as shown in Method 2 of this tutorial, then translated and embedded into the videos using the techniques shown in the Advanced Techniques section of this tutorial.

Why Add Subtitles?

Open vs. Closed Captions

This video explains the differences between open (burned-in) and closed (embedded) captions. The two primary methods in this tutorial will provide open (burned-in) captions; if you'd like to learn more about closed captions, be sure to watch the Advanced Techniques section.


Method #1 (simplest):

Method #1 uses live captioning features in Microsoft Powerpoint, Google Slides, and Zoom.

You'll need:

  • Screencast software (see recommended tools), AND

      • Google Slides, OR

      • Microsoft Powerpoint (Office 365 subscription or one-time purchase), OR

      • Zoom

Method #2 (most versatile):

Method #2 uses a powerful text-based video editing application called Descript to edit, format, and burn captions into your instructional videos.

You'll need:

  • Descript installed on your computer, AND

  • A Descript Account

Advanced Techniques:

This section presents three advanced techniques that allow you to generate and edit a VTT file, leverage the VTT file to use Descript for free, and embed multiple caption tracks into a single instructional video using Google Drive

You'll need:

Conclusion

We hope these videos gave you some ideas for how you can employ subtitles to increase engagement and make your content more accessible!

Do you have feedback or ideas?
Send us an email!

Now start subtitling!