Abstract

In this webtext, I experiment with novel forms of audiovisual accessibility. Enhanced captioning (also called kinetic, embodied, integral, dynamic, and animated captioning) offers radical alternatives to the taken-for-granted landscape of captioning and sonic accessibility. It disrupts norms and asks us to imagine different disability futures. By blending form and meaning, enhanced captions become integral components of the creative text instead of add-ons or afterthoughts. At the least, they force us to reflect on the problematic relationships between programs and captions, producers and captioners, and how we might bring them closer together.

Keywords: captioning, accessibility, disability, deaf studies, video, design, creative

Contents

A frame from an episode of Wayward Pines featuring Matt Dillon's reflection in a broken piece of glass and stylized captions positioned along the z-axis

Introduction

Why experimentation is needed in caption studies.

A television sits in the middle of the frame in this scene from Glitch. A small caption at the bottom of the TV frame reads, Yeah, Right

Meta captioning

How embedded captions can normalize accessibility. Includes two experiments with meta captioning.

Mr. Garrison is sitting in front of Principal Victoria in this two shot from an episode of South Park

Typography and color

How simple choices can aid speaker identification. Includes four experiments with type casting.

Jerry drives his car while human music plays on the radio, which is represented by a piano keyboard on his car seat

Baked-in captioning

Why norms must be continually critiqued. Includes two experiments with music captioning and four experiments with custom text animations.