The Benefits of Closed Captioning for Society Essay

Closed Captions are often an overlooked aspect of media that has a wide array of uses that carry the possibility of a large number of benefits to consumers of video media. Closed Captions are often confused with and considered the same as the widely recognized term: subtitles, when in reality they do have their notable differences. Dictionary.com defines subtitles as "a translation or transcription of spoken language in a television program, film, video, or video game, as of dialogue in a foreign language or speech that is audible but may not be easily understood, displayed as a graphic overlay on the lower part of the screen." While a large majority of the population may see this definition and use the two words interchangeably, the specific difference between "subtitles" and "closed captions" is one that changes the reach and effect it has on society. While subtitles are a written and visible transcription of the dialogue in video media, closed captions not only take into account the spoken dialogue, but the sounds taking place at a given time as well which allows for the consideration of those who have difficulty associating sounds with phrases or words. This allows for the possibility of those with hearing difficulties or who perhaps are unfamiliar with the written form of audio experiences. This tiny difference encompasses a far greater reach of possibility than subtitles could ever achieve, such as aiding the reading ability of developing children as well as the general population's reading abilities, allowing those of foreign nations to be able to tackle the potential challenge of learning a new language in a far easier manner, and even provide benefits to the enjoyment of media for those with hearing deficiencies. All of this potential and the benefits associated with it are the exact reasons that closed captions are a benefit to all of society in terms of reading, understanding, and media enjoyment.

The first instance in which closed captioning can be understood to provide benefits to society is in the situation of those who have hearing deficiencies, which is likely due to the fact that whenever closed captions are offered on major forms of video media, such as movies, closed captions are given in the settings with the message: "For those hard of hearing." Closed captions are often considered for those who are hard of hearing or even deaf to the fact that, unlike subtitles, closed captions enable them to also take in the atmospheric setting and emotion of the moment while also being able to read what is being said at any given moment. This benefit was so clearly prevalent that "The Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 requires that captioned TV shows also be captioned when displayed on the Internet." (Gernsbacher, 2015) The possible benefits of enacting this law have been tested in previous experiments in which researchers compared children who were hard of hearing or even deaf with children with the ability to hear well, and what they discovered was that when children who were deaf were given closed captions along with the video and audio, their comprehension scores rose by nearly 75%. (Gernsbacher, Figure 1, 2015) These tests and benefits, along with laws enacted in consideration of those with hearing disabilities, are all clear indicators and signs that there are significant positives to having digital media come with closed captions.

An audience affected by the benefits that closed captions offer that are often not considered are school-aged children, who are still developing, adapting, and learning. According to an article written by Mary Ellen Dello Stritto and Katie Linder of EDUCAUSE, "a non-profit association whose mission is to advance higher education through the use of information technology," when over 2,000 students were asked about how often they used closed captions "more than half (54 percent) of the respondents use closed captions at least some of the time." (A Rising Tide: How Closed Captions Can Benefit All Students, n.d.) These numbers help to illustrate not only how easily some kids have access to forms of media offering closed captions, but even show how often it reaches them. Then, later in the survey, they asked those same students about how helpful closed captions were to them when watching video media, to which over 90% of students who reported having disabilities said that the closed captions were at least moderately helpful and over 87% of those who didn't report having disabilities also stated that the captions were at least moderately helpful if not more helpful. These numbers show that without even realizing its effectiveness, students and children of younger ages see and experience the benefits that the use of closed captions brings. The specific reasons for the helpful nature of closed captions were also asked and recorded in the survey conducted by EDUCAUSE when they asked those same students if any of the reasons they offered, which they retrieved from common arguments encouraging closed captions in the classroom, applied directly to them. The results received from the survey found that a lot of the arguments for closed captions being implemented in the classroom and other educational settings were correct, as over 65% of respondents stated that the use of captions helped them focus. This number was also almost evenly matched with the 62% of students who reported that closed captions allowed them to retain information more easily, which shows that even the students are recognizing the benefits of closed captions and actively using them to assist them in their learning abilities. With students partaking in the practice of enabling closed captions to assist in their learning through video, the benefits are also laid out clearly for the use and positive impact that closed captions have on society.

Another demographic of individuals who are positively impacted by the use of closed captions that aren't typically thought of by most people are those who are actively learning or developing their skills with a second language. There are many anecdotes from immigrants that tell the tales of how by watching media that they used to enjoy in their native language, but this time with the language they are learning as the captions, they were able to overcome the challenge of adapting to an entirely new set of vocabulary, grammar rules, and even phrases and slang. According to a recounting of experiments, provided by Morton Ann Gernsbacher of the National Library of Medicine's National Center for Biotechnology Information, when students of different language backgrounds were randomly assigned videos with different factors, such as the use of closed captions or not, those who were provided with videos in the language they were learning (English) paired with English subtitles, their reading, comprehension, and recollection scores increased drastically. They even found that "watching videos with same-language captions leads to significantly better comprehension. Captions benefit comprehension, regardless of the language being learned (Russian or English) and regardless of the genre being watched, from documentaries (The Sharks) to dramas (Hoosiers) to animations (An American Tail) to comedies (The Secret of My Success) to music videos (The Authority Song)." (Gernsbacher, 2015)

When viewed across the board, regardless of any different circumstances that may be affecting a person’s ability to hear, understand, or learn media being given to them in video form, it is evident that closed captions provide an unprecedented level of benefits to people. They can be used in a variety of scenarios but will always lead to a higher quality of enjoyment and comprehension, which further highlights the importance of and the positive impact of the wide-spread use of closed captions.