# Close Captioning for the Hearing Enabled? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278 "2003-01-22T19:57:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/21 "2003-01-24T01:28:33Z")
I love using both CC and sound on live broadcasts. You get the funniest typos. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/22 "2003-01-24T15:57:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\*I turn the sound off & captions on when the kids that I’m babysitting haven’t behaved. Thus, they have to read the tv–that way they are paying full attention to it & I can do other stuff 🙂 \*\* You know, that is… beautiful. :sniff: What a wonderful way to give them what they want, and irritate them at the same time! Thumbs up! ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/23 "2003-01-24T16:04:01Z")
I started to use CC because I sometimes watch TV with my mom, who has some hearing loss. Now I just leave it on most of the time. I think my hearing is OK (or at least, I can get the volume down pretty low and still hear everything) but having CC often means that I catch lines that are muttered or whispered. And others here have mentioned other benefits—learning the song titles to tunes being played, the spelling of a character’s name, being able to still “hear” the dialog when someone comes in the room hollering. I recently watched a tape of the excellent (but depressing) movie, “The Field” (which got Richard Harris an Oscar nomination). It was full of thick Irish accents, and with NO closed captioning! I got the gist of it, but I know I missed plenty of lines. I’ve since ordered the DVD, since it _does_ have subtitles. I have a feeling I’ll get a lot more out of the movie now… ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/24 "2003-01-24T16:11:35Z")
Another thing I forgot to add—anyone watch the CC on that “Channel of the Apes” ad for the all-“Planet of the Apes” weekend (it’s this weekend, I think) on one of the cable stations? (I can’t remember which station it is—TNT, perhaps?) Anyway, while the ad is rambling along, showing clips from all the “Apes” movies and TV shows, the CC is absent. Except for all of a sudden, a CC line pops up that says, “Meanwhile, Cornelius attends a prize fight.” (“Cornelius” being one of the prominent ape characters.) There is NO such line in the actual ad; nothing close to that. Then, a few moments later, another weird line pops up (I can’t remember it) that is also bizarre. Another “Channel of the Apes” ad merely has the CC line of “Ape has killed ape.” No such line in the actual ad. I think whoever did the CC for that ad was having _waaaay_ too much fun, and no one seemed to care! You just never know what kind of treats you’re going to uncover with CC. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/25 "2003-01-24T16:21:13Z")
The closed captioning probably comes from the show itself there, **yosemitebabe**. Sometimes, the captioning from an already-captioned show comes up in the ads. Sometimes, it doesn’t. I don’t know how you get rid of it when you’re making a new ad-eliminate the line, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/26 "2003-01-24T16:39:56Z")
I use CC at times, not only for movies but for laughs while watching music videos! (On the rare occasions that I do so nowadays.) Nothing cuts down a bad song/artist faster than watching the CC of the video. “Oh baby oh baby baby baby baby oh.” 😃 On the more serious side, it also helps when trying to figure out just what the heck the lyrics are. * * * \<\< Eh? \>\> ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/27 "2003-01-24T19:48:53Z")
I dislike CC in dialog. It cuts down on the timing. I only use it when I hear something on DVD i dont understand, then rewind and listen to it again with CC on. When CC is on and the audio is as well, you hear the same thing twice. Furthermore since teh CC is usually fast, once the characters speak, you have already read the caption and it doesnt feel like they are actually _saying_ what they are saying, if you follow me ☹ ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/28 "2003-01-24T19:59:28Z")
I use CC almost all the time. I don’t know why, but I understand the dialogue much better written than spoken. Maybe I have the opposite of a reading disability. I also like to keep the volume pretty low, and the CCs ensure I don’t miss things. But for the reasons Ludovic mentioned, I turn it off when I’m watching stand-up comics on Comedy Central. It does mess up the timing on jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Violin\_D\_Ingrate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/898d66/32.png) [@Violin\_D\_Ingrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violin_D_Ingrate)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/29 "2003-01-24T20:28:08Z")
I use the captions on dvd movies when I listen to the commentaries. That way I can see the movie and hear the director at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/30 "2003-01-24T20:40:06Z")
I turn it on when I am talking on the phone, that way I can keep up with the show and not have to turn the tv on loud enough to hear five hundred miles away (yes I have a hearing impairment). Keith ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/31 "2003-01-24T20:46:03Z")
I think that SAP stands for Secondary Audio Program - and that it can be used to broadcast things in spanish and such, too, not just the Descriptive Audio Service. I have SAP turned on, just for hoots. Only once did it do anything, unfortuantely. Back when I had cable, one of the public access/local programing channels was showing an old black and white movie, and the SAP had Descriptive Audio Service for it. Narrator: Suddenly, Margo turns, and puts her tea cup on the table. Margo: “I would never do that, NEVER!” Narrator: Lawrence looks confused. Margo swishes her dress as she turns her back to him, and covers her face with her hands. Pure gold, people, pure gold. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/32 "2003-01-25T00:22:21Z")
I was watching Star Search with captions on & I can’t figure out what the point is since you can’t see how people are really singing with them on, there are no inflections or accen’ts in captions. Though, they do say ‘off key’ sometimes if someone sings that way. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/33 "2003-01-25T03:02:01Z")
Sometimes, they leave the swearing in the CC. Dana Carvey’s HBO show (Choppin’ broccoli, Jimmy Stewart, Ping!) has the CC text “Fuckin’ Forty-Niners!!!” right there in glorious black and white. ---
**Author:** ![crinklebat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@crinklebat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crinklebat)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/34 "2003-01-27T08:26:38Z")
I distinguished myself in fifth grade by being the only one to know the lyrics to our favourite grunge artists’ songs, because I had seen them all on late-night TV shows at my grandparents’ house, where captioning is the norm. They were utterly incomprehensible otherwise. I tried to use the _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ DVD to practice my French by turning on French dubbing and captions at the same time, so I could listen and read and try to figure out what was going on. To my consternation, I found that the dubs and the captions were utterly different. They were both correct French, they just used different ways to say the same thing. Knowing Monty Python, I assume this was on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Rubicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58f4c7/32.png) [@Rubicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubicon)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/35 "2003-01-27T14:30:51Z")
Being Catholic, I feel I need to make a confession. Actually, two. One, I watched _Pootie Tang_, which I believe was a parody of blaxsploitation movies, although after watching it I’m not sure what the hell it was. Two, I watched it with CC on to better capture the dialogue; the main character, for the uninitiated, speaks in his own language that I would have to call “jive”. The CC did not improve the movie; sucking \> captions just as rock \> scissors. However, I am able to spell “Tipi tai, my damie” properly, which counts for something\*. \*“Something” here being defined as “a pathetic excuse to justify the 90 minutes I wasted on Pootie Tang” ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/36 "2003-01-27T17:11:57Z")
I use CC, my main language isn’t English and when they start talking with different accents I get lost easily and miss the meanings. If it is a program I watch regularly, after a while I don’t even look at the CC because I’ve become accustomed to the accents and understand what is said. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/37 "2003-01-27T17:22:51Z")
I usually only turn on the CC or subtitles when watching a DVD with commentary. However, last week, when I watched _Gosford Park_ with my parents, I turned on CC for them, since my dad is a little hard-of-hearing and I knew they’d both have trouble understanding the British accents–but _I_ picked up a lot more of what was going on with the dialogue right there. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278/38 "2003-01-28T00:10:56Z")
If you have a ATI AIW video card, you can suck all the captions out of a program into a Word or HTML document automatically. I found that pretty neat. Hard-of-hearing people can turn the sound way up, so you can hear that tv around the house. Until you can convince them to use captions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/close-captioning-for-the-hearing-enabled/150278.md?page=1)