---
title: "Closed Captioning"
canonical: "https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5344210/Closed%20Captioning"
format: markdown
---
> Macro (toc)

> ❌ <span style="color: #ff0000">**Accepted file formats: DFXP, SMPTE-TT, and SCC.**</span>

## What is closed captioning?

<span style="color: #1d2b3e">Closed captioning is the visual display of the audio portion of video programming. Captioning provides access to individuals who are deaf or have hearing loss and is often used in places where it is difficult to hear a TV program, such as restaurants and exercise facilities. FCC rules require captioned programs shown on TV to be captioned when re-shown on the Internet.</span>

<span style="color: #1d2b3e">[Learn how to add multiple caption files to your asset](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343793/Assets#multiplecaptions)</span>

## Managing closed captioning settings for PBS applications

- Captions can be toggled on/off and customized for all PBS apps and sites within the individual players or application settings.
- For videos with multiple language captions, all language options display in the closed captions menu.
- Closed captioning on PBS videos is turned OFF by default.

<details>
<summary>Take a look</summary>

![captions-example.jpg](media://331a5083-d251-4854-9809-c1c1fc48ddbd)
</details>

- On PBS apps and OTT platforms, please refer to the device user settings area to manage closed captioning preferences.

## When to include a closed captioning file

**For the FULL details and FCC rules and deadlines, please visit: **[https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/captioning-internet-video-programming](https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/captioning-internet-video-programming)

| **You **<span style="color: #ff0000">**ARE REQUIRED**</span>** to include a caption file if:** | - You are uploading a ***Full Episode*** (unless one of the FCC exemptions noted farther below is applicable).
- You are uploading a ***Prerecorded, Unedited Program***. It must be captioned if televised anywhere in U.S. on or after September 30, 2012.
- You are uploading a ***Substantially Edited Program***. It must be captioned if televised anywhere in U.S. on or after September 30, 2013.  Example of substantial edits is deleting entire scenes.
- You are uploading a ***Live / Near-Live Program***. It must be captioned if televised in U.S. on or after March 30, 2013.  Live programs are distributed substantially simultaneously with their creation, whereas Near-Live programs are recorded less than 24 hours prior to their first distribution.
- You are uploading a ***Straight Lift or Montage Clip***.
  - Straight lift clips are defined as clips that “contain a single excerpt of a captioned television program with the same video and audio that was presented on television.”
  - Montage clips <span style="color: #212121">combine together different parts of a program. The caption requirement rules for montage clips went into effect in 2017.</span>
- <span style="color: #212121">You have a </span><span style="color: #212121">***preview which contains content that was televised at least 15 days prior***</span><span style="color: #212121">.</span>
  - <span style="color: #212121">While a preview doesn’t have to be captioned when it is functioning as an actual preview (i.e., before the program has been televised) because it is digital-only content at that point, the FCC rules specifically require digital-only content to receive captions within 15 days of the content being televised.</span>
- <span style="color: #212121">The </span><span style="color: #212121">***primary audio track language for your video is English or Spanish***</span><span style="color: #212121">. In this case, you must provide a caption file in the same language.</span>
  - <span style="color: #212121">This includes operas performed in English or Spanish.</span> |
| --- | --- |
| **You**<span style="color: #ff0000">** are not required**</span>** (but are encouraged) to include a caption file if:** | - <span style="color: #393939">It is digital-only, non-televised content.</span>
  - <span style="color: #393939">Note: </span><span style="color: #393939">*If the content is later televised with captions, then the caption file needs to be made available online within 15 days (or the content needs to be taken offline).*</span>
- <span style="color: #393939">This content was televised without captions because it is subject to a self-implementing FCC Exemption. (See details on the </span><span style="color: #393939">[FCC site](https://www.fcc.gov/general/self-implementing-exemptions-closed-captioning-rules)</span><span style="color: #393939"> and </span><span style="color: #393939">[NAD](https://www.nad.org/resources/technology/television-and-closed-captioning/exemptions-from-the-closed-captioning-rule/)</span><span style="color: #393939">.)</span>
- <span style="color: #393939">It is archival content, never televised in the U.S. on or after Sept. 29, 2012.</span>
- The video is for internal use only, and cannot be accessed by the general public.
- The video's primary audio track language is not English nor Spanish.
- There are no spoken words during the video.<br><span style="color: #ff0000">***Warning: ***</span><span style="color: #393939">***Caption file being unavailable is not an acceptable justification. In such cases, do not upload the content until the caption file is available.***</span><br>> ⚠️ **If a closed caption file is required but you have valid, FCC-recognized exemption, you must provide a ****[justification](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5344210/Closed+Captioning#Adding-a-justification)**** in Media Manager. ** |

## Which closed captioning style to use

<span style="color: #000000">**Pop-on captions are generally used for pre-recorded and online video, and are the FCC's preferred style for this type of content as it pertains to compliance.**</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span>This is because pop-on captions allow for proper/exact placement and timing, to better illustrate what is being said and by whom. (<span style="color: #212529">Captions cannot block other important visual content on the screen, overlap one another or run off the edge of the video screen.)</span>

Roll-up captions are usually reserved only for live performances or live news. Media Manager does support the roll-up caption style, but pop-on captions are strongly preferred by the FCC for all pre-recorded and online video.

## FCC closed captioning rules and deadlines

Interstitials and promotional announcements continue to be exempt from captioning on broadcast television, so they do not need to be captioned online as long as they are not captioned when broadcast. However, providing caption files to make the content more accessible is highly recommended. Also, this rule could be changed by the FCC in the future.

<details>
<summary>See entire deadline schedule</summary>

### <span style="color: #000000">Deadlines</span>

| **Date** | **Task** |
| --- | --- |
| **September 30, 2012** | All prerecorded programming that is *not* substantially edited for Internet distribution must be captioned when distributed via IP if it is shown on television with captions on or after this date. |
| **March 30, 2013** | All live or near-live programming must be captioned when distributed via IP if it is shown on television with captions on or after this date. Live programming is defined as “video programming that is shown on television substantially simultaneously with its performance” and near-live programming is defined as “video programming that is performed and recorded less than 24 hours prior to the time it was first aired on television.” |
| **September 30, 2013** | All prerecorded programming that *is* substantially edited for Internet distribution must be captioned when distributed via IP if it is shown on television with captions on or after this date.  Examples of substantial edits provided by the FCC include “the deletion of scenes or alterations to the televised version of musical scores.” |
| <span style="color: #000000">**January 1, 2014**</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span> | Caption control deadline. All IP-delivered content. |
| **March 30, 2014** | The above deadlines do not apply to uncaptioned, archival IP-delivered programs.  Archival programs do not need to be captioned online unless they are re-run on television on or after Mar. 30, 2014, in which case there is a 45-day window to go back and add captions to the online version. This window shortens to 30 days as of Mar. 30, 2015 and to 15 days as of Mar. 30, 2016. |
| **March 16, 2015** | <span style="color: #000000">Caption Quality Standards</span> |
| <span style="color: #000000">**January 1, 2016**</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span> | Captioning for “straight lift” clips. Straight lift clips are defined as a single excerpt of a program that had been captioned when first shown on TV with the same video and audio as had been broadcast. |
| **January 1, 2017** | Captioning for video montages. Video montages are collections of clips from different broadcasts that all had been captioned when broadcast. |
| **July 1, 2017** | Captioning for clips of time-sensitive (live or near-live) programming. “Live” and “near-live” programming have the same meanings as in the original IP captioning rules. There will be a 12 hour grace period between TV airing and required online captioning for live programming and an eight hour grace period for near-live programming. |
</details>

---

### <span style="color: #000000">Captioning quality is measured in the following ways:</span>

| **Accuracy** | - Preserve and display spoken words or song lyrics in their original language in the proper order.
- Proper names and places cannot be replaced or paraphrased, except when necessary to resolve time constraints.
- Proper spelling and use of homophones, punctuation, capitalization, tense, singular/plural forms, and number representation (symbols vs. words).
- Intentional slang or grammatical errors should be preserved.
- As much as possible, provide non-observable information, including speaker identity, music, sound effects, and audience reaction.
- Ensure caption text is legible and displayed with spacing optimized for readability. |
| --- | --- |
| **Synchronicity** | - Caption text display must be synchronized with the audio to the greatest extent possible.
- Caption display speed must be optimized for readability. |
| **Completeness** | - Captions must be provided for the entirety of the program, to the greatest extent possible. |
| **Placement** | - Caption text must not cover critical visual content. Examples include: character faces, sub-titles, credits, news updates, banners, lower thirds, CGs, on-screen graphics, etc.
- Caption text must not be cut off or positioned to overlap lines.
- Optimize caption font size for readability. |

## <span style="color: #000000">What this means for you</span>

- **Maintain quality.**  Stations are responsible for adhering to the new requirements, and provide captions of "at least the same quality" as those used for broadcast programming.
- **Don't obscure your content.** With regard to placement, caption text must not cover critical visual content, such as faces, sub-titles, banners, lower thirds, CGs, on-screen graphics, etc.  In these cases, the source caption file must be formatted to display the corresponding segments on a different part of the screen, prior to being uploaded to Media Manager.
- **Mind your position.** By default, the caption display position is bottom, center. If critical video content is not covered when captions are displayed at the default position, then no placement information is necessary within the caption file.
- **Don't sweat the small stuff. **The FCC will not hold owners or distributors responsible for quality issues outside of their control, such as broadband connection speeds or the constraints of a particular apparatus.

> ⚠️ **Please note: Media Manager will not validate for caption quality compliance.** The system will only preserve caption placement formatting information, if provided, in the stations' source files. Media Manager will continue to support all caption file formats, except SRT, which does not handle placement settings.

## Acceptable caption file formats

These are the caption file formats supported for uploading in Media Manager.

| <span style="color: #339966">**Supported**</span> | - <span style="color: #36b37e">**DFXP (.dfxp)**</span>
  - DFXP stands for “Distribution Format Exchange Profile.” It is a timed-text format that was developed by W3C and it is commonly known by the extension (.dfxp).
- <span style="color: #36b37e">**SCC **</span><span style="color: #36b37e"> </span><span style="color: #36b37e">**(.scc) **</span>
  - SCC stands for "Scenarist Closed Captions". It is commonly used with broadcast and streaming/web video, as well as DVDs and VHS videos.
  - Language support is limited to: English, Spanish, French, German, and a cross section of other Western European languages. Korean and Japanese may also be supported.<br>> 📝 [See troubleshooting help for SCC files](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5344210/Closed+Captioning#My-SCC-file-isn%E2%80%99t-displaying-correctly)<br>- <span style="color: #36b37e">**SMPTE-TT (.xml, .ttml)**</span>
  - XML stands for “Extensible Markup Language”, and can come in many formats, the most common being DFXP, SMPTE-TT and TTML.
  - SMPTE-TT stands for the “Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineering – Timed Text.” It is a type of XML file developed by SMPTE and It is commonly known by the extension (.xml).
  - TTML stands for “Timed Text Markup Language” and is an Authoring, Interchange and Distribution format. It is an advanced and complex caption format, used mainly by the broadcast industry and online applications. TTML files have the file extension (.ttml)
- <span style="color: #36b37e">**WebVTT (.vtt)**</span>
  - The WebVTT (Web Video Text Tracks) format is intended for marking up external text track resources in connection with the HTML <track> element. |
| --- | --- |
| <span style="color: #ff0000">**Not Supported**</span> | - <span style="color: #ff0000">SAMI (lacks support for the specifications required for the FCC's caption compliance rules)</span>
- <span style="color: #ff0000">SRT (lacks support for the specifications required for the FCC's caption compliance rules)</span> |

## <span style="color: #000000">Sample files</span>

The following sample caption files illustrate closed captioning placement information.

### TT

##### **Example SMPTE-TT / TTML (DFXP) - .xml**

```html/xml
 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<tt xml:lang="en"
    xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2006/10/ttaf1"
    xmlns:tts="http://www.w3.org/2006/10/ttaf1#styling"
    xmlns:ttm="http://www.w3.org/2006/10/ttaf1#metadata"
    xmlns:smpte="http://www.smpte-ra.org/schemas/2052-1/2010/smpte-tt"
    xmlns:m608="http://www.smpte-ra.org/schemas/2052-1/2010/smpte-tt#cea608">
   <head>
      <ttm:desc>converted document; </ttm:desc>
      <smpte:information
         xmlns:m608="http://www.smpte-ra.org/schemas/2052-1/2010/smpte-tt#cea608"
         origin="http://www.smpte-ra.org/schemas/2052-1/2010/smpte-tt#cea608"
         mode="Preserved" m608:channel="CC1" m608:captionService="F1C1CC"
      />
      <styling>
         <style xml:id='basic' tts:color='white' tts:fontFamily='monospace' tts:lineHeight='8%' tts:fontSize='8%' tts:fontWeight='bold' />
      </styling>
      <layout>
         <region xml:id='pop1' tts:backgroundColor='transparent'></region>
         <region xml:id='pop2' tts:backgroundColor='transparent'></region>
         <region xml:id='pop3' tts:backgroundColor='transparent'></region>
         <region xml:id='pop4' tts:backgroundColor='transparent'></region>
         <region xml:id='paint' tts:backgroundColor='transparent'></region>
         <region xml:id='rollup2' tts:backgroundColor='transparent'></region>
         <region xml:id='rollup3' tts:backgroundColor='transparent'></region>
         <region xml:id='rollup4' tts:backgroundColor='transparent'></region>
       </layout>
   </head>
   <body>
      <div>
         <p region='pop1' style='basic' xml:space='preserve' begin='00:00:06:22' end='00:00:09:13' tts:origin='22% 84%'>
            <span tts:backgroundColor='black' tts:color='white'>Head like a crocodile,</span>
         </p>
         <p region='pop1' style='basic' xml:space='preserve' begin='00:00:09:13' end='00:00:11:25' tts:origin='30% 84%'>
            <span tts:backgroundColor='black' tts:color='white'>meter-long jaws,</span>
         </p>
         <p region='pop1' style='basic' xml:space='preserve' begin='00:00:11:25' end='00:00:14:22' tts:origin='25% 84%'>
            <span tts:backgroundColor='black' tts:color='white'>a spectacular sail,</span>
         </p>
         <p region='pop1' style='basic' xml:space='preserve' begin='00:00:14:22' end='00:00:20:23' tts:origin='25% 79%'>
            <span tts:backgroundColor='black' tts:color='white'>and an overall body</span>
         </p>
         <p region='pop2' style='basic' xml:space='preserve' begin='00:00:14:22' end='00:00:20:23' tts:origin='25% 84%'>
            <span tts:backgroundColor='black' tts:color='white'>larger than T. rex.</span>
         </p>
         <p region='pop1' style='basic' xml:space='preserve' begin='00:00:20:23' end='00:00:23:14' tts:origin='32% 74%'>
            <span tts:backgroundColor='black' tts:color='white'>NIZAR IBRAHIM:</span>
         </p>
      </div>
   </body>
</tt> 
```

### SCC

[See troubleshooting help for SCC files](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5344210/Closed+Captioning#My-SCC-file-isn%E2%80%99t-displaying-correctly)

##### **Example SCC**

```
 
Scenarist_SCC V1.0
00:00:08;20 9420 10d0 97a1 3e3e 2049 54a7 d320 54d5 45d3 c4c1 d92c 20ce 4fd6 45cd c245 5220 3131 f468 ae80 942c 8080 8080 942f
00:00:10;00 9420 10d0 97a1 544f ce49 c7c8 5420 5745 20c8 4fce 4f52 20c1 cec4 2043 454c 45c2 52c1 5445 13d0 97a1 4fd5 5220 cd49 4c49 54c1 52d9 20cd 45cd c245 52d3 204f ce20 54c8 49d3 942c 8080 8080 942f
00:00:13;17 9420 1054 97a2 d645 5445 52c1 ced3 20c4 c1d9 ae80 942c 8080 8080 942f
00:00:14;23 9420 10d0 97a1 54c8 c154 a7d3 20ce 4558 5420 4fce 20a2 ce4f 5254 c820 43c1 524f 4c49 cec1 13d0 97a1 ce4f 57ae a280 942c 8080 8080 942f
00:00:18;09 942c
00:00:19;16 942c
00:00:19;27 9420 10d0 97a2 51d5 c14c 4954 d920 d0d5 c24c 4943 2054 454c 45d6 49d3 494f ce20 49d3 1352 97a2 cdc1 c445 20d0 4fd3 d349 c24c 4520 54c8 524f d5c7 c880 942c 8080 8080 942f
00:00:21;26 9420 10d0 9723 54c8 4520 4649 cec1 ce43 49c1 4c20 434f ce54 5249 c2d5 5449 4fce d380 1352 9723 4f46 20d6 4945 5745 52d3 204c 49cb 4520 d94f d580 942c 8080 8080 942f
00:00:24;01 9420 10d0 9723 57c8 4f20 49ce d649 5445 20d9 4fd5 2054 4f20 4a4f 49ce 2054 c845 cd80 1352 97a2 49ce 20d3 d5d0 d04f 5254 49ce c720 d5ce 43ad 54d6 942c 8080 8080 942f
00:00:26;26 942c
00:00:42;22 9420 10d0 9723 3e3e 20c7 4f4f c420 45d6 45ce 49ce c72c 2045 d645 52d9 4fce 45ae 942c 8080 8080 942f
00:00:43;22 9420 1054 49a7 cd20 4652 c1ce cb20 c752 c146 46ae 942c 8080 8080 942f
00:00:44;19 9420 1052 54c8 c1ce cb20 d94f d520 464f 5220 4a4f 49ce 49ce c720 d5d3 ae80 942c 8080 8080 942f
00:00:45;21 9420 10d0 544f ce49 c7c8 5420 4fce 20a2 ce4f 5254 c820 43c1 524f 4c49 cec1 20ce 4f57 2ca2 13d0 5745 a74c 4c20 4c45 c152 ce20 cd4f 5245 20c1 c24f d554 20c1 20d0 524f c752 c1cd 942c 8080 8080 942f
00:00:48;21 9420 10d0 54c8 c154 2049 d320 c845 4cd0 49ce c720 cd49 4c49 54c1 52d9 20cd 45cd c245 52d3 13d0 49ce 204f d552 20d3 54c1 5445 20c7 4554 2054 c845 2045 c4d5 43c1 5449 4fce 942c 8080 8080 942f 
```

## Adding a justification

If you find that closed captioning is not required for your video, follow the instructions below to add a justification. A justification tells Media Manager that you are legally exempt from providing a closed captioning file with your video and continue with the ingestion process.

## How to add closed captioning files

[Learn more about adding Video and Caption files](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343793/Assets#Video,-Caption,-and-Transcript-Files)

[Learn how to add multiple caption files](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343793/Assets#multiplecaptions)

- After you have created an asset, click the **Video tab** (Figure 1).

Figure 1

![image](media://5131dc96-eab7-4ddb-9611-e095768afb4e)

- After you've added your video file, the caption section detects the video's Primary Language and populates the language textbox with the same language (Figure 2.1).
- You have two options of adding your caption file:
  - Type the **full URL of your closed captioning file** (Figure 2.2).
  - **Choose a caption file** from your computer (Figure 2.3).
- If you are not including a closed captioning file, click the **checkbox** next to *Or, provide valid caption justification* and select a reason from the options provided why you do not need to ingest a caption file (Figure 2.4).

Figure 2

![image](media://7e41ac37-0557-46bf-8767-6b9986513615)

- If choosing not to add a caption file, click the radio button next to the **option that most closely represents the reason you are not including a caption file** (Figure 3).
  - If none of the options clearly define why, click the radio button next to **Other** and in the textbox provided, type the **justification**.

Figure 3

![image](media://abcbee85-d801-4153-aa63-9761800ec927)

- After adding your caption file (Figure 4.1), click Save (Figure 4.2).
  - If you want to auto-publish your asset, click the checkbox next to Auto Publish (Figure 4.3).

<details>
<summary>Learn about Auto Publish</summary>

#### What is auto-publish?

The auto-publish feature ensures that once all necessary files have been successfully ingested, your asset will automatically publish. This means that you can upload your video file (and caption file if applicable) and walk away during the ingestion process to do other things. You must check back in on the process in case any errors occur during ingestion. If errors occur, the process will stop and your asset will not publish until the errors are corrected.

#### What if I leave and my asset encounters an error?

It's very important to remember that when you are using the auto-publish feature, ***you must**** ****be diligent about checking the ingestion status***.  If ingestion fails, an error message appears in the console and your asset does not publish. You need to manually fix the errors and republish the asset by clicking the **Publish** button.  Refer to the publish status to see if everything successfully ingested and published.
</details>

Figure 4

![image](media://2a072451-cf2c-4063-adf2-6202e94d38b8)

- When the Status column displays* Ingestion Complete*,** refresh the page** to complete the process (Figure 5).
  - Refresh the page by right clicking your mouse and clicking *Reload *or using the refresh button at the top of your browser window.

Figure 5

![image](media://26bf872d-46a2-4da2-8583-41132242f133)

- When ingestion is complete, the following features are available under the Actions column:
  - > Macro (inline-media-image)

- **File details.** Source and Archive URLs are listed here, along with all output files (Figure 6.1). [Learn more about output files](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343793/Assets#output)
  - > Macro (inline-media-image)

 -** Replace file. **The video and closed captioning files can be replaced at any time without disrupting the viewer experience (Figure 6.2). [Learn more about replacing files](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343793/Assets#replace)
  - > Macro (inline-media-image)

 - **Delete file. **Deletes the file (Figure 6.3).

Figure 6

![image](media://dc5acd1d-1c00-4e2b-b983-dbfe61e2b079)

## How users view closed captioning

- The closed captioning icon appears at the bottom right side of the video. Clicking this icon turns closed captioning on and off.
- After closed captioning has been enabled, the captions display in the bottom part of the video.
  - Users can [customize the appearance of the captions](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5344210/Closed+Captioning#How-users-format-closed-captioning) on their screen by clicking ***Customize***, located in the closed captioning menu that displays after clicking the CC icon.

Figure 1

![caption-example.jpg](media://2065363a-b045-4853-9b83-f28f96ce34d2)

## How users format closed captioning

When a user activates closed captioning on your video, they have the option to format the caption text color, style, and much more.  This section shows you the options available to users when they activate closed captioning on your videos.

- A box opens with multiple formatting options including:
  - Font size (1)
  - Font family (2)
  - Edge style (3)
  - Font color (4)
  - Background color (5)
  - Window color (6)
  - Text opacity (7)
  - Background opacity (8)
  - Window opacity (9)
- Drag the **sliders**, click the** dropdown menus** , or click a **color block** to adjust the appearance. A real time preview at the top of the popup box displays each adjustment (10).
- When finished formatting, click **Save Settings** to save the changes (11). ** Each time Save Settings is clicked, the video starts back at the beginning.*
- You can format the captions as many different times and ways as you like. They will remain changed until you clear the cookies on your computer or click **Reset** (12).
- If you have changed your mind and do not want to change the settings, simply click the **X** in the upper right side of the popup box (13).

![closed-captioning-formatting-redesign.jpg](media://78ee06dc-91b5-4e6d-abb7-d5e64d0a3feb)

## Troubleshooting

If you notice caption display issues within the video player, and/or Media Manager ingestion errors during the file upload, please refer to this troubleshooting guide. 

#### Captions Not Displaying in Video Player

If you’ve uploaded and ingested a caption file in Media Manager but are not seeing the caption text displayed in the video player when the closed captioning option is enabled, verify that the start timing in your caption file is correct:

1. In the Media Manager console, navigate to the "Video" tab for the asset.
2. Expand the Closed Captioning details area by clicking on the “i” (Info) icon.
3. In the Output Files area, click on the link for the output WebVTT file and open it in a new browser tab.
4. Look at the start time for the very first caption cue and see if it aligns with the beginning of the dialogue/audio in the video.
5. If the timing is not accurate, make the necessary adjustments to your source file and re-upload it.


#### Ingestion Failures When Uploading in Media Manager

In Media Manager, caption errors are designated by the following label: > Macro (inline-media-image)



To view the specific caption error messaging, hover your mouse over the > Macro (inline-media-image)

 icon(s) in the output files section. The error message appears as a popup. The output files section is located in the Closed Captioning section, under the Details section.

### Overview

If your video file displays a Failed message (1), there's the possibility your video didn't actually fail, rather, the caption ingestion failed (2), making it impossible to create a synced playlist.

#### How to fix it

Click **Output Files** to check the caption file errors (3). Fix the errors and reingest the caption file. Once the caption file is reingested, the error will go away and your video file will successfully upload.

![image](media://0fe6d819-01f3-4401-84f8-4536fd266a93)

### Closed captioning timing markers are synced to broadcast video file instead of streaming video file

Broadcast video time code typically starts at one hour (01:00:00;00) because of the pre-roll needed for broadcast engineers (color bars, etc.). Streaming video files do not retain time code from the broadcast file and thus begin at zero (00:00:00;00). The time code on your closed captioning file must be adjusted to match your streaming file. 

#### How to fix it

- When you see the Ingestion Failed message, click **Output Files** to expand the list and view the error messaging.
- Hover your mouse over the :exclamat: to view the error message.
- The error message displays the time at which the first caption begins, if it is past the hour mark (01:00:00;00).
- In your caption software tool, sync the first caption to the streaming video file (.mp4) and choose to roll all captions by the same time offset. This should be a feature in your caption editing tool.
- Verify that all captions now start from the zero hour (00:00:00;00) and reingest the caption file.

![image](media://5ce3c55a-3189-4f83-ae13-21f67b97b0e9)

### Not enough time left between segments

Each caption time entry must be long enough to display the lines of text. If a segment is too short, the system is unable to read the text in the allotted time and an error is produced.

#### How to fix it

- When you see the Ingestion Failed message, click **Output Files** to expand the list and view the error messaging
- Hover your mouse over the :exclamat: to view the error message.
- A line in the caption file displays in too short a period of time. In the example below,
- Open your caption file and add more time in between captions or break the caption into two separate lines.
- Reingest the caption file.

> ⚠️ **The error messaging only displays the first error of this kind so please check your file for other instances. **

![image](media://53bd8d33-a5af-41ec-963a-c5946f0c76b8)

> Macro (excerpt)
> 
> ### My SCC file isn’t displaying correctly
> 
> This is a known limitation of the 608 caption standard for SCC and its decoders. **Move to CEA-708 captions - a newer digital caption format that doesn’t carry the same strict 32-column limitation.**
> 
> **Cause: **The issue is due to an older TV standard for SCC closed caption files that allow 32 characters per line, however, many modern systems don’t reliably show the 32nd character. 
> 
> If a character in the closed caption line is placed in position 32, Media Manager drops that last position, so the last character is not included on the video’s closed captions.
> 
> There are some interactions with caption alignment and placement that can “slot” a character into the 32nd column, knocking it out when displaying the line. So even if you have shorter lines - like “I Love PBS” - if the alignment is off, the ‘S’ could be knocked off when displaying the line.
> 
> **Solution*****: The most reliable fix is to treat 31 characters as the maximum safe width when creating SCC captions.***
> 
> **Also try:**
> 
> - Move to CEA-708 captions - a newer digital caption format that doesn’t carry the same strict 32-column limitation
> - Avoid centering captions and switch to left-alignment, since that reduces the risk of getting cut off by that 32nd column
> - Adjust the positioning settings so captions start one column earlier

## Help with closed captioning

If you have any questions about PBS closed captioning, [please click here](https://help.pbs.org/support/solutions/articles/5000673858-closed-captioning-feedback-and-certification).