Create Captions in Your Browser with Free, Offline Caption Tool

[jesse_the_k]

http://ncamftp.wgbh.org/cadet/

CADET is free, downloadable caption-authoring software that enables anyone to produce high-quality caption files that are compatible with any media player that supports the display of captions. CADET can also be used to generate audio-description scripts. CADET does not require an internet connection in order to operate: it runs locally in any Web browser, so users do not need to upload private videos or proprietary content to servers or video-hosting sites in order to create captions.

CADET implements all of the basic features necessary to creating high-quality captions, plus many of the functions available only in high-end caption-authoring workstations. CADET allows users to…

• create captions for video formats that play natively in browsers (e.g., mp4, m4v);
• import plain-text transcripts for editing and timing;
• transcribe caption text directly into the caption editor;
• edit, style and time captions;
• import existing caption files (WebVTT, SRT, TTML, QTText) for clean-up, editing or re-timing;
• export caption files in common formats, including WebVTT, SRT, TTML, QTText and SAMI, as well as plain-text scripts.

CADET was created by the folks at WGBH, Boston-area public television, who pioneered captioning in the USA.¹ It’s supported by a user forum and help documentation. It was released May 2017 and its latest update is December 2017.

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1. Variously called “The Caption Center,” the “Media Access Group,” and currently “The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media.” ↩︎

Comments

[jazzyjj]

Thanks for posting. I have read about CADET and it sounds really cool. I'm not at all surprised though, since the NCAM seems to always come out with great stuff. I for one have been a big fan and supporter of all forms of audio description since its inception.

[jesse_the_k]

The NCAM folks have really been pioneers. I remember watched the ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings, rebroadcast with captions at 10p, back in the 1970s. I was hooked.

Are there are current media that do a particular great job of audio description?

[jazzyjj]

British Sky Broadcasting seem to do a very nice job, and I also like Arts Access of Raleigh, North Carolina.

[jesse_the_k]

Where have you been able to assess BSB's work? Through *ahem* sources, or are there commercially available items?

Is there a place on the web where people criticize/assess/complain about audio description presence and quality?