eLearning: Do You Need Both Screen Captions and Voiceover Narration?

by Jennie Ruby

While I was working on a web page recently, I needed more information about CSS. I accessed a training site and played an eLearning demo that explained how to redefine an HTML tag. During the video, I found myself both listening to the voiceover and reading the captions. I quickly realized the captions were identical to the voiceover. At about the same time, I realized that I had not absorbed the content of the last two screens, because I had been trying to figure out whether the voiceover really was the same as the caption. I also noticed that I could read the captions way faster than the voiceover was reading them, so I turned off the audio and just read the rest of the tutorial.

I had just experienced firsthand what I have heard from fellow eLearning developers over the years: a screen caption identical to the voiceover narration can be a distraction rather than an added value to the learning process. In fact, the best scenario is to have graphics, animation, or video accompanied by voiceover only–with no screen captions at all. Because learners are trying to pay attention to the visuals, the need to move their eyes to focus on the accompanying caption is a distraction. Having a voiceover explain the visual enables the learner to absorb the audio and visual information at the same time.

So my decision to turn off the audio was a mistake. I would have had a better learning experience if I had listened to the audio while focusing on the videos and ignoring the printed captions at the bottom of the screen.

So does that mean eLearning should never include screen captions? Of course not. Sometimes screen captions are required simply because there is no voiceover or the learner may not have access to the voiceover.

Other times when captions should appear on screen are

• when there is no visual graphic and the caption text is the only information being presented
• when the captions are closely integrated with the graphics–as labels rather than separate descriptions
• when the information being covered is complex and benefits from both audio and visual presentation, as with math equations or chemical formulas
• when the information may be needed over time, as in instructions for a learning exercise where the learner may need to repeatedly refer back to the instructions

Ultimately, the use of captions and voiceovers must be coordinated to enhance, not distract from, the learning experience.

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