Mobile Phones and Captions for Streaming Video

December 13, 2019 BY ELISA LEWIS
Updated: May 1, 2020

IBM, the multinational technology giant has teamed up with market research firm, Morning Consult to shed light on what businesses need to know about video streaming. Both companies bring their extensive knowledge in technology and media in a newly published study showcasing how people are consuming video content in the workplace. The study gathers data on streaming behavior, device preferences, and priority features to uncover how video streaming practices are associated with workplace productivity. 

It’s imperative that content creators stay abreast of the latest technology trends as well as understanding viewer needs. In this post, we’ll dive into the main takeaways from the IBM and Morning Consult study in order for businesses to better engage viewers. 

The Popularity of Mobile Streaming

The study uncovered that smartphones are the most preferred device for streaming video, nearly doubling the use of desktop computers. 

A whopping 62% of employees stream work-related videos in the office on their smartphones, as opposed to desktop, which only garnered 27% use. Therefore, it’s important that video content is compatible with mobile devices. 

Of the work-related content streamed in the office, the most popular are training and development videos, company events, and town hall meetings. 

Additionally, nearly 50% of respondents said they wanted to use mobile video platforms to engage with employees and customers more. 

Did Someone Say Captions?

Furthermore, the study revealed the popularity of closed captions for streaming video.

Closed captions are time-synchronized text that represents the audio information in a video. Besides the dialogue, captions include non-speech elements as well, which are critical to understanding the audio without sound. 

Spock from Star Trek holds his heads down in distress. The captions reads, "sobbing mathematically".

Captions were introduced in the 1970s as an FCC mandate to accommodate d/Deaf and hard of hearing viewers, however, the study verifies that captions are more than just an accommodation. 

Nearly 70% of respondents said they used captions when streaming videos and viewers are using them for a multitude of reasons. 

20% of respondents use captions because it’s more convenient than listening, while only 5% use captions because of hearing loss. 

About 15% of respondents stated they used captions to stream videos without sound. Captions have been known to be of great use in sound-sensitive environments like in this use case, a quiet office. Nevertheless, they can be beneficial in noisy environments too, like on a train or in the gym. 

It goes to show that viewers require captions when streaming video. If your video doesn’t have captions, you’re not only missing out on viewers who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing but other viewers who enjoy and expect captions as an option as well.

The Interactive Video

One interesting finding from the study showed that the most desired feature hoped for was the ability to search within a video. Viewers desire an interactive way to engage with video. 

50% of respondents said they wanted to search for specific topics within video. Viewers want to be able to jump directly to specific scenes with relevant keywords and phrases. 

At 3Play Media, we created a tool to make searching within video a breeze. The Interactive Transcript creates a better user experience for viewers by allowing them to search directly within a video. 

Similar to a typical transcript, the Interactive Transcript helps viewers follow along with the audio through text, but with an added feature. The Interactive Transcript is time-synchronized so that the words are highlighted as they’re being spoken. 

With an Interactive Transcript, viewers can simply search a term into the search bar to see every instance where the keyword is spoken in the video. Clicking on one of the keywords navigates the viewer directly to the point in the video where it’s being spoken. 

An interactive video is incredibly useful if you would rather go to a more relevant or pertinent section without having to watch the entire video.

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Video Is Here to Stay!

One major takeaway from this study proves that video isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, video is an integral contribution to the engagement and success of employees who stream video in the office for educational and entertainment purposes. 

Companies that create and produce videos should prioritize and understand mobile streaming and closed captioning in order to enhance the user experience for all viewers. 


Wondering why you should transcribe and caption your videos? Explores the top 8 reasons why video transcription and captioning are beneficial for both your organization and your viewers. 👇

discover the benefits of captioning. Click to learn how to make your videos accessible!

 

 

 

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