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TikTok video captions on the way as app launches automatic tool for creators

We’ll soon start seeing a lot more TikTok video captions. The company has announced that it is now offering an accessibility tool to creators that will automatically add text captions after a video has been uploaded or recorded …

TikTok video captions are likely to prove popular with many users, not just those who are deaf or hard of hearing, says the company.

Inclusivity is important because when people feel included, they’re more comfortable expressing themselves and engaging with their community. We’re committed to fostering an inclusive app environment, and that means building products and tools that support our diverse community. As we continue working to make TikTok ever more accessible, today we’re introducing auto captions, a new feature to help people who are hard of hearing or deaf better use and enjoy TikTok.

Auto captions automatically generate subtitles, allowing viewers to read or listen to content. As creators make content, they can select auto captions in the editing page after they’ve uploaded or recorded a video so that text is automatically transcribed and displayed on their videos. Creators have the power to edit the text of their captions once they’re generated […]

This feature will initially be available in American English and Japanese, with additional language support in the coming months.

Automatic live video captions also came to Chrome on Mac last month.

Live Caption provides real-time captions for audio playing on your device. It works with videos, podcasts, and even phone calls. This comes really handy if you have a hearing impairment or want to watch a video with audio turned off.

Although the feature has so far remained exclusive to Android phones, we know Google has been working on bringing it to the Chrome browser on the desktop for some time now. And today, it’s finally going live for users on the stable Chrome 89.

Apple made significant accessibility enhancements in iOS 14, as detailed by some of the company’s engineers last year.

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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