Subtitle Guidelines

• The BBC Academy has produced an online guide to subtitling. If you are new to subtitling, please start there.

Subtitles are primarily intended to serve viewers with loss of hearing, but they are used by a wide range of people: around 10% of broadcast viewers use subtitles regularly, increasing to 35% for some online content. The majority of these viewers are not hard of hearing.

This document describes 'closed' subtitles only, also known as 'closed captions'. Typically delivered as a separate file, closed subtitles can be switched off by the user and are not 'burnt in' to the image.

There are many formats in circulation for subtitle files. In general, the BBC accepts EBU-TT part 1 with STL embedded for broadcast, and EBU-TT-D for online only content. For a full description of the delivery requirements, see the File format section.

The Subtitle Guidelines describe best practice for authoring subtitles and provide instructions for making subtitle files for the BBC. This document brings together documents previously published by Ofcom and the BBC and is intended to serve as the basis for all subtitle work across the BBC: prepared and live, online and broadcast, internal and supplied.

Who should read this?

Anyone providing or handling subtitles for the BBC:

• authors of subtitle (respeakers, stenographers, editors);

• producers and distributors of content;

• developers of software tools for authoring, validating, converting and presenting subtitles;

• anyone involved in controlling subtitle quality and compliance.

In addition, if you have an interest in accessibility you will find a lot of useful information here.

What prior knowledge is expected?

The editorial guidelines in the Presentation section are written in plain English, requiring only general familiarity with subtitles. In contrast, to follow the technical instructions in the File format section you will need good working knowledge of XML and CSS. It is recommended that you also familiarise yourself with Timed Text Markup Language and SMPTE timecodes.

What should I read for...

• An overview of subtitles: read this introduction and the first few sections of Presentation, Timing, Identifying speakers and EBU-TT and EBU-TT-D Documents in detail. Scanning through the examples will also give you a good understanding of how subtitles are made.

• Editing and styling subtitles: read the Presentation section for text, format and timing guidelines.

• Making subtitle files for online-only content: if your software does not support EBU-TT-D you will need to create an XML file yourself. Assuming you are familiar with XML and CSS, start with Introduction to the TTML document structure and Example EBU-TT-D document. Then follow the quick EBU-TT-D how-to.

Further assistance

Assistance with these guidelines and specific technical questions can be emailed to [email protected]. For help with requirements for specific subtitle documents contact the commissioning editor.

The following symbols are used throughout this document.

Examples indicate the appearance of a subtitle. When illustrating bad or unrecommended practice, the example has a strike-though, like this: counter-example. Note that the subtitle style used here is only an approximation. It should not be used as a reference for real-world files or processors.

Most of this document applies to both online and broadcast subtitles. When there are differences between subtitles intended for either platform, this is indicated with one of these flags:
online - applies only to subtitles for online use (not for broadcast).
broadcast - applies to broadcast-only subtitles (not online).
When no broadcast or online flag is indicated, the text applies to all subtitles.

Subtitles must conform to one of two specifications: EBU-TT-D (subtitles intended for online distribution only) or EBU-TT version 1.0 (for broadcast and online). Sections that only apply to one of the specifications are indicated by one of these flags: EBU-TT-D or EBU-TT 1.0.

Specific actual values are indicated with double quotes, like this: "2". These values must be used without the quotes. Descriptions of values are given in brackets: [a number between 1 and 3]. When several values are possible, they are separated by a pipe: "1" | "2" | "3".

<tt:tt ...>
<-- Code examples use explicit namespace prefixes
    for the avoidance of doubt -->
                

Since this is a longish sort of a document, we've added in some features to help navigation:

• When the window is wide enough, the table of contents appears on the left-hand side instead of the top.

• The table of contents by default just shows the top level headings - headings with a chevron to the right of them, can be expanded by clicking the chevron.

• If you want a direct link to a given section, you can click on the link icon to the right-hand side of the heading.

• Clicking on a heading in the main part of the document will make sure the heading is visible in the table of contents.

This version covers editorial and technical contribution and presentation guidelines, including resources to assist developers in meeting these guidelines. Future versions will build on these guidelines or describe changes, or address issues raised. We intend to release small updates often.

Amongst many smaller tweaks, the following changes accumulated so far since version 1, released in September 2016, are notable:

• Minor clarifications to presentation guidelines in response to comments received, for example:

  • the wording about use of reaction shots to gain time.

  • the word rate for live subtitles has been adjusted to 160-180wpm from 130-150wpm.

  • the use of numbers.

  • capitalisation in speech.

• Technical details moved to the end, in the File Format section, including specification references and BBC-specific requirements.

• Added details about delivery, including multiple STL files and online exclusives.

• Added a section describing the details of EBU-TT and EBU-TT-D documents with a downloadable example document and further links to examples provided by IRT.

• Added links from the presentation sections to the technical implementation details.

• Added links from the technical implementation details to the presentation requirements they support.

• Added anchor links by headings for ease of reference.

• Made table of contents expandable, set to include top level details only on load.

• Accessibility improvements.

• Added details on positioning, including mapping of Teletext positions to percentage positions in EBU-TT-D/IMSC.

• Added more details about authoring and presentation font family, font size and line height, size customisation options and the use of Reith Sans font.

• Updated the references.

• Added requirement for compatibility of EBU-TT-D with IMSC; added technical details of itts:fillLineGap and ittp:activeArea.

• Improved formatting of examples, code blocks and requirements.

• Made page layout more responsive to work better with smaller and larger screens.

• Added downloadable examples of an EBU-TT document and the result following conversion to EBU-TT-D.

• Improved accessibility and table of contents.

• Removed the outdated requirement to adjust the font size and line height when using the Reith Sans font.

• Updated workflow diagram in Appendix 5 to reflect improvements made over time.

Thank you to everyone who has helped to review this version. You know who you are!

Queries and comments may be raised at any time on the subtitle guidelines github project by those with sufficient project access levels. Readers who do not have access to the project should email [email protected].

When raising new issues please summarise in a short line the issue in the Title field and include enough information in the Description field, as well as the selected text, to allow the team to identify the relevant part(s) of the document.

Good subtitling is an art that requires negotiating conflicting requirements. On the whole, you should aim for subtitles that are faithful to the audio. However, you will need to balance this against considerations such as the action on the screen, speed of speech or editing and visual content.

Clearly, it is not possible (or advisable) to provide a set of hard rules that cover all situations. Instead, this document provides some guidelines and practical advice. Their implementation will depend on the content, the genre and on the subtitler’s expertise.

If there is time for verbatim speech, do not edit unnecessarily. Your aim should be to give the viewer as much access to the soundtrack as you possibly can within the constraints of time, space, shot changes, and on-screen visuals, etc. You should never deprive the viewer of words/sounds when there is time to include them and where there is no conflict with the visual information.

However, if you have a very "busy" scene, full of action and disconnected conversations, it might be confusing if you subtitle fragments of speech here and there, rather than allowing the viewer to watch what is going on.

Don't automatically edit out words like "but", "so" or "too". They may be short but they are often essential for expressing meaning.

Similarly, conversational phrases like "you know", "well", "actually" often add flavour to the text.

It is not necessary to simplify or translate for deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers. This is not only condescending, it is also frustrating for lip-readers.

If the speaker is in shot, try to retain the start and end of their speech, as these are most obvious to lip-readers who will feel cheated if these words are removed.

Do not take the easy way out by simply removing an entire sentence. Sometimes this will be appropriate, but normally you should aim to edit out a bit of every sentence.

Avoid editing out names when they are used to address people. They are often easy targets, but can be essential for following the plot.

Your editing should be faithful to the speaker's style of speech, taking into account register, nationality, era, etc. This will affect your choice of vocabulary. For instance:

• register: mother vs mum; deceased vs dead; intercourse vs sex;

• nationality: mom vs mum; trousers vs pants;

• era: wireless vs radio; hackney cab vs taxi.

Similarly, make sure if you edit by using contractions that they are appropriate to the context and register. In a formal context, where a speaker would not use contractions, you should not use them either.

Regional styles must also be considered: e.g. it will not always be appropriate to edit "I've got a cat" to "I've a cat"; and "I used to go there" cannot necessarily be edited to "I'd go there."

Having edited one subtitle, bear your edit in mind when creating the next subtitle. The edit can affect the content as well as the structure of anything that follows.

Avoid editing by changing the form of a verb. This sometimes works, but more often than not the change of tense produces a nonsense sentence. Also, if you do edit the tense, you have to make it consistent throughout the rest of the text.

Sometimes speakers can be clearly lip-read - particularly in close-ups. Do not edit out words that can be clearly lip-read. This makes the viewer feel cheated. If editing is unavoidable, then try to edit by using words that have similar lip-movements. Also, keep as close as possible to the original word order.

If the onscreen graphics are not easily legible because of the streamed image size or quality, the subtitles must include any text contained within those graphics which provide contextual information. This must include the speaker’s identity, what they do and any organisations they represent. Other displayed information affected by legibility problems that must be included in the subtitle includes; phone numbers, email addresses, postal addresses, website URLs, or other contact information.

If the information contained within the graphics is off-topic from what is being spoken, then the information should not be replicated in the subtitle.

Do not edit out strong language unless it is absolutely impossible to edit elsewhere in the sentence - deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers find this extremely irritating and condescending.

If the BBC has decided to edit any strong language, then your subtitles must reflect this in the following ways.

If the offending word is bleeped, put the word BLEEP in the appropriate place in the subtitle - in caps, in a contrasting colour and without an exclamation mark.

BLEEP

If only the middle section of a word is bleeped, do not change colour mid-word:

f-BLEEP-ing

If the word is dubbed with a euphemistic replacement - e.g. frigging - put this in. If the word is non-standard but spellable put this in, too:

frerlking

If the word is dubbed with an unrecognisable sequence of noises, leave them out.

If the sound is dipped for a portion of the word, put up the sounds that you can hear and three dots for the dipped bit:

Keep your f...ing nose out of it!.

Never use more than three dots.

If the word is mouthed, use a label:

So (MOUTHS) f...ing what?

In Teletext, which is used to display subtitles on some broadcast platforms, line length is limited to 37 fixed-width (monospaced) characters, since at least 3 of the 40 available bytes are used for control codes. Other platforms use proportional fonts, making it impossible to determine the width of the line based on the number of characters alone. In this case, lines are constrained by the width of the region in which they are displayed. Guidelines for both platforms are summarised in the table below.

If targeting both online and broadcast platforms you must apply both constraints, i.e. ensure that the number of characters within a region does not exceed 37.

Each subtitle should comprise a single complete sentence. Depending on the speed of speech, there are exceptions to this general recommendation (see live subtitling, short and long sentences below)

A maximum subtitle length of two lines is recommended. Three lines may be used if you are confident that no important picture information will be obscured. When deciding between one long line or two short ones, consider line breaks, number of words, pace of speech and the image.

Subtitles and lines should be broken at logical points. The ideal line-break will be at a piece of punctuation like a full stop, comma or dash. If the break has to be elsewhere in the sentence, avoid splitting the following parts of speech:

• article and noun (e.g. the + table; a + book)

• preposition and following phrase (e.g. on + the table; in + a way; about + his life)

• conjunction and following phrase/clause (e.g. and + those books; but + I went there)

• pronoun and verb (e.g. he + is; they + will come; it + comes)

• parts of a complex verb (e.g. have + eaten; will + have + been + doing)

However, since the dictates of space within a subtitle are more severe than between subtitles, line breaks may also take place after a verb. For example:

We are aiming to get
a better television service.

Line endings that break up a closely integrated phrase should be avoided where possible.

We are aiming to get a
better television service.

Line breaks within a word are especially disruptive to the reading process and should be avoided. Ideal formatting should therefore compromise between linguistic and geometric considerations but with priority given to linguistic considerations.

broadcast Left, right and centre justification can be useful to identify speaker position, especially in cases where there are more than three speakers on screen. In such cases, line breaks should be inserted at linguistically coherent points, taking eye-movement into careful consideration. For example:

We all hope
you are feeling much better.

This is left justified. The eye has least distance to travel from ‘hope’ to ‘you’.

We all hope you are
feeling much better.

This is centre justified. The eye now has least distance to travel from ‘are’ to ‘feeling’.

Problems occur with justification when a short sentence or phrase is followed by a longer one.

Oh.
He didn’t tell me you would be here.

In this case, there is a risk that the bottom line of the subtitle is read first.

Oh.
He didn’t tell me you would be here.

This could result in only half of the subtitle being read.

Allowances would therefore have to be made by breaking the line at a linguistically non-coherent point:

Oh. He didn’t tell me
you would be here.

Oh. He didn’t tell me you would be
here.

When making a choice between one long line or two short lines, you should consider the background picture. In general, ‘long and thin’ subtitles are less disruptive of picture content than are ‘short and fat’ subtitles, but this is not always the case. Also take into account the number of words, line breaks etc.

broadcast In dialogue sequences it is often helpful to use horizontal displacement in order to distinguish between different speakers. ‘Short and fat’ subtitles permit greater latitude for this technique.

Short sentences may be combined into a single subtitle if the available reading time is limited. However, you should also consider the image and the action on screen. For example, consecutive subtitles may reflect better the pace of speech.

In most cases verbatim subtitles are preferred to edited subtitles (see this research by BBC R&D) so avoid breaking long sentences into two shorter sentences. Instead, allow a single long sentence to extend over more than one subtitle. Sentences should be segmented at natural linguistic breaks such that each subtitle forms an integrated linguistic unit. Thus, segmentation at clause boundaries is to be preferred. For example:

When I jumped on the bus

I saw the man who had taken
the basket from the old lady.

Segmentation at major phrase boundaries can also be accepted as follows:

On two minor occasions
immediately following the war,

small numbers of people
were seen crossing the border.

There is considerable evidence from the psycho-linguistic literature that normal reading is organised into word groups corresponding to syntactic clauses and phrases, and that linguistically coherent segmentation of text can significantly improve readability.

Random segmentation must certainly be avoided:

On two minor occasions
immediately following the war, small

numbers of people, etc.

In the examples given above, no markers are used to indicate that segmentation is taking place. It is also acceptable to use sequences of dots (three at the end of a to-be-continued subtitle, and two at the beginning of a continuation) to mark the fact that a segmentation is taking place, especially in legacy subtitle files.

Good line-breaks are extremely important because they make the process of reading and understanding far easier. However, it is not always possible to produce good line-breaks as well as well-edited text and good timing. Where these constraints are mutually exclusive, then well-edited text and timing are more important than line-breaks.

The recommended subtitle speed is 160-180 words-per-minute (WPM) or 0.33 to 0.375 second per word. However, viewers tend to prefer verbatim subtitles, so the rate may be adjusted to match the pace of the programme. Most subtitle authoring tools calculate the WPM and can be configured to give a warning when the word rate exceeds a certain WPM threshhold. You can also calculate the WPM manually (see box).

Based on the recommended rate of 160-180 words per minute, you should aim to leave a subtitle on screen for a minimum period of around 0.3 seconds per word (e.g. 1.2 seconds for a 4-word subtitle). However, timings are ultimately an editorial decision that depends on other considerations, such as the speed of speech, text editing and shot synchronisation. When assessing the amount of time that a subtitle needs to remain on the screen, think about much more than the number of words on the screen; this would be an unacceptably crude approach.

Do not dip below the target timing unless there is no other way of getting round a problem. Circumstances which could mean giving less reading time are:

Give less time if the target timing would involve clipping a shot, or crossing into an unrelated, "empty" [containing no speech] shot. However, always consider the alternative of merging with another subtitle.

Give less time to avoid editing out words that can be lip-read, but only in very specific circumstances: i.e. when a word or phrase can be read very clearly even by non-lip-readers, and if it would look ridiculous to take out or change the word.

Avoid editing out catchwords if a phrase would become unrecognisable if edited.

Give less time if a joke would be destroyed by adhering to the standard timing, but only if there is no other way around the problem, such as merging or crossing a shot.

In a news item or factual content, the main aim is to convey the "what, when, who, how, why". If an item is already particularly concise, it may be impossible to edit it into subtitles at standard timings without losing a crucial element of the original.

These may be similarly hard to edit. For instance, a detailed explanation of an economic or scientific story may prove almost impossible to edit without depriving the viewer of vital information. In these situations a subtitler should be prepared to vary the timing to convey the full meaning of the original.

Try to allow extra reading time for your subtitles in the following circumstances:

Try to give more generous timings whenever you consider that viewers might find a word or phrase extremely hard to read without more time.

Aim to give more time when there are several speakers in one subtitle.

Allow an extra second for labels where possible, but only if appropriate.

When there is a lot happening in the picture, e.g. a football match or a map, allow viewers enough time both to read the subtitle and to take in the visuals.

If, for example, two speakers are placed in the same subtitle, and the person on the right speaks first, the eye has more work to do, so try to allow more time.

Give viewers more time to read long figures (e.g. 12,353).

Aim for longer timing if your subtitle crosses one shot or more, as viewers will need longer to read it.

Slower timings should be used to keep in sync with slow speech.

It is also very important to keep your timings consistent. For instance, if you have given 3:12 for one subtitle, you must not then give 4:12 to subsequent subtitles of similar length - unless there is a very good reason: e.g. slow speaker/on-screen action.

If there is a pause between two pieces of speech, you may leave a gap between the subtitles - but this must be a minimum of one second, preferably a second and a half. Anything shorter than this produces a very jerky effect. Try to not squeeze gaps in if the time can be used for text.

Impaired viewers make use of visual cues from the faces of television speakers. Therefore subtitle appearance should coincide with speech onset. Subtitle disappearance should coincide roughly with the end of the corresponding speech segment, since subtitles remaining too long on the screen are likely to be re-read by the viewer.

When two or more people are speaking, it is particularly important to keep in sync. Subtitles for new speakers must, as far as possible, come up as the new speaker starts to speak. Whether this is possible will depend on the action on screen and rate of speech.

The same rules of synchronisation should apply with off-camera speakers and even with off-screen narrators, since viewers with a certain amount of residual hearing make use of auditory cues to direct their attention to the subtitle area.

The subtitles should match the pace of speaking as closely as possible. Ideally, when the speaker is in shot, your subtitles should not anticipate speech by more than 1.5 seconds or hang up on the screen for more than 1.5 seconds after speech has stopped.

However, if the speaker is very easy to lip-read, slipping out of sync even by a second may spoil any dramatic effect and make the subtitles harder to follow. The subtitle should not be on the screen after the speaker has disappeared.

Note that some decoders might override the end timing of a subtitle so that it stays on screen until the next one appears. This is a non-compliant behaviour that the subtitle author and broadcaster have no control over.

A subtitle (or an explanatory label) should always be on the screen if someone's lips are moving. If a speaker speaks very slowly, then the subtitles will have to be slow, too - even if this means breaking the timing conventions. If a speaker speaks very fast, you have to edit as much as is necessary in order to meet the timing requirements (see timing).

Your aim is to minimise lag between speech and the appearance of the subtitle. But sometimes, in order to meet other requirements (e.g. matching shots), you will find it difficult to avoid slipping slightly out of sync. In this case, subtitles should never appear more than 2 seconds after the words were spoken. This should be avoided by editing the previous subtitles.

It is permissible to slip out of sync when you have a sequence of subtitles for a single speaker, providing the subtitles are back in sync by the end of the sequence.

If the speech belongs to an out-of-shot speaker or is voice-over commentary, then it's not so essential for the subtitles to keep in sync.

Do not bring in any dramatic subtitles too early. For example, if there is a loud bang at the end of, say, a two-second shot, do not anticipate it by starting the label at the beginning of the shot. Wait until the bang actually happens, even if this means a fast timing.

Do not simultaneously caption different speakers if they are not speaking at the same time.

It is likely to be less tiring for the viewer if shot changes and subtitle changes occur at the same time. Many subtitles therefore start on the first frame of the shot and end on the last frame.

If you have to let a subtitle hang over a shot change, do not remove it too soon after the cut. The duration of the overhang will depend on the content.

Avoid creating subtitles that straddle a shot change (i.e. a subtitle that starts in the middle of shot one and ends in the middle of shot two). To do this, you may need to split a sentence at an appropriate point, or delay the start of a new sentence to coincide with the shot change.

If one shot is too fast for a subtitle, then you can merge the speech for two shots – provided your subtitle then ends at the second shot change.

Bear in mind, however, that it will not always be appropriate to merge the speech from two shots: e.g. if it means that you are thereby "giving the game away" in some way. For example, if someone sneezes on a very short shot, it is more effective to leave the "Atchoo!" on its own with a fast timing (or to merge it with what comes afterwards) than to anticipate it by merging with the previous subtitle.

Where possible, avoid extending a subtitle into the next shot when the speaker has stopped speaking, particularly if this is a dramatic reaction shot.

Never carry a subtitle over into the next shot if this means crossing into another scene or if it is obvious that the speaker is no longer around (e.g. if they have left the room).

Some film techniques introduce the soundtrack for the next scene before the scene change has occurred. If possible, the subtitler should wait for the scene change before displaying the subtitle. If this is not possible, the subtitle should be clearly labelled to explain the technique.

JOHN: And what have we here?

Several techniques can be used to assist the viewer in identifying speakers. The BBC's preferred techniques are colour and single quotes, but other techniques exist in legacy subtitle files and subtitles repurposed from non-UK sources. Re-use of existing files with legacy techniques is acceptable, but unless specifically requested, new content should not use legacy techniques.

The available techniques include:

• Colour: This is the preferred method that should be used in most cases.

• Single quotes: Used to indicate an out-of-vision speaker, such as someone speaking via telephone, or to distinguish between in- and out-of-vision voices when both are spoken by the same character (or by the narrator) and therefore using the same colour (e.g. a narrator who is sometimes in-vision).

• Arrows: Used to indicate the direction of out-of-vision sounds when the origin of the sound is not apparent. (infrequently used)

• Label: Can be used to resolve ambiguity as to who is speaking.

• Horizontal positioning: This is a legacy technique for identifying in-vision speakers, but it is still used for indicating off-screen speech. It is also used with Vertical positioning to avoid obscuring important information.

• Dashes: This is a legacy technique. Must only be used with colour when unavoidable.

Use colours to distinguish speakers from each other (see Colours). This is the preferred method for identifying speakers.

Where the speech for two or more speakers of different colours is combined in one subtitle, their speech runs on: i.e. you don't start a new line for each new speaker.

Did you see Jane? I thought she went home.

However, if two or more WHITE text speakers are interacting, you have to start a new line for each new speaker, preceded by a dash.

By convention, the narrator is indicated by a yellow colour.

This is a legacy technique that is no longer used in new content for identifying in-vision speakers (it may be present in files created before it was deprecated). Use colour instead.

Horizontal positioning is used in combination with arrows to indicate out-of-vision voices.

broadcast Where colours cannot be used you can distinguish between speakers with placing.

Put each piece of speech on a separate line or lines and place it underneath the relevant speaker. You may have to edit more to ensure that the lines are short enough to look placed.

Try to make sure that pieces of speech placed right and left are "joined at the hip" if possible, so that the eye does not have to leap from one side of the screen to the other.

Not:

When characters move about while speaking, the caption should be positioned at the discretion of the subtitler to identify the position of the speaker as clearly as possible.

This is a legacy technique that is no longer used for new content (but may be present in files created before it was deprecated or sourced from outside the UK). Use colour to indicate a change of speaker.

If colour cannot be used (or if colour is being used but two consecutive speakers are both assigned the same colour), put each piece of speech on a separate line and insert a white dash (not a hyphen) before each piece of speech, thereby clearly distinguishing different speakers' lines. If possible, align the dashes so that they are proud of the text, although not all formats support this well.

– Found anything?
– If this is the next new weapon,
we're in big trouble.

The longest line should be centred on the screen, with the shorter line/lines left-aligned with it (not centred). If one of the lines is long, inevitably all the text will be towards the left of the screen, but generally the aim is to keep the lines in the centre of the screen.

Note that dashes only work as a clear indication of speakers when each speaker is in a separate consecutive shot.

If you need to distinguish between an in-vision speaker and a voice-over speaker, use single quotes for the voice-over, but only when there is likely to be confusion without them (single quotes are not normally necessary for a narrator, for example). Confusion is most likely to arise when the in-vision speaker and the voice-over speaker are the same person.

Put a single quote-mark at the beginning of each new subtitle (or segment, in live), but do not close the single quotes at the end of each subtitle/segment - only close them when the person has finished speaking, as is the case with paragraphs in a book.

'I've lived in the Lake District since I was a boy.

'I never want to leave this area.
I've been very happy here.

'I love the fresh air and the beautiful scenery.'

If more than one speaker in the same subtitle is a voice-over, just put single quotes at the beginning and end of the subtitle.

'What do you think about it? I'm not sure.'

The single quotes will be in the same colour as the adjoining text.

When two white text speakers are having a telephone conversation, you will need to distinguish the speakers. Using single quotes placed around the speech of the out-of-vision speaker is the recommended approach. They should be used throughout the conversation, whenever one of the speakers is out of vision.

Hello. Victor Meldrew speaking.
'Hello, Mr Meldrew. I'm calling about your car.'

Single quotes are not necessary in telephone conversations if the out-of-vision speaker has a colour.

Double quotes "..." can suggest mechanically reproduced speech, e.g. radio, loudspeakers etc., or a quotation from a person or book. Start the quote with a capital letter:

He said, "You're so tall".

Generally, colours should be used to identify speakers. However, when an out-of-shot speaker needs to be distinguished from an in-shot speaker of the same colour, or when the source of off-screen/off-camera speech is not obvious from the visible context, insert a ‘greater than’ (>) or ‘less than’ (<) symbols to indicate the off-camera speaker.

If the out-of-shot speaker is on the left or right, type a left or right arrow (< or >) next to their speech and place the speech to the appropriate side. Left arrows go immediately before the speech, followed by one space; right arrows immediately after the speech, preceded by one space.

Do come in.
Are you sure? >

When are you leaving?
< I was thinking of going
at around 8 o'clock in the evening.

When I find out where he is,   
you'll be the first to know. >

NOT:

When I find out where he is, >
you'll be the first to know.

If possible, make the arrow clearly visible by keeping it clear of any other lines of text, i.e. the text following the arrow and the text in any lines below it are aligned. However, not all formats support hanging indent well.

< When I find out where he is,
   you'll be the first to know

The arrows are always typed in white regardless of the text colour of the speaker.

If an off-screen speaker is neither to the right nor the left, but straight ahead, do not use an arrow.

online Arrow characters (← and →) can be used instead of < and > for online-only subtitles.

If you are unable to use any other technique, use a label to identify a speaker, but only if it is unclear who was speaking or when more than four characters are speaking, requiring a shared colour. Type the name of the speaker in white caps (regardless of the colour of the speaker's text), immediately before the relevant speech.

If there is time, place the speech on the line below the label, so that the label is as separate as possible from the speech. If this is not possible, put the label on the same line as the speech, centred in the usual way.

JAMES:
What are you doing with that hammer?

JAMES: What are you doing?

If you do not know the name of the speaker, indicate the gender or age of the speaker if this is necessary for the viewer's understanding:

MAN: I was brought up in a close-knit family.

When two or more people are speaking simultaneously, do the following, regardless of their colours:

Two people:

BOTH: Keep quiet! (all white text)

Three or more:

ALL: Hello! (all white text)

TOGETHER: Yes! No! (different colours with a white label)

The subtitle file formats used by the BBC allow non-presentation metadata that can be used to include information about the speaker of a subtitle. Including this information is useful for searching, identifying speakers and other purposes.

Most subtitles are typed in white text on a black background to ensure optimum legibility.

See Stress for the single case where colour may be used for emphasis.

Background colours are no longer used. Use labels to identify non-human speakers:

ROBOT: Hello, sir

Use left-aligned sound labels for alerts:

BUZZER

A limited range of colours can be used to distinguish speakers from each other. In order of priority:

All of the above colours must appear on a black background to ensure maximum legibility.

Once a speaker has a colour, they should keep that colour. Avoid using the same colour for more than one speaker - it can cause a lot of confusion for the viewer.

The exception to this would be content with a lot of shifting main characters like EastEnders, where it is permissible to have two characters per colour, providing they do not appear together. If the amount of placing needed would mean editing very heavily, you can use green as a "floater": that is, it can be used for more than one minor character, again providing they never appear together.

White can be used for any number of speakers. If two or more white speakers appear in the same scene, you have to use one of a number of devices to indicate who says what - see Identifying Speakers.

Subtitle fonts are determined by the platform, the delivery mechanism and the client as detailed below. Since fonts have different character widths, the final pixel width of a line of subtitles cannot be accurately determined when authoring. See also Line Breaks.

To minimise the risk of unwanted line wrapping, use a wide font such as Reith Sans, Verdana or Tiresias when authoring the subtitles. Presentation processors usually use a narrower font (e.g. Arial) so the rendered line will likely fit within the authored area. Note that platforms may use different reference fonts when resolving the generic font family name specified in the subtitle file. For example, the HbbTV standard maps both default and proportionalSansSerif to Tiresias, whereas IMSC maps proportionalSansSerif only to any font with substantially the same dimensions for rendered text as Arial. See also Conformance with IMSC 1.0.1 Text Profile.

The final displayed size of closed captions text is determined by multiple factors: the instructions in the subtitle file, the processor and the set of installed fonts available to it, the device screen size and resolution and (on some devices) also user-defined preferences.

While it is not possible (or advisable) to pre-determine the final subtitle size, adhering to the below guidelines will ensure that subtitles are legible at a typical distance from the device and that lines do not reflow or overflow for the vast majority of users. In particular, the final size should never be larger than the authored size so that the subtitler can ensure that important parts of the of the video are not obscured.

Font size should be set to fit within a line height of 8% of the active video height. Use mixed upper and lower case. This font height is the largest size needed for presentation and is an authoring requirement.

Use a wide font such as Reith Sans when authoring subtitles (see Fonts and tts:fontFamily). If that is not the font used to present it, then the alternative is likely to be a narrower font, so if you author in a wide font you can be reasonably confident that lines will not reflow.

No changes need to be made to other styling attributes to accommodate processors potentially using a smaller font, however care needs to be taken when positioning subtitles in case a smaller font is used, as the following examples show:

Authored font size, correct positioning:

The processor displays the larger font size, as authored. The region (not displayed) is indicated with a dotted line.

Reduced font size, wrong positioning:

The region's tts:displayAlign is set to "before" so with a smaller font size the text moves up and the second line obscures the mouth.

Reduced font size, correct positioning:

To avoid this, set the region's tts:displayAlign property to "center" or "after".

Authored font size, large region:

Line breaks were used to position the subtitles lower within the region.

Reduced font size, large region:

The line breaks are resized with the rest of the text.

Reduced font size, defined region:

Better to define the region so that it does not cover the face and avoid white space.

Depending on device size, viewing distance, screen resolution etc., a processor (such as a player) may choose to reduce (but not to increase) the authored font size so that the final presentation font size is smaller than the authored font size. For example, on a very large TV the subtitles may appear too large when displayed at the original authored size, so the processor can apply a scaling factor, or a multiplier of less than 1, to the value of tts:fontSize.

For most screen sizes, the preferred font size is between 0.6 and 0.8 times the required authoring font size. For small mobile phones (e.g. 4" diagonal screen size) the presentation size should be the unmodified authored font size (i.e. a multiplier of 1).

Along with reading distance, the physical height of the video when displayed on the device's screen is the most direct determinant of font size as a proportion of video height. In practice, however, a processor may not know the actual physical height and may have to rely on other data, for example pixel size and resolution (which may not be reliable indicators of physical size). The examples below illustrate devices and their recommended multipliers. For devices that support configurable sizes, a recommended range is shown. When the processor cannot determine the screen size, it should use the unmodified authored size to mitigate the risk of illegibly small text (i.e. default to a multiplier of 1).

In the absence of other information, a default size of 0.5° subtended at the eye may be used to derive the default line height and calculate the multiplier, however this may be too small for some devices.

The width of the background is calculated per line, rather than being the largest rectangle that can fit all the displayed lines in.

The height of the background should be the height of the line; there should be no gap between background areas of successive lines.

On both sides of every line, the background colour should extend by the width of 0.5 em.

If the subtitles are intended for broadcast, a limited set of characters must be used.

Use alphanumeric and English punctuation characters:

A-Z a-z 0-9 ! ) ( , . ? : -

The following characters can be used:

> < & @ # % + * = / £ $ ¢ ¥ © ® ¼ ½ ¾ ¾ ™

Do not use accents.

Additional characters are supported but not normally used (see Appendix 1)

In addition to the characters above, the following characters are allowed if the subtitles are intended for online use only.

online € ♫ (replaces # to indicate music) ← → (arrows can replace < and >).

The subtitles should overlay the video image, and may be placed within any black bars present within the video at the top or bottom.

online For 16:9 video in landscape mode, subtitles should not be placed outside the central 90% vertically and the central 75% horizontally. Regions can be extended horizontally to allow extra space for line padding.

online For online subtitles, the subtitle rendering area (root container in EBU-TT-D) should exactly overlap the video player area unless controls or other overlays are visible, in which case the system should take steps to avoid the subtitles being obscured by the overlays. These could include:

• Scaling the root container to avoid overlap

• Detecting and resolving screen area clashes by moving subtitles around

• Pausing the presentation while the overlays are visible.

The normally accepted position for subtitles is towards the bottom of the screen (Teletext lines 20 and 22. Line 18 is used if three subtitle lines are required). In obeying this convention it is most important to avoid obscuring ‘on-screen’ captions, any part of a speaker’s mouth or any other important activity. Certain special programme types carry a lot of information in the lower part of the screen (e.g. snooker, where most of the activity tends to centre around the black ball) and in such cases top screen positioning will be a more acceptable standard.

Generally, vertical displacement should be used to avoid obscuring important information (such as captions) while horizontal displacement should be reserved for indicating speakers (see Identifying Speakers).

In some cases vertical displacement is not sufficient to avoid obscuring important information, for example when placing the captions above a graphic would cover a face. In such cases, horizontal positioning may be used.

Some platforms (e.g. online media player) support the display of subtitles under the image. If the media player is embedded in the page the layout should change to accommodate the subtitle display.

When subtitles are displayed under the image area, vertical displacement will be ignored by the device and only horizontal positioning will be used (e.g. to identify speakers).

Prepared subtitles are normally centre-aligned within a subtitle region that is horizontally centred relative to the video. Live subtitles (cued blocks and cumulative) are normally left-aligned.

Other horizontal positioning may be used to:

• Avoid obscuring important information (such as captions and mouths) when vertical positioning is not sufficient (see below).

• Indicate the direction of off-screen sounds. See arrows for off-screen voices.

• Identifying in-vision speakers (legacy technique). See Identifying speakers with horizontal positioning.

In some cases vertical positioning is not sufficient to avoid obscuring important information, for example when placing the captions above a graphic would cover a face. In such cases, prioritise the important information over speaker identification, using horizontal positioning if appropriate.

To indicate a sarcastic statement, use an exclamation mark in brackets (without a space in between):

Charming(!)

To indicate a sarcastic question, use a question mark in brackets:

You're not going to work today, are you(?)

Use caps to indicate when a word is stressed. Do not overuse this device - text sprinkled with caps can be hard to read. However, do not underestimate how useful the occasional indication of stress can be for conveying meaning:

It's the BOOK I want, not the paper.

I know that, but WHEN will you be finished?

The word "I" is a special case. If you have to emphasise it in a sentence, make it a different colour from the surrounding text. However, this is rare and should be used sparingly and only when there is no other way to emphasise the word.

She knows. Elaine wrote to her. But
if I write, she'll know it's urgent.

Use caps also to indicate when words are shouted or screamed:

HELP ME!

However, avoid large chunks of text in caps as they can be hard to read.

online Subtitles for online exclusives can use italics for emphasis instead of caps (this is an experimental option and should not be included for general use). If this approach is adopted italics should be used in most instances, with caps reserved for heavier emphasis (e.g. shouting).

Note that there is currently little research to indicate the effectiveness of italics for emphasis in subtitles.

To indicate whispered speech, a label is most effective.

WHISPERS:
Don't let him near you.

However, when time is short, place brackets around the whispered speech:

(Don't let him near you.)

If the whispered speech continues over more than one subtitle, brackets can start to look very messy, so a label in the first subtitle is preferable.

Brackets can also be used to indicate an aside, which may or may not be whispered.

Indicate questions asked in an incredulous tone by means of a question mark followed by an exclamation mark (no space):

You mean you're going to marry him?!

This section deals with accents in speech and dialects. For accented characters see Typography.

Do not indicate accent as a matter of course, but only where it is relevant for the viewer's understanding. This is rarely the case in serious/straight news reports, but may well be relevant in lighter factual items. For example, you would only indicate the nationality of a foreign scientist being interviewed on Horizon or the Ten O’Clock News if it were relevant to the subject matter and the viewer could not pick the information up from any other source, e.g. from their actual words or any accompanying graphics. However, in a drama or comedy where a character's accent is crucial to the plot or enjoyment, the subtitles must establish the accent when we first see the character and continue to reflect it from then on.

When it is necessary to indicate accent, bear in mind that, although the subtitler's aim should always be to reproduce the soundtrack as faithfully as possible, a phonetic representation of a speaker's foreign or regional accent or dialect is likely to slow up the reading process and may ridicule the speaker. Aim to give the viewer a flavour of the accent or dialect by spelling a few words phonetically and by including any unusual vocabulary or sentence construction that can be easily read. For a Cockney speaker, for instance, it would be appropriate to include quite a few "caffs", "missus" and "ain'ts", but not to replace every single dropped "h" and "g" with an apostrophe.

You should not correct any incorrect grammar that forms an essential part of dialect, e.g. the Cockney "you was".

A foreign speaker may make grammatical mistakes that do not render the sense incomprehensible but make the subtitle difficult to read in the given time. In this case, you should either give the subtitle more time or change the text as necessary:

I and my wife is being marrying four years since and are having four childs, yes

This could be changed to:

I and my wife have been married four years and have four childs, yes

The speech text alone may not always be enough to establish the origin of an overseas/regional speaker. In that case, and if it is necessary for the viewer's understanding of the context of the content, use a label to make the accent clear:

AMERICAN ACCENT:
All the evidence points to a plot.

Remember that what might make sense when it is heard might make little or no sense when it is read. So, if you think the viewer will have difficulty following the text, you should make it read clearly. This does not mean that you should always sub-edit incoherent speech into beautiful prose. You should aim to tamper with the original as little as possible - just give it the odd tweak to make it intelligible. (Also see Accents)

The above is more applicable to factual content, e.g. News and documentaries. Do not tidy up incoherent speech in drama when the incoherence is the desired effect.

If a piece of speech is impossible to make out, you will have to put up a label saying why:

(SLURRED): But I love you!

Avoid subjective labels such as "UNINTELLIGIBLE" or "INCOMPREHENSIBLE" or "HE BABBLES INCOHERENTLY".

Speech can be inaudible for different reasons. The subtitler should put up a label explaining the cause.

APPLAUSE DROWNS SPEECH

TRAIN DROWNS HIS WORDS

MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH

HE MOUTHS

Long speechless pauses can sometimes lead the viewer to wonder whether the subtitles have failed. It can help in such cases to insert explanatory text such as:

INTRODUCTORY MUSIC

LONG PAUSE

ROMANTIC MUSIC

If a speaker speaks very slowly or falteringly, break your subtitles more often to avoid having slow subtitles on the screen. However, do not break a sentence up so much that it becomes difficult to follow.

If a speaker stammers, give some indication (but not too much) by using hyphens between repeated sounds. This is more likely to be needed in drama than factual content. Letters to show a stammer should follow the case of the first letter of the word.

I'm g-g-going home

W-W-What are you doing?

If a speaker hesitates, do not edit out the "ums" and "ers" if they are important for characterisation or plot. However, if the hesitation is merely incidental and the "ums" actually slow up the reading process, then edit them out. (This is most likely to be the case in factual content, and too many "ums" can make the speaker appear ridiculous.)

When the hesitation or interruption is to be shown within a single subtitle, follow these rules:

To indicate a pause within a sentence, insert three dots at the point of pausing, then continue the sentence immediately after the dots, without leaving a space.

Everything that matters...is a mystery

You may need to show a pause between two sentences within one subtitle. For example, where a phone call is taking place and we can only witness one side of it, there may not be time to split the sentences into separate subtitles to show that someone we can't see or hear is responding. In this case, you should put two dots immediately before the second sentence.

How are you? ..Oh, I'm glad to hear that.

A very effective technique is to use cumulative subtitles, where the first part appears before the second, and both remain on screen until the next subtitle. Use this method only when the content justifies it; standard prepared subtitles should be displayed in blocks.

If the speaker simply trails off without completing a sentence, put three dots at the end of their speech. If they then start a new sentence, no continuation dots are necessary.

Hello, Mr... Oh, sorry! I've forgotten your name

If the unfinished sentence is a question or exclamation, put three dots (not two) before the question mark or exclamation mark.

What do you think you're...?!

If a speaker is interrupted by another speaker or event, put three dots at the end of the incomplete speech.

When the hesitation or interruption occurs in the middle of a sentence that is split across two subtitles, do the following:

Where there is no time-lapse between the two subtitles, put three dots at the end of the first subtitle but no dots in the second one.

I think...
I would like to leave now.

Where there is a time-lapse between the two subtitles, put three dots at the end of the first subtitle and two dots at the beginning of the second, so that it is clear that it is a continuation.

I'd like...

..a piece of chocolate cake

Remember that dots are only used to indicate a pause or an unfinished sentence. You do not need to use dots every time you split a sentence across two or more subtitles.

In humorous sequences, it is important to retain as much of the humour as possible. This will affect the editing process as well as when to leave the screen clear.

Try wherever possible to keep punchlines separate from the preceding text.

Where possible, allow viewers to see actions and facial expressions which are part of the humour by leaving the screen clear or by editing. Try not to leave a subtitle on screen when the next shot contains no speech and shows the character's reaction, as this distracts from the reaction and spoils the punchline.

Never edit characters' catchphrases.

All music that is part of the action, or significant to the plot, must be indicated in some way. If it is part of the action, e.g. somebody playing an instrument/a record playing/music on a jukebox or radio, then write the label in upper case:

SHE WHISTLES A JOLLY TUNE

POP MUSIC ON RADIO

MILITARY BAND PLAYS SWEDISH NATIONAL ANTHEM

If the music is "incidental music" (i.e. not part of the action) and well known or identifiable in some way, the label begins "MUSIC:" followed by the name of the music (music titles should be fully researched). "MUSIC" is in caps (to indicate a label), but the words following it are in upper and lower case, as these labels are often fairly long and a large amount of text in upper case is hard to read.

MUSIC: "The Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy"
by Tchaikovsky

MUSIC: "God Save The Queen"

MUSIC: A waltz by Victor Herbert

MUSIC: The Swedish National Anthem

(The Swedish National Anthem does not have quotation marks around it as it is not the official title of the music.)

Sometimes a combination of these two styles will be appropriate:

HE HUMS "God Save The Queen"

SHE WHISTLES "The Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy"
by Tchaikovsky

If the music is "incidental music" but is an unknown piece, written purely to add atmosphere or dramatic effect, do not label it. However, if the music is not part of the action but is crucial for the viewer’s understanding of the plot, a sound-effect label should be used:

EERIE MUSIC

Song lyrics are almost always subtitled - whether they are part of the action or not. Every song subtitle starts with a white hash mark (#) and the final song subtitle has a hash mark at the start and the end:

# These foolish things remind me of you #

There are two exceptions:

• In cases where you consider the visual information on the screen to be more important than the song lyrics, leave the screen free of subtitles.

• Where snippets of a song are interspersed with any kind of speech, and it would be confusing to subtitle both the lyrics and the speech, it is better to put up a music label and to leave the lyrics unsubtitled.

online Instead of # the symbol, ♫ may be used.

Song lyrics should generally be verbatim, particularly in the case of well-known songs (such as God Save The Queen), which should never be edited. This means that the timing of song lyric subtitles will not always follow the conventional timings for speech subtitles, and the subtitles may sometimes be considerably faster.

If, however, you are subtitling an unknown song, specially written for the content and containing lyrics that are essential to the plot or humour of the piece, there are a number of options:

• edit the lyrics to give viewers more time to read them

• combine song-lines wherever possible

• do a mixture of both - edit and combine song-lines.

NB: If you do have to edit, make sure that you leave any rhymes intact.

Song lyric subtitles should be kept closely in sync with the soundtrack. For instance, if it takes 15 seconds to sing one line of a hymn, your subtitle should be on the screen for 15 seconds.

Song subtitles should also reflect as closely as possible the rhythm and pace of a performance, particularly when this is the focus of the editorial proposition. This will mean that the subtitles could be much faster or slower than the conventional timings.

There will be times where the focus of the content will be on the lyrics of the song rather than on its rhythm - for example, a humorous song like Ernie by Benny Hill. In such cases, give the reader time to read the lyrics by combining song-lines wherever possible. If the song is unknown, you could also edit the lyrics, but famous songs like Ernie must not be edited.

Where shots are not timed to song-lines, you should either take the subtitle to the end of the shot (if it's only a few frames away) or end the subtitle before the end of the shot (if it's 12 frames or more away).

All song-lines should be centred on the screen.

It is generally simpler to keep punctuation in songs to a minimum, with punctuation only within lines (when it is grammatically necessary) and not at the end of lines (except for question marks). You should, though, avoid full stops in the middle of otherwise unpunctuated lines. For example,

Turn to wisdom. Turn to joy
There’s no wisdom to destroy

Could be changed to:

# Turn to wisdom, turn to joy
There’s no wisdom to destroy

In formal songs, however, e.g. opera and hymns, where it could be easier to determine the correct punctuation, it is more appropriate to punctuate throughout.

The last song subtitle should end with a full stop, unless the song continues in the background.

If the subtitles for a song don't start from its first line, show this by using two continuation dots at the beginning:

# ..Now I need a place to hide away
# Oh, I believe in yesterday. #

Similarly, if the song subtitles do not finish at the end of the song, put three dots at the end of the line to show that the song continues in the background or is interrupted:

# I hear words I never heard in the Bible... #

As well as dialogue, all editorially significant sound effects must be subtitled. This does not mean that every single creak and gurgle must be covered - only those which are crucial for the viewer's understanding of the events on screen, or which may be needed to convey flavour or atmosphere, or enable them to progress in gameplay, as well as those which are not obvious from the action. A dog barking in one scene could be entirely trivial; in another it could be a vital clue to the story-line. Similarly, if a man is clearly sobbing or laughing, or if an audience is clearly clapping, do not label.

Do not put up a sound-effect label for something that can be subtitled. For instance, if you can hear what John is saying, JOHN SHOUTS ORDERS would not be necessary.

Sound-effect labels are not stage directions. They describe sounds, not actions:

GUNFIRE

not:

THEY SHOOT EACH OTHER

A sound effect should be typed in white caps. It should sit on a separate line and be placed to the left of the screen - unless the sound source is obviously to the right, in which case place to the right.

Sound-effect labels should be as brief as possible and should have the following structure: subject + active, finite verb:

FLOORBOARDS CREAK

JOHN SHOUTS ORDERS

Not:

CREAKING OF FLOORBOARDS

Or

FLOORBOARDS CREAKING

Or

ORDERS ARE SHOUTED BY JOHN

If a speaker speaks in a foreign language and in-vision translation subtitles are given, use a label to indicate the language that is being spoken. This should be in white caps, ranged left above the in-vision subtitle, followed by a colon. Time the label to coincide with the timing of the first one or two in-vision subtitles. Bring it in and out with shot-changes if appropriate.

If there are a lot of in-vision subtitles, all in the same language, you only need one label at the beginning - not every time the language is spoken.

If the language spoken is difficult to identify, you can use a label saying TRANSLATION:, but only if it is not important to know which language is being spoken. If it is important to know the language, and you think the hearing viewer would be able to detect a language change, then you must find an appropriate label.

The way in which subtitlers convey animal noises depends on the content style. In factual wildlife, for instance, lions would be labelled:

LIONS ROAR

However, in an animation or a game, it may be more appropriate to convey animal noises phonetically. For instance, "LIONS ROAR" would become something like:

Rrrarrgghhh!

In general, the numeral form should be used. However, you can spell out numbers when this is editorially justified as detailed below.

The numbers 1-10 are often better spelled out:

I'll see you in three days

I'll see you in 3 days

But use the numeral with units:

It takes 1kJ of energy to lift someone.

It takes one kJ of energy to lift someone.

Emphatic numbers are always spelled out:

She gave me hundreds of reasons

She gave me 100s of reasons

Spell out any number that begins a sentence:

Three days from now.

3 days from now.

If there is more than one number in a sentence or list, it may be more appropriate to display them as numerals instead of words:

On her 21st birthday party, 54 guests turned up

Consistency is important, so avoid

the score was three - 1

Numerals over 4 digits must include appropriately placed commas:

There are 1,500 cats here.

For sports, competitions, games or quizzes, always use numerals to display points, scores or timings.

For displaying the day of the month, use the appropriate numeral followed by lowercase "th", "st" or "nd":

April 2nd.

Use the numerals plus the £ sign for all monetary amounts except where the amount is less than £1.00:

We paid £50.

For amounts less than £1.00 the word "pence" should be used after the numeral:

58 pence.

If the word "pound" is used in sentence without referring to a specific amount, then the word must be used, not the symbol.

See the list of supported characters for currency symbols you can use for broadcast and online.

broadcast Spell out other currencies, including Euro (the Euro symbol is not supported in Teletext).

online Use the correct Unicode symbol for the currency, e.g. the Euro symbol €.

Indicate the time of the day using numerals in a manner which reflects the spoken language:

The time now is 4:30

The alarm went off at 4 o’clock

Never use symbols for units of measurement.

Abbreviations can be used to fit text in a line, but if the unit of measurement is the subject do not abbreviate.

A cumulative subtitle consists of two or three parts - usually complete sentences. Each part will appear on screen at a different time, in sync with its speaker, but all parts will have an identical out-cue.

Cumulatives should only be used when there is a good reason to delay part of the subtitle (e.g. dramatic impact/song rhythm) and no other way of doing it - i.e. there is insufficient time available to split the subtitle completely.

This is most likely to happen in an interchange between speakers, where the first speaker talks much faster than the second. Delaying the speech of the second person by using a cumulative means that the first subtitle will still be on screen long enough to be read, while at the same time the speech is kept in sync.

Cumulatives are particularly useful in the following situations:

• For jokes - to keep punch lines separate

• In quizzes - to separate questions and answers

• In songs - e.g. for backing singers. They are particularly effective when one line starts before the previous one finishes

• To delay dramatic responses (However, if a response is not expected, a cumulative can give the game away)

• When an exclamation/sound effect label occurs just before a shot-change, and would otherwise need to be merged with the preceding subtitle

• To distinguish between two or more white speakers in the same shot

Make sure there is sufficient time to read each segment of a cumulative, especially the final one. Consider leaving the final part on screen for a slightly longer time to allow the viewer to scan the line again.

If you use cumulatives in children’s content, observe children’s timings.

Be wary of timing the appearance of the second/third line of a cumulative to coincide with a shot-change, as this may cause the viewer to reread the first line.

Remember that using a cumulative will often mean that more of the picture is covered. Don’t use cumulatives if they will cover mouths, or other important visuals

Stick to a maximum of three lines unless you are subtitling a fast quiz like University Challenge where it is preferable to show the whole question in one subtitle and where you will not be obscuring any interesting visuals

The following guidelines are recommended for the subtitling of programmes targeted at children below the age of 11 years (ITC).

There should be a match between the voice and subtitles as far as possible.

A strategy should be developed where words are omitted rather than changed to reduce the length of sentences.

For example,

Can you think why they do this?

Why do they do this?

Can you think of anything you could do with all the heat produced in the incinerator?

What could you do with the heat from the incinerator?

Difficult words should also be omitted rather than changed. For example:

First thing we're going to do is make his big, ugly, bad-tempered head.

First we're going to make his big, ugly head.

All she had was her beloved rat collection.

She only had her beloved rat collection.

Where possible the grammatical structure should be simplified while maintaining the word order.

You can see how metal is recycled if we follow the aluminium.

See how metal is recycled by following the aluminium.

We need energy so our bodies can grow and stay warm.

We need energy to grow and stay warm.

Difficult and complex words in an unfamiliar context should remain on screen for as long as possible. Few other words should be used. For example:

Nurse, we'll test the reflexes again.

Nurse, we'll test the reflexes.

Air is displaced as water is poured into the bottle.

The water in the bottle displaces the air.

Care should be taken that simplifying does not change the meaning, particularly when meaning is conveyed by the intonation of words.

Often, the aim of schools programmes is to introduce new vocabulary and to familiarize pupils with complex terminology. When subtitling schools programmes, introduce complex vocabulary in very simple sentences and keep it on screen for as long as possible.

In general, subtitles for children should follow the speed of speech. However, there may be occasions when matching the speed of speech will lead to subtitle rate that is not appropriate for the age group. The producer/assistant producer should seek advice on the appropriate subtitle timing for a programme.

There will be occasions when you will feel the need to go faster or slower than the standard timings - the same guidelines apply here as with adult timings (see Timing). You should however avoid inconsistent timings e.g. a two-line subtitle of 6 seconds immediately followed by a two-line subtitle of 8 seconds, assuming equivalent scores for visual context and complexity of subject matter.

More time should be given when there are visuals that are important for following the plot, or when there is particularly difficult language.

Do not simplify sentences, unless the sentence construction is very difficult or sloppy.

Avoid splitting sentences across subtitles. Unless this is unavoidable, keep to complete clauses.

Vocabulary should not be simplified.

There should be no extra spaces inserted before punctuation.

The subtitler should have a direct pre-broadcast-encoding feed from the broadcaster, so they can hear the output a few seconds earlier than if relying on the broadcast­ service.

Maintain a regular subtitle output with no long gaps (unless it is obvious from the picture that there is no commentary) even if this means subtitling the picture or providing background information rather than subtitling the commentary.

Aim for continuity in subtitles by following through a train of thought where possible, rather than sampling the commentary at intervals.

Do not subtitle over existing video captions where avoidable (in news, this is often unavoidable, in which case a speaker's name can be included in the subtitle if available).

Find out specialist vocabulary, and specific editorial guidelines for the genre (e.g. sport). Familiarise yourself with Prepared segments that have been subtitled and their place in the running order, but be prepared for the order to change.

When available to the subtitler, pre-recorded segments should be subtitled prior to broadcast (not live) and cued out at the appropriate moment.

When cueing prepared texts for scripted parts of the programme:

• Try to cue the texts of pre-recorded segments so that they closely match the spoken words in terms of start time.

• Do not cue texts out rapidly to catch up if you get left behind - skip some and continue from the correct place.

• Try to include speakers' names if available where in-vision captions have been obliterated.

Subtitles should use upper and lower case as appropriate.

Standard spelling and punctuation should be used at all times, even on the fastest programmes.

Produce complete sentences even for short comments because this makes the result look less staccato and hurried.

Strong or inappropriate language must not appear on screen in error.

For news programmes, current affairs programmes and most other genres, subtitles should be verbatim, up to a subtitling speed of around 160-180wpm. Above that speed, some editing would be expected.

For some genres, such as in-play sporting action, the subtitling may be edited more heavily so as to convey vital commentary information while allowing better access to the visuals. (BBC-SPG)

Any serious or misleading errors in real-time subtitling should be corrected clearly and promptly. The correction should be preceded by two dashes:

The minster’s shrew is unchanged -- view.

However be aware that too many on-air corrections, or corrections that are not sufficiently prompt, can actually make the subtitles harder for a viewer to follow.

Ultimately the subtitler may have to decide whether to make a correction or omit some speech in order to catch up. Sometimes this can be done without detracting from the integrity of the subtitling, but this is not always the case. Do not correct minor errors where the reader can reasonably be expected to deduce the intended meaning (e.g. typos and misspellings).

If necessary, an apology should be made at the end of the programme. If possible, repeat the subtitle with the error corrected.

Live subtitles should appear word by word, from left to right, to allow maximum reading time. Live subtitles are justified left (not centred).

Two-lines of scrolling text should be used.

For live subtitling, use a reduced set of formatting techniques. Focus on colour and vertical positioning.

• A change of speaker should always be indicated by a change of colour.

• Scrolling subtitles, while usually appearing at the bottom of the screen, should be raised as appropriate in order to avoid any vital action, visual information, name labels, etc.

28 Appendix 1: STL and Teletext character sets

STL files must use characters in code table 00 - Latin alphabet within TTI blocks. Reproduced from EBU TECH. 3264-E.

Teletext output must signal and use the Latin G0 character set with English National option sub-set as defined in ETS 300 706.

Note that some mapping is required between the STL and Teletext character sets.

32 Appendix 5: BBC subtitle workflows