Twitter this week began rolling out automatic captions for videos. The mobile and web-based feature marks a step forward for accessibility on the social network.
There’s a catch, though: Auto-captions appear only on new videos; non-subtitled content shared before Tuesday will not receive retroactive captioning.
For Android and iOS users, text appears automatically during a muted clip. You can, however, set captions to remain on even after increasing your device’s volume. On the web, use the “CC” button to toggle them on or off.
Auto-captions appear in the language of the device used to upload the video originally; translation is not yet available, according to Twitter Support. And while there’s currently no option to preview, edit, or report inaccurate text, it’s likely the company is working on a fix. A Twitter spokesperson told The Verge, “we’re always looking at ways to improve our accessibility features.”
The microblogging platform has come under fire in the past for a lack of accessibility. This summer, more than a year after launching voice tweets, Twitter introduced automatic captions for the audio experience. Now, when users record a message, the site generates and displays subtitles for everyone to read.
Following initial criticism that the function didn’t take into account the needs of the visually impaired, deaf, or hard of hearing, Twitter apologized and “fixed several issues,” including making voice tweets identifiable on the timeline. So it’s somewhat surprising the company didn’t learn from its mistakes and release auto-captions with more functionality—specifically, an option to edit or report incorrect subtitles. Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
