A popular AI broadcast caption service– let’s call it Flexi– ignores a key rule of captioning. It’s captioning canon to start a new caption line after a sentence ends.
AI captions don’t bother with a new caption line. After a sentence ends, AI captions start a new sentence on the same line. A human stenographer would never do this.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: AI caption services, please start a new caption line after a period, question mark, or an exclamation mark.
The DCMP Captioning Key and the NCRA Guide are crystal clear on this—new caption lines start after sentence-ending punctuation. Captions are easier to read when you start a new caption line after a sentence ends.
https://dcmp.org/learn/captioningkey/597#3
“Never end a sentence and begin a new sentence on the same line unless they are short, related sentences containing one or two words. Example:
Inappropriate
He suspected that his face
turned pale. He knew he
wouldn’t be able to speak
if spoken to. Running toward
the void, he halted…“
There’s a reason that the DCMP calls for a new caption line for a new sentence. It’s a disability accommodation, and it’s one that benefits all caption readers.
It’s not rocket science, but it is reading science.
Visual breaks between sentences define sentence boundaries and facilitate fluency.
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