Subtitling for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH)

Subtitles and captions are often used interchangeably. Closed captioning is typically used for TV broadcasts. Closed captioning is needed for the deaf and hard of hearing, English language learners, and children learning to read. At Aberdeen, we also offer Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH). SDH is used when the producer wants the subtitles to always be on the screen. Examples of this would be a video in a hospital or museum, many educational programs, et cetera… SDH is also used when needed for films and other programming that get authored into DVDs or Blu-ray Discs. For these purposes, SDH is preferred over open or closed captions because they are created in upper and lowercase letters and look much nicer than captioning. Unlike captioning, fonts, colors, and sizes can be manipulated to the client's liking. SDH follows the same guidelines as captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing and subtitles always pop on and off the screen similarly to pop-on captions.

Our Process

The "DVD/Blu-ray Disc" Process

Client

creates a working digital video file of the project for subtitling and posts it to Aberdeen’s FTP site

Aberdeen

creates verbatim transcript
creates subtitle file (edit, sync, and place text)
performs subtitle quality check
creates subtitle files for your specific DVD/Blu-ray Disc authoring system and emails the file to client

Client

adds the subtitle files to their project in their authoring system to create the final authored disc

The "NLEdirect" Process
(ONLY used when outputting to tape)

Client

creates a working digital video file of the project for subtitling and posts it to Aberdeen’s FTP site

Aberdeen

creates verbatim transcript
creates subtitle file (edit, sync, and place text)
performs subtitle quality check
creates a black subtitle video file and emails the file to client

Client

adds the black subtitle video file to their project in their NLE system and lays the program to tape with subtitles

The "Tape" Process

Client

provides finalized master tape

Aberdeen

creates verbatim transcript and translation
creates subtitle file (edit, sync, and place text)
performs subtitle quality check
creates a subtitled master
ships master tapes to client's desired location

Aberdeen Closed Captioning

Post-Production Captioning

Live Captioning

Subtitling