Facebook has launched a free automatic video captioning tool to all US English Facebook pages that makes it easier to repurpose traditional clips. This new tool is powered by voice recognition software that takes the hassle out of transcription, while making it easy to edit the subtitles it suggests. TechCrunch and some other Pages only recently began seeing the quietly launched option, though Facebook responded to their inquiry saying it began rolling out the feature in October.
Facebook wants to help every Page adapt to the silent-until-clicked auto-play format. That way, users in public without headphones can fully understand videos they watch muted, and viewers can make a better assessment in the first silent seconds about whether they want to watch full-screen with sound. When Page admins upload a video, they’ll see a “Generate” button in the video editor to instantly add subtitles.
Then Facebook breaks down the subtitles snippet by snippet, allowing you to review the suggestion, play back that segment to hear it for yourself, and then edit the cations for accuracy before saving them to video.
Video may be the future of Facebook, but having tinny sound blaring out of your phone doesn’t always fit into our lives. Captions now allow us to consume even when we need to be quiet.
