When you record a video, you may want to add the text you say to it as a caption. It takes time, though, and so you may feel like skipping this part. Then you’ll be glad to hear that Instagram will soon launch the auto-captions feature. Just say your words, speech recognition will do the rest.
The feature is available by default, so you don’t have to do anything at all to start making videos with automatic subtitles. It’s up to video creators whether they want to include the captions or not. Instagram notes that this move will make Instagram a more inclusive experience, making videos more accessible for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons. Another benefit of this feature is that viewers now can view your videos in silent mode and still keep track of what you are saying.
Automatic captions, as Instagram promises, will work with 17 languages. What impresses is the refusal to be Euro-centric like many other services. Of European languages, it supports English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and German. It also supports Turkish, Russian, Urdu, Bahasa, and Vietnamese. It is still to be seen how it works with languages like Arabic, Japanese, Hindi, Thai, Malay, or Tagalog, but the expectations are high. Other languages are to be added soon too.
The feature is available on regular Instagram videos as well as on Reels. Given that Instagram is to ditch IGTV soon and merge its functionality with the core app, it will make even more sense to give this tool to video makers on Instagram. The videos in the main app will now be available in full-height mode, with the tap-to-mute feature. Given that, auto-captions make even more sense.
What do you think about automatic captions? Do you expect them to be correct enough? And what about usability: do you expect them to make watching videos more fun? Let’s talk about this in the comments!
