Facebook adds subtitle support for live videos

Facebook is now supporting closed captions in Facebook Live, as part of its efforts to make the social network “accessible to everyone”.

With the update, publishers using the Facebook Live API can now add CEA-608 standard subtitles to Facebook Live broadcasts, allowing them to be enjoyed by audiences who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Facebook users who have their captioning settings turned on will automatically see closed captions on Live broadcasts on mobile and desktop whenever they’re available.

Facebook said publishers that don’t create their own live closed captions via a CEA-608 data stream can work with third-party captioning companies to generate and insert real-time subtitles into broadcasts.

“We’ve been developing and testing this capability at events like this year’s F8, in partnership with captioning services provider Ai-Media. We’re excited to allow publishers of all kinds to reach a broader audience with closed captions in Facebook Live,” said Facebook product manager, Supratik Lahiri.

Facebook claims that more video is being shared and watched on the social network “than ever before”  – with one in five videos posted to the social network now a live broadcast.