Captions

How do I turn captions on?

Captions are off every time a video opens. Turn them on in the caption menu, which opens from the CC button.

1. Select CC in the control bar. The caption menu opens above it.
2. In the top row, choose a language, for example EN for English. Captions turn on in that language.
3. Select CC again to close the menu.

While captions are on, the button is a filled gold badge. When the video has captions in more than one language, the badge shows the language code instead of CC, for example EN.

Note: You see CC only when the video has captions. If it is missing, see Captions or the transcript do not show.

How do I turn captions off?

Choose Off in the caption menu.

1. Select the caption button. While captions are on, it shows CC or a language code such as EN.
2. Choose Off, the first item in the top row.

How do I choose the caption language?

Choose a language code in the top row of the caption menu. The player remembers your choice.

1. Select CC, or the language code that shows in its place.
2. In the top row, choose a language, for example ES for Spanish. Captions turn on in that language, or switch to it if they were already on.

The codes are the languages this video has captions in. Screen readers read each code with the full language name, for example “English, EN”.

The next time you turn captions on, they come up in the language you chose, when the video has it. Until you choose one, the player looks for the player’s language (when the website sets one), then for your browser’s languages, and otherwise uses the video’s first caption language.

How do I make captions bigger or smaller?

Choose one of the five A buttons in the caption menu. They go from the smallest size on the left to the largest on the right.

1. Select CC.
2. In the second row, choose an A button. The second one from the left is the default size. If captions were off, they turn on at that size.

The player remembers the size you choose in the menu.

Note: Sizes you set with C are not remembered, and C never steps up to the largest size. To keep a size, or to use the largest one, choose it in the menu.

How do I change how captions look?

Open Caption style in the caption menu. Each choice applies at once, and the player remembers it.

1. Select CC.
2. Choose Caption style. The style options take the place of the first view of the menu.
3. Choose an option in any row. The captions change right away.
4. Choose Back to return to the first view, or select CC to close the menu.

Colors and backgrounds are round swatches. Point at one to see its name; screen readers read the name too.

Note: When Background is set to none, the Background opacity row disappears, because there is no background to adjust.

How do I move captions to the top of the video?

In Caption style, choose Top in the Position row.

1. Select CC, then Caption style.
2. In the Position row, choose Top. The captions move at once, and the player remembers your choice.

• Auto (the default): near the bottom, just above the controls, on a wide player. On a narrow player (768 pixels wide or less, for example on a phone held upright), at the top of the video. Captions that the video itself places somewhere else stay in that place.
• Top: every caption at the top of the video, on every screen.
• Bottom: every caption at the bottom, just above the controls, on every screen.

Captions stay on the screen when the controls hide.

Tip: If captions and the translation window get in each other’s way, choose Top, or move the translation window.

Can my screen reader read the captions?

Yes. Turn on Send captions to screen reader in Caption style. Your screen reader then reads each new caption once, in the caption’s language.

1. Select CC, then Caption style.
2. Choose Send captions to screen reader. Its box is checked while it is on, and the player announces “Captions for screen readers on”.

Turning it on also turns captions on if they were off. Your screen reader reads the captions while they are on. To stop it, choose Send captions to screen reader again. The player remembers this setting with your other caption choices.

More about screen readers on the Accessibility features page.

How do I go back to the default caption look?

Choose Reset to defaults at the bottom of Caption style.

1. Select CC, then Caption style.
2. Choose Reset to defaults. The player announces “Caption style reset to defaults”.

Every style row goes back to its default, and Send captions to screen reader turns off. The player also forgets the caption language and size you chose. If captions are on, they stay on at the default size, in the language the player picks when you have not chosen one (see How do I choose the caption language?).

Does the player remember my caption choices?

Yes: your caption language, size and style. Captions still start off every time, so turn them on from the caption menu or with C. They then come up the way you left them.

Note: Your choices are kept in the browser you use, on that device. In a private window, or when your browser blocks or clears site data, the player may not keep them. To make the player forget them, use Reset to defaults.

For audio choices, see Does the player remember my audio choices?