Can we please please normalize subtitles?
Subtitles are:
1. A necessity for deaf people
2. REALLY helpful for those who are partially deaf, have APD (like me and my sister) or any other hearing problem
3. really helpful for those who can’t focus well, especially for those with ADD/ADHD (like me)
4. Is incredibly helpful for people learning a second language, or for bilingual people who can read better than they can hear
5. Even if you aren’t into learning the language, there are countless amazing foreign movies and songs you really can’t enjoy without subtitles!
6. Can help people (like my sister) who have reading comprehension
7. Can help when you’re having a party and you don’t want to pause every time someone wants to make a comment/joke
8. Can help when the characters in the show have a heavy accent (especially in period shows)
9. Let’s be honest subtitles can really add to the humor of the show! (”sobs mathematically”, “screeches loudly”, “angrily fixes bowtie”)
10. Can let people watch content without headphones, or in areas of loud noises.
11. Alternatively, If someone has sensitive hearing or is triggered by loud noises, they can turn the volume down low and still be able to enjoy the content
12. The last bit is VERY true for movies where they switch between soft speaking and LOUD BOOMING NOISES (I’m looking at you hunger games)
13. Very good for helping young kids recognize and associate words and learn to read faster!
14. Really good when you’re eating chips/crunchy candy and can’t hear the movie
15. IS A NECESSITY FOR DEAF PEOPLE!!!
I can’t even tell you how many of my friends made fun of me for needing subtitles, to the point of where I just don’t bother with them anymore. Asking for subtitles at an event is the scariest thing I can imagine. People often complain that it “gets in the way” of their movie. Watching shows (especially in loud areas or with people who talk a lot) is incredibly frustrating for me. People often think I’m stupid for not understanding a show or needing to rewind when someone talks. Most Youtube users don’t bother to create subtitles for their videos (and auto-generated subtitles are crap). I just wish people were nicer to people who need subtitles, and that they were more accessible on other platforms.
i watch with subtitles because i’m autistic. between sensory processing disorder (which means i lose sensory data if there’s too much of it and it’s really easy for there to be too much) and a tendency to go nonverbal under load (which includes not parsing the speech of others, as well as not producing my own), the spoken word is often a pretty steep hill for me.
normalize subtitles. normalize transcripts for podcasts. it just helps so much. thank you.
Normalize subtitles and transcripts because people wanting to experience your content straight up may not have the ability to receive or process audio. Some of us are Deaf/HOH. Some of us have sensory processing issues. Some of us simply are not able to watch videos with the sound on because we live/work in an environment where this is not feasible/possible. Whether the reason is situational or individual, we all benefit from being able to access content in text form.
Yeeessssss this, all of this.