Snapchat adds closed captioning support for Discover videos

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Tuesday, 12 April 2016 11:59am

Social messaging app Snapchat has added closed captioning support for videos shared within its Discover section, allowing major publishers to share accessible video content with broad communities of smartphone users without access to audio content.

Right hand holding an iPhone 6 with Snapchat Discover displayed on screen. Image credit: Snapchat

The caption button, introduced in February 2016, allows Discover users to toggle closed captioning on supported videos via a new icon at the bottom of the screen. The feature aims to make video content accessible to people who are Deaf and hearing impaired, and also targets broader groups of smartphone users who may be in situations where audio content is not available.

According to an article published by Marketing Land, no confirmation is available regarding the availability of captions for video content across the full Snapchat app, such as Live and individual stories.

Accessible alternatives for audio content on Snapchat precede recent developments from Twitter and Facebook to make their mobile applications more accessible for people who are blind or vision impaired, with Twitter introducing alternative text support for images in late March, and Facebook introducing an automated alternative text tool for images in early April.

For more information on accessible social media, check out our recently updated Web section outlining accessibility features on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and more.


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