You are here: joeclark.org → Captioning and media access →
Australian captioning colours
Updated 2001.08.03
Australian captioning colours
(Skip to contents)
Here in the captioning demimonde, we suffer from a profound lack of captioning style guides, let alone style guides based on research or even common sense.
The Australian Caption Centre published a style guide for use by anyone involved in digital television in 1999. It’s available only as a Microsoft Word document, inconveniently enough.
To a Canadian audience, the use of colour-coding of captions is a tad foreign. It is essentially unheard-of despite the fact that colour has always been part of the Line 21 captioning standard.
Since we can’t exactly flick on our televisions to understand how our dear Australian friends use colour in captioning, I decided to create this simulation. Notes:
- All dialogue is real – either derived from actual shows (This Life, The Simpsons, Banzai – I couldn’t make this stuff up) or from transcripts. I did have to fake one line (Previously on 'This Life'--) because I could not find an example otherwise. (Had I planned this better, I could simply have taped and transcribed the opening of any episode of Homicide. The point is nonetheless made.)
- Certain pauses and onscreen action are necessary to understand what is really going on, but these of course cannot be rendered here.
- Since white is a background colour used by the Australians, each sample in totum is given against a grey background for comparison.
- Colour vision is a bona fide requirement to read this page. Nonetheless, all colour specifications are rendered in stylesheets for compatibility. As ever, there is no guarantee the simulations will look right in Netscape 4, which doesn’t follow any standard.
- I have attempted to duplicate Australian captioning orthography, and have provided crude placement cues (left, centre, right) that would never be sufficient in the real world. But this is, after all, a simulation.
On with the show. Six simulations are available:
- Four speaking characters
- Two narrators
- Episode recaps
- Two announcers
- Multiple recollected voices
- Multiple offscreen voices
Four speaking characters
Colour scheme goes like this:
- white on black
- yellow on black
- cyan on black
- green on black
Repeat if necessary.
|
Nice work, Miles. Sorry? Oh.
That should give the prosecution witnesses Well done. I hope you're getting Yeah, don't worry. Good. Between the two of us, I think we've got a good chance now Well, I think Anna had a role-- I'll meet you later. You going to be long? Five minutes. I'll come back. You OK? Yeah. Fine. |
Two narrators
The colour scheme is: White on black; yellow on black.
The Lying Lady Puzzle. Five nice, pretty ladies, who any man would be proud But beware, One of them give you a nasty shock, because one ain't no lady-- (Cackling) Can you tell which one Is it Number 1? Hmm. Tricky. Or Number 2. (Surprised) Ohhh.... Could it be Number 3? Or maybe she both. What about Number 4? Mm, very difficult decision, Or is it Number 5? She got earrings and high heels. Maybe that's important. The question is, Is it 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5? Bet! Bet! Bet! Bet! Bet! Bet! Bet! Whoa! Time out! No more bets! If you say Number 2, you stupid, because she obviously If you go for Number 3, because she also a pretty lady. What, can you not tell the difference But if you say Number 4, congratulations! You sorting the men from the boys! (Laughing) |
Episode recaps
The colour scheme here gives an announcer his or her own treatment (white on blue), with normal colouration for character speech and everything else. But since there are only enough colours for four characters, this example, with eight of them, requires doubling up.
|
Previously on 'This Life'-- Oh. Anna, you're a complete mess. (Sniffing) Have you completely taken leave If I have my way, you won't be anywhere near What's this bird's name? It's a him. I was going to take a shower. Well, don't mind me. Men, work, you name it-- whatever I touch You look terrible. What was wrong? She just fucked up. Something in here Graham suggested to pick up the baton. There IS a condition Get this straight. Girlfriend, then. You might turn out to be the one. Don't take the piss, Kyra. I'm getting fed up with it. I just thought I detected signs of the old chromosomes |
Two announcers
First announcer gets red on yellow, the second blue on yellow.
|
And we're seconds away While the East German (chuckles)... are shaving their backs the Americans are heavy favorites. Boo-hoo, you're breaking my heart! |
Multiple recollected voices
Voices spoken in recollection or flashback have this colour scheme:
- white on blue
- yellow on blue
- cyan on blue (which means blue on blue, incredibly enough)
|
Wait a minute, Marge. Love isn't hopeless. Maybe I'm no expert on the subject, but there was one time I got it right. Would you go to the prom with me? Oh-- I can think of a dozen highly cogent arguments.
Now, the first is from 'Time' magazine,
Marge, when I see you forming Consonants. --consonants, your beautiful breath pushing past So will you go out with me? |
Multiple offscreen voices
When voices are transmitted through radios or communicators, red on yellow comes first, then blue on yellow. There is no provision for multiple transmitted voices beyond two of them, as in the case of airplane cockpit recorder transcripts.
|
BUSCHMANN: ORIGEL: American 1420 leaving two-two-zero CONTROLLER: ORIGEL: (Chime dings) LUNA: BUSCHMANN: CHAPMAN: BUSCHMANN: CHAPMAN: LUNA: CHAPMAN: BUSCHMANN: LUNA: BUSCHMANN: CHAPMAN: BUSCHMANN: |
Discussion
Unfamiliarity is certain an issue here, but these simulations show that all colour-coding really manages to do is differentiate speakers – that is, signify a speaker change rather than immediately and transparently triggering an understanding of which character corresponds with which colour.
Colour-coding falls down entirely with more than four characters. In the episode-recap example, there are fully eight characters, meaning each of the colour codes is used twice. Just who belongs to which colour is irrelevant, really; all the colours signify is another character speaking. One wonders why we go to all that trouble.
The Australian standard also cannot accommodate a large number of voices transmitted through radios or communicators. It has never been clear to me – and I mean never, even after 20 years – why such voices get special treatment. Either we can see the speaker or we can’t; those would appear to be the salient criteria.
The Australians must be commended for ignoring the temptation to typeset red on black. Protanopes (people with a certain form of red–green colourblindness) cannot differentiate red and green and see a substitute colour for red that is much darker than the other main class of red–green colourblindness, deuteranopes. In effect, then, red on black becomes very dark beige on black, which isn't exactly easy to read.
Both groups could not differentiate red-on-black and green-on-black captions, and protans might not be able to read red-on-black captions at all.
It is also wise of the Australians to avoid gaudy colour combos like purple on green, though there is no excuse whatsoever for cyan on blue, in actual use for multiple recollected voices.
I do not have enough experience watching actual colour-coded captions to develop genuine expertise. The indications of these simulations, however, suggest it isn't worth the trouble, particularly under the Line 21 system, which requires a visible black space to turn a colour on or off.