Understanding the Diverse Needs of Subtitle Users in a Rapidly Evolving Media Landscape

Metadata

Publisher: SMPTE — White Plains, NY, USA
Doc Type: Journal Article
Content Type: Original Research
Abbreviated Title: SMPTE Mot. Imag. J
Volume: 125, No. 9, pp. 33–41
Abstract: Audiences are increasingly using services, such as video on demand and the Web, to watch television programs. Broadcasters need to make subtitles available across all these new platforms. These platforms also create new design opportunities for subtitles along with the ability to customize them to an individual's needs. To explore these new opportunities for subtitles, we have begun the process of reviewing the guidance for subtitles on television and evaluating the original user research. We have found that existing guidelines have been shaped by a mixture of technical constraints, industry practice, and user research, constrained by existing technical standards. This paper provides an overview of the subtitle research at BBC R&D over the past two years. Our research is revealing significant diversity in the needs and preferences of frequent subtitle users, and points to the need for personalization in the way subtitles are displayed. We are developing a new approach to the authoring and display of subtitles that can respond to the user requirements by adjusting the subtitle layout on the client device.
Publication Date: 2016-11-01
DOI: 10.5594/JMI.2016.2614919
ISSN: Print: 1545-0279 | Electronic: 2160-2492
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2016.2614919
Author(s): Mike Armstrong
Andy Brown
Michael Crabb
Chris J. Hughes
Rhianne Jones
James Sandford
Keyword(s): Captions, Subtitles, Usability, User Experience, Television, Web, VOD, Video, Personalization, Diversity
Copyright: © 2016 SMPTE

Bibliographic Reference(s)

“Subtitling—An Issue of Speed?” Ofcom, Jan. 2005, https://www.ofcom.org.uk/. EXTERNAL
ITC Guidance on Standards for Subtitling, Independent Television Commission, London, U.K., 1999. EXTERNAL
ATVOD 2014, “Provision of Video on Demand Access Services—2014 Report,” http://www.atvod.co.uk/uploads/files/Provision_of_Access_Services_2014_Report_FINAL.pdf. EXTERNAL
J. G. Kyle, Switched on: Deaf People’s Views on Television Subtitling. University of Bristol, Centre for Deaf Studies, Bristol, U.K., 1992. EXTERNAL
J. Birch, “Futures for Subtitling—A Manufacturer’s View,” Broadcast Film & Video, 19(2):42, Feb. 2015. EXTERNAL
C. J. Hughes, M. Armstrong, R. Johnes, and M. Crabb, “Responsive Design for Personalised Subtitles,” 12th Web for All Conference, Florence, Italy, Article No. 8, May 2015. EXTERNAL
D. Taylor-Watt, “Christmas 2013 on BBC iPlayer,” BBC Blog, Jan. 2014, www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/internet/entries/a8e5725c-76ac-32ba-8f9f-af66393cba03. EXTERNAL
Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), Annual Survey Report 2008, RNID, London, U.K. p. 12, 2008. EXTERNAL
M. Armstrong, “Measurement of Subtitle Quality: An R&D Perspective.” in Subtitling: A Collective Approach, University of Nottingham, BBC R&D White Paper WHP 255, Jul. 2013. EXTERNAL
G. Ford-Williams, Online Subtitling Editorial Guidelines V1.1., BBC, 2009, bbc.co.uk. EXTERNAL
BBC, The BBC’s Diversity Strategy 2011–15. p. 1, 2011. EXTERNAL
C. J. Hughes and M. Armstrong, “Automatic Retrieval of Closed Captions for Web Clips from Broadcast TV Content,” National Association of Broadcasters Conference, pp. 318–324. Apr. 2015. EXTERNAL
“Television Access Services Review,” Ofcom, Annex 2, Guidelines on the Provision of Television Access Services, Sep. 2006. EXTERNAL
P. Pablo Romero-Fresco, “More Haste Less Speed: Edited vs Verbatim Respeaking,” Vigo Int. J Appl. Linguistics (VIAL), VI: 109–133, 2009. EXTERNAL
M. Crabb, R. Jones, A. Armstrong, and C. J. Hughes, “Online News Videos: The UX of Subtitle Position.” ASSETS’15 Proc. 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, pp. 215–222, Oct. 2015. EXTERNAL
A. Sears and V. L. Hanson, “Representing Users in Accessibility Research,” CHI 2011: Conf. Proc. and Extended Abstracts, pp. 2235–2238. 2011. EXTERNAL
J. Sandford, “The Impact of Subtitle Display Rate on Enjoyment Under Normal Television Viewing Conditions,” IBC2015 Conference, Sep. 2015. EXTERNAL
J. Sancho-Aldridge, Good News for Deaf People: Subtitling of National News, Programmes, Independent Television Commission, London, U.K., 1997. EXTERNAL
M. Armstrong, “Automatic Recovery and Verification of Subtitles for Large Collections of Video Clips,” presented at IBC2016 Conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Sep. 2016. EXTERNAL
L. Matthews, 2013, “Getting the Full Picture, Viewers’ Experience of Television Subtitling. Action on Hearing Loss,” http://www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/supporting-you/policy-research-and-influencing/research/getting-the-full-picture.aspx. EXTERNAL
M. Armstrong, “The Development of a Methodology to Evaluate the Perceived Quality of Live TV Subtitles,” IBC2013 Conference, p. 11.1. Sep. 2013. EXTERNAL
Action on Hearing Loss, 2015, “Subtitle it! Whatever We Watch, However We Watch It,” http://www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/get-involved/campaign/access-to-television/subtitle-it.aspx. EXTERNAL
A. F. Newell, “Teletext for the deaf,” Electronics and Power, 28(3): 263–266, Mar. 1982. EXTERNAL
“Measuring the Quality of Live Subtitling,” Ofcom, Oct. 2013. EXTERNAL
R. Baker, A. Lambourne, and G. Rowston, Handbook for Television Subtitlers. Engineering Division, Independent Broadcasting Authority, London, U.K., 1982. EXTERNAL
Z. De Linde and N. Kay, The Semiotics of Subtitling, St. Jerome: Manchester, U.K., 1999. EXTERNAL
R. G. Baker and A. F. Newell, “Teletext Subtitles for the Deaf— Problems in Linguistics and Psychology,” IBC 1980. 97–100, 1980. EXTERNAL
S. Gregory and J. Sancho-Aldridge, Dial 888 Subtitling for Deaf Children. Independent Television Commission, 2013. EXTERNAL
J. Neves, “10 Fallacies about Subtitling for the d/Deaf and the Hard of Hearing,” J Specialised Translation, (10):128–143, 2008. EXTERNAL
A. Brown, R. Jones, M. Crabb, J. Sandford, M. Brooks, C. Jay, and M. Armstrong, “Dynamic Subtitles: The User Experience,” ACM TVX2015 Conference, pp. 103–112, Jun. 2015. EXTERNAL
M. Armstrong, A. Brooks, M. Churnside, M. Evans, F. Melchior, and M. Shotton, “Object-based Broadcasting— Curation, Responsiveness and User Experience,” presented at IBC2014 Conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Sep. 2014. EXTERNAL

Source Data (JSON)

Full registry record with provenance metadata. Open directly: /api/doc/10.5594-JMI.2016.2614919.json

Reference Tree

Explore all references and references to this document, as a navigable tree.

Open Reference Tree

Reference this Doc

Plain text (ISO 690 compliant)

Preview:

Mike Armstrong, Andy Brown, Michael Crabb, Chris J. Hughes, Rhianne Jones, and James Sandford; Understanding the Diverse Needs of Subtitle Users in a Rapidly Evolving Media Landscape, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 125, Issue: 9, 2016); SMPTE, 2016. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2016.2614919

Snippet:

Mike Armstrong, Andy Brown, Michael Crabb, Chris J. Hughes, Rhianne Jones, and James Sandford; Understanding the Diverse Needs of Subtitle Users in a Rapidly Evolving Media Landscape, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 125, Issue: 9, 2016); SMPTE, 2016. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2016.2614919

HTML (ISO 690 compliant)

Preview:

Snippet:

<span class="citation">Mike Armstrong, Andy Brown, Michael Crabb, Chris J. Hughes, Rhianne Jones, and James Sandford; <cite>Understanding the Diverse Needs of Subtitle Users in a Rapidly Evolving Media Landscape</cite>, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 125, Issue: 9, 2016); SMPTE, 2016. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2016.2614919" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2016.2614919</a></span>

SMPTE's HTML Pub

Preview:

Mike Armstrong, Andy Brown, Michael Crabb, Chris J. Hughes, Rhianne Jones, and James Sandford; Understanding the Diverse Needs of Subtitle Users in a Rapidly Evolving Media Landscape, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 125, Issue: 9, 2016); SMPTE, 2016
doi: 10.5594/JMI.2016.2614919
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2016.2614919

Snippet:

<li>
Mike Armstrong, Andy Brown, Michael Crabb, Chris J. Hughes, Rhianne Jones, and James Sandford; <cite id="bib-10-5594-jmi-2016-2614919">Understanding the Diverse Needs of Subtitle Users in a Rapidly Evolving Media Landscape</cite>, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 125, Issue: 9, 2016); SMPTE, 2016
<span class="doi">10.5594/JMI.2016.2614919</span>
</li>