TikTok this morning announced the launch of a new feature designed to make the app accessible to people who are hard of hearing or deaf. The company is currently debuting automatic captions – a feature that, when activated, will automatically transcribe the speech from a video so viewers can read what is being said in the video as an alternative to listening. Initially, automatic captions support American English and Japanese, with additional languages ahead in the coming months, TikTok says.
To use automatic captions, the creator will select the option on the edit page after uploading or recording a video. They can then edit the text generated to correct errors before publishing the video.
Image credits: TikTok
Although designed primarily for accessibility purposes, automatic captions can also help those who want to watch TikTok videos without the sound – for example, if you are in the vicinity of other people, you do not want to be disturbed, but without a headphone. It can also be useful for those who watch videos where they do not speak the language, as it is sometimes easier to understand what is being said if you can also read the words.
In the TikTok community, all captions have been accepted by adding captions to their videos or using third-party subtitles. The text-to-speech trend, where text is read on screen with a Siri-like voice, has also remained a popular technique among creators.
But the auto-captioning tool will work differently from the existing options because it can be turned on and off by the viewer. This means you do not have to watch the video captions if you do not want to. To turn off the captions, first open the panel and then tap the caption button to turn it off.
Image credits: TikTok
With the introduction of automatic captions, TikTok joins other social applications like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, which already provide tools that allow creators to easily and automatically add captions to videos.
TikTok says it will work to spread the word among its creator community about the new add-on to encourage users to make their videos accessible to a wider audience.
Automated Captions is now one of several accessibility features launched by TikTok, along with creator alerts when producing videos that can cause photosensitive epilepsy and a photosensitivity feature that allows users to skip photosensitive content. The app also offers a text-to-speech feature and a feature to replace animated thumbnails with static images.
TikTok says it is currently undergoing an accessibility assessment to also identify additional areas for improvement, and has worked with The Deaf Collective to raise awareness of the talent and conversations taking place in deaf communities.