When you’re playing your favorite YouTube videos, you might notice an icon labeled CC. So you might be wondering what does CC mean on YouTube? Why is it there? What does CC stand for? CC stands for closed captioning and its purpose is to help those with hard of hearing or hearing loss. Actually, it’s also very useful to YouTube’s vast viewers and creators.
Read on to get more details about YouTube CC.
What Is CC?
What is closed captioning? It is a written version of a video audio track. It is like a transcription, but may include audio descriptions and symbols that indicate who is speaking, if not visually clear.
Designed to help hard of hearing and deaf viewers enjoy and understand video content, it is now widely used in movies, television and other related media. The reason it’s called a “closed” captioning is that viewers can switch it on and off, as opposed to an open captioning that’s always on.
CC is different from a subtitle. Subtitles refer to the translation of a track into another language.
Why Do You Use CC?
Since you’ve known CC meaning, so why do you use it? The main reason to use it is to make your content appealing to everyone. It’s considerate and that’s the smart thing to do.
It could also have legal implications over time as accessibility laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act are updated to cover online content. For ease of access, it has been required for broadcast or other publicly available offline video formats.
However, accessibility isn’t the only benefit of CC. A recent survey commissioned by Verizon found that 80% of users who use CC are not deaf or hard of hearing. So why did they turn on CC? It turns out that CC help people in many ways:
1. To hear what’s going on.
In the study, 69% watched soundless videos in public and 25% watched them in private.
2. To understand people who speak quietly or with an accent.
Captions allow viewers to read along with the spoken words, thus clarifying conversations that are difficult to understand.
3. To help those who speak English as a second language.
Many foreign language learners find it easier to read a new language than to understand spoken words.
4. As a learning tool to help you understand and remember materials.
Reading activates different parts of the brain more than listening, helping the viewers understand the content more deeply.
5. As a search engine optimization (SEO) tool.
Google cannot browse video content to return search queries, but text is available. This makes captions a good way to attract more viewers.
In fact, people enjoy CC so much that 80% said they would prefer to watch videos with CC.
Bottom Line
What does CC mean? You should know it better now. It is good for both readers and content creators, contributing to accessibility, SEO, and overall enjoyment. Since adding accurate captions is a simple process, this is the perfect way for YouTube creators to interact with the audience and promote their best content.