Close-Captions are words which can appear on the screen of a video program transmitted by a tv station. The captions are encoded in the video signal, so are displayed when Close-Captions is turned on in the tv menu.

Because the captions are part of the video signal, they are included in a tape or dvd recording of that program.

Subtitles are also words which appear on the screen of a video program. However, they differ from Close-Captions by being part of the file structure of a dvd, not of the video program, itself. That is why subtitles are found only on dvd's, and are turned on & off with the dvd remote control (not with the tv remote control).

The Audio-Visual Department, working with Calvin Video Productions, transcribes and generates subtitles for video programs needed by enrolled students with documented visual disabilities (as coordinated with the Student Academic Services Office). Calvin Video Productions transcribes and close-captions the Inner Compass television program for transmitting over WGVU.

We use a free Windows program called Subtitle Workshop to transcribe the video and generate the needed subtitles file. For more information, see the Audio and Video Transcription page, or call the AV Department.