TikTok Auto Captions: Accessibility for Deaf and Hard of Hearing

TikTok Introduces Automatic Captions for Enhanced Accessibility

This morning, TikTok announced the rollout of a new feature specifically designed to improve accessibility for users who are deaf or hard of hearing. The newly launched auto captions function automatically transcribes spoken content within videos.

How Auto Captions Work

When activated, this feature provides viewers with a readable transcript of the video’s audio, offering an alternative to relying on sound. Initially, auto captions will support both American English and Japanese languages.

TikTok has stated that additional language support will be implemented in the coming months.

Creators can enable this feature during the video editing process, after uploading or recording their content.

The generated text can be reviewed and edited by the creator to ensure accuracy before publication.

Benefits Beyond Accessibility

While primarily intended to enhance accessibility, auto captions offer benefits to a broader audience.

They allow viewers to enjoy TikTok videos in sound-sensitive environments, such as public spaces, without disturbing others, even without headphones.

Furthermore, the captions can assist individuals watching videos in languages they are not fluent in, providing a supplementary aid to comprehension.

Previously, many TikTok users proactively added captions to their videos through text overlays or external subtitling applications.

The popular “text-to-speech” trend, utilizing a synthesized voice to narrate on-screen text, also demonstrated a community desire for accessible content.

Viewer Control and Implementation

Unlike existing captioning methods, TikTok’s auto captions can be toggled on or off by the viewer.

This provides users with the flexibility to choose whether or not to display captions.

To disable captions, users can access the share panel and tap the captions button.

Joining the Social Media Landscape

With the introduction of auto captions, TikTok aligns with other major social platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

These platforms already provide tools enabling creators to easily add automated captions to their video content.

TikTok is actively promoting awareness of this new feature within its creator community.

The goal is to encourage widespread adoption and ensure videos are accessible to a larger audience.

Expanding Accessibility Features

Auto captions represent one of several accessibility initiatives undertaken by TikTok.

These include creator warnings for videos potentially triggering photosensitive epilepsy, and a feature allowing users to skip potentially photosensitive content.

The platform also offers text-to-speech functionality and the option to replace animated thumbnails with static images.

Currently, TikTok is conducting a comprehensive accessibility assessment to identify further areas for improvement.

Collaboration with organizations like The Deaf Collective is also underway to raise awareness of deaf talent and conversations within the TikTok community.