About

Captions primarily convey dialogue and other relevant audio information, making videos accessible to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, or for viewers who prefer to watch videos without sound.

They're typically in the same language as the video, and are important for viewers who are deaf, hard of hearing, or prefer watching without sound.

It's important not to confuse captions with subtitles, which are a translation of the video's dialogue into another language. For information on ordering subtitles, check out our article Ordering Translations.

Captioning options

Kaltura provides two options for captioning:

Machine: Also known as ASR, this service achieves an average accuracy of 85%. It enables searchable video content, captions editing, and can support resubmission. The machine engine improves over time and supports custom vocabularies for enhanced accuracy, along with dictionary use. For more information about the dictionary, check out our article Captioning & enrichment profiles & services in KMC.

Professional: This service uses human transcribers to provide full-service captioning with 99% accuracy, meeting Closed Captions laws and media standards. Turnaround time varies based on your Reach plan. Ideal for public-facing content like marketing, learning, and training videos.

Access the Content Lab in KMC

1. Log into your KMC. The Entries list displays by default.
2. Access the Content Lab through the Create with content lab button on the Entries list.
   
   KMC Entries list
   
   Alternately, you may click on the desired entry's title or thumbnail and access the Content Lab through the Entry Details page.
   Entry Details page

Order captions with Content Lab

1. Click Create with content lab.
   
   The 'Get more from your video' screen displays.
   
   
   Content Lab in KMC
   
   
This is the Content Lab's main menu. Options shown vary depending on the services configured for your account.
2.  Click Captions.
   The Captions screen displays.
   
3. Click + Order captions.
   The Order captions screen displays. 
   

Order machine captions

1. Complete the following fields:

• Unit – This option only appears in the event that different Reach profiles (budgets) are configured for each unit in your account. The selected unit will be charged for the captions request.
• Service Type - Select Machine.
• Source language - Select the source media language from the drop-down menu. The options in the menu are dependent on your Reach plan.
• Vendor - Select the vendor. Items in this drop-down list appear as "Vendor Name + Turnaround time of the catalog item + Catalog item name" with available vendors based on catalog items.  

2. Click Submit.

A confirmation message displays: Captions order submitted successfully. Click the X at the top right to close the message.
Your captions order appears in the "In Progress" area of the Captions screen and is labeled as "Pending".

When the captions are ready, they are automatically added to the video.

Order professional captions

1. Complete the following fields:

• Unit – This option only appears in the event that different Reach profiles (budgets) are configured for each unit in your account. The selected unit will be charged for the captions request.
  
• Service Type - Select Professional.
• Source Language - Select the source media language from the drop-down menu (this is the language the video is currently in). The options in the drop-down menu are dependent on your Reach plan.
• Vendor - Select the vendor. Items in this drop-down list appear as "Vendor Name + Turnaround time of the catalog item + Catalog item name" with available vendors based on catalog items. 
• Instructions (Optional) - This box is relevant for professional captions only and is used for adding notes for the attention of human editors and reviewers. 
• Option 1: Manually type your own instructions in the Instructions field. 
• Option 2: Click on a preset tag provided below the Instructions field. The Instructions field is populated with that tag and a list of suggestions for additional text instructions displays. Click on one of the suggestions to autocomplete the instructions. 
• Option 3: Click on a preset tag. The Instructions field is populated with that tag and a list of suggestions for additional text instructions displays. Instead of clicking on one of the suggestions to autocomplete the instructions, manually type in the Instructions field to complete the text.
  
  Following are the available preset tags:
  
  Terminology & Names:

Define acronyms “Please define acronyms at first use and use them consistently throughout.”

Use correct speaker names “Please ensure speaker names and titles are accurate and used consistently.”

Use correct proper names “Please ensure all proper names (e.g., brands, products, organizations, and titles) are accurate and used consistently.“

Use consistent terminology “Please use consistent and accurate terminology throughout.”

Include speaker labels: Please include speaker labels where multiple speakers are present

Style & Tone: 

Preserve original wording “Please preserve the original wording and phrasing as much as possible.”

Remove filler words “Please remove filler words where they do not affect meaning.”

Simplify wording “Please simplify complex phring where possible while preserving meaning.“

Maintain consistent tone “Please maintain a clear and consistent tone throughout.”


Formatting:

Ensure correct punctuation “Please ensure punctuation is accurate and consistent.”

Format for readability “Please format captions for clarity and readability.”

Use consistent casing “Please use consistent sentence casing throughout.”


Accessibility: 


Include non-speech elements “Please include relevant non-speech elements such as sound effects where appropriate.”

Clarify speaker identity “Please ensure speakers are clearly identified when needed for understanding.”

2. Click Submit. 

A confirmation message displays: Captions order submitted successfully. Click the X at the top right to close the message.
Your captions order appears in the "In Progress" area of the Captions screen and is labeled as "Pending".  

When the captions are ready, they are automatically added to the video.

View captions orders and perform additional tasks 

Navigate back to the Content Lab's main menu. The number of requests are displayed in the Captions box. 

Click on the Captions box to open the Captions screen. In our example below, there are two existing captions orders - one is in Pending status, and one is in Ready status. 

Status types

The following statuses are available for captions requests:

• Pending - when generating new request
• Pending for Moderation - requests in approval queue
• Rejected - requests that were rejected on moderation. This status must include reject reason.
• Processing - sent to the vendor and vendor received request (you cannot cancel a request when the status is Processing)
• Completed - when captions were received from the vendor
• Error - an error was sent from the vendor
• Aborted

Manage captions assets

Click Manage captions assets.  

The Captions tab of the Entry details page in KMC displays.

For complete information on this tab, see Upload and manage captions in KMC.

Additional tasks

Click on the three dots to the right of the request and choose from the available options depending on status type - View order details, Cancel order request (only available for Pending), Launch editor, or Download.

View order details

Click View order details. The Order details screen displays. 

Cancel order request

1. Click Cancel order request. Note, any action items associated with the request will be canceled. A confirmation message displays. 
    
2. Click Cancel request.
   If you try to delete a request that's already in progress, a message displays: The request is already in progress, therefore cannot be canceled.

Launch editor 

Click Launch editor. The Captions editor opens. 

Editor layout

The editor includes two main areas:

• Captions panel – Displays caption lines and editing tools
• Player panel – Displays the video for real-time preview

When you select a caption line, the player jumps to the relevant point in the video. The selected caption is also displayed below the player, allowing you to preview it in context while editing.

Captions panel 

The captions panel includes:

• Captions dropdown – Select a different caption file if multiple files exist
• Edit details – Update caption language, accuracy, and label
• Search – Enter a term and press Enter to highlight matches
• Replace – Find and replace text across captions
• Add speaker – Add speaker names to selected rows
• Autoscroll – Automatically scroll captions during playback
• Delete caption – Delete a caption line (available on hover)
• Add caption – Add a new caption line (available on hover)
• Timestamp – Edit start and end times

The editor uses SMPTE time format (hh:mm:ss,mmm) for precise timing.

• Caption text – Edit the caption content

Player panel 

The player panel lets you preview captions alongside the video.

• Playback controls help you align captions with audio and visuals
• Selecting a caption line moves the player to the correct timestamp
• The active caption is displayed below the player for easy reference during editing

Edit caption details

1. Click Edit details. 



The 'Edit caption details' window opens.

2. Update the caption's language, accuracy, and label.



3. Click Save.
Changes are applied immediately.

Find and replace text

1. Click Replace. 



2. Enter the search term in the Find match field. 
3. Enter the replacement term in the Replace with field.



4. Click Replace.
5. Click Save.

You are asked to confirm captions accuracy.



6. Move the slider accordingly, then click Save.
The search term is replaced immediately.

Add speaker names

1. Select the row(s) where you want to add the speakers, then click Add speaker.
2. In the 'Speaker name' field, type the name.



3. Click Add Speaker.
The name is added to the selected captions.



4. Click Save.
You are asked to confirm captions accuracy.



5. Move the slider accordingly, then click Save.  
The information is immediately updated.

Add a caption line

1. Hover over a caption row and click + Add caption.



The caption is duplicated.



2. Click the text field and enter the new caption.

Adjust timing as needed. Overlapping timestamps are highlighted for correction.



3.  Click Save.
You are asked to confirm captions accuracy.



4. Move the slider accordingly, then click Save.
The information is immediately updated.

Edit a caption line

1. Click a caption line.
2. Update the text as needed.



3. Click Save.



You are asked to confirm captions accuracy.



4. Move the slider accordingly, then click Save.
The information is immediately updated.

Revert or save changes

• Revert restores the last saved version
• Save applies your changes

Keyboard shortcuts  

• Player seek 5S backwards = Ctrl <-
• Player seek 2S backwards = <-
• Player seek to 0 = Home and in Mac Command <-
• Player pause-play toggle = space 
• Player seek 5S forward = Ctrl ->
• Player seek 2S forward = ->

Download 

Click Download. The captions file is downloaded to your machine. 

User experience

Once captions are ready, they’re automatically added to the media. Depending on admin settings, a CC button may appear, letting users toggle captions on or off. Admins can also set captions to display by default when playback starts. If multiple caption languages are available, users can select them from the captions sub-menu in the settings.