Subtitling · English
English subtitling services
Native English subtitlers for corporate video, eLearning, streaming content, broadcast and advertising. Subtitles, closed captions, and SDH, delivered to platform specification. Part of a full English language service: subtitles, voice over scripts, and translation of any content you need.
About English subtitling
English subtitles, captions, and SDH, done to spec
English subtitling can mean subtitling for viewers who can hear the audio but are watching without sound, reading in a second language, or following dialogue that is hard to catch. Then there is captioning and SDH for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences, which adds sound effects, music cues, and speaker identification, and which can form part of your accessibility obligations.
English files also carry a second role in multilingual projects. The English subtitle template is what every other language version is built from, so any timing error, awkward break, or ambiguity in it propagates into every language downstream. Getting the English right first is the cheapest quality control there is.
At GoLocalise, we produce English subtitles, captions, and SDH to the specification your platform requires, and every file passes linguistic and technical QA before delivery.
Which do you need?
Open captions, closed captions or SDH
Three different deliverables that people often ask for by the wrong name. Here is the short version.
Open captions
Burnt inSubtitles burnt permanently into the picture. Nobody can switch them off, which is exactly what you want for social feeds that autoplay muted.
- Always visible
- Font, size, colour and position to match your brand
- Delivered as a finished video file
Closed captions
SwitchableA separate file the viewer can turn on and off, and that can carry several languages at once. The standard for YouTube, Vimeo and the streaming platforms.
- Viewer controls them
- Multiple languages from one video
- Indexed by search engines
SDH
AccessibilitySubtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing: dialogue plus speaker IDs and the sound effects and music cues that carry meaning.
- Speaker identification
- Non-dialogue audio described
- Meets accessibility requirements
Subtitles or captions? The two terms are often used interchangeably. Strictly, subtitles translate the dialogue for viewers who can hear the audio, while captions are same-language and add speaker labels and sound cues for viewers who cannot. We produce either — translated English subtitles or same-language English captions and SDH — in whichever form your platform and audience require.
What we subtitle
English subtitling for every kind of content
English subtitling spans everything from corporate training to streaming and social — often as same-language captions for accessibility rather than translation. These are the project types we handle most.
Corporate & training video
Internal comms, onboarding and product training subtitled for global teams and LMS delivery.
eLearning & online courses
Timed, readable subtitles for course platforms, MOOCs and instructional video.
Documentary & factual
Festival, broadcast and streaming documentaries, including interview clean-up and on-screen text.
Advertising & social
Burnt-in captions for muted autoplay on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and paid social.
Streaming & OTT
Platform-spec subtitle and caption files for VOD, OTT and broadcast delivery.
Accessibility (SDH & closed captions)
Same-language SDH and closed captions to meet WCAG and accessibility requirements.
Events, webinars & conferences
Recorded talks, town halls and webinars captioned for on-demand viewing.
E-commerce & product video
Short product and explainer videos captioned to lift conversion and reach.
How can we help you?
Your project manager has everything covered
One point of contact from brief to delivery, and both a linguistic and a technical check on every file.
Brief review
We review your video, your audience, and whether you need subtitles, closed captions, or SDH.
Transcription and spotting
Dialogue is transcribed and cued against the video, with in and out points set to the speech.
Timing and quality checks
Files are checked for reading speed, line length, break points, and compliance with your platform's specifications.
Delivery
Your subtitle files in the format your platform requires, on budget and on time.
Our standards
The specs we work to
Readable subtitles are a matter of measurable limits, not opinion. These are the defaults we apply to English unless your style guide says otherwise.
Maximum per line
37 for broadcast delivery
Maximum on screen
Bottom-weighted, centred
Reading speed
Lower for children's content
Minimum duration
Seven seconds maximum
Automatic captioning produces a rough transcript quickly and is useful as a starting point. What it does not produce is a broadcast-quality file: speaker changes go unmarked, sound effects are missing, proper nouns and technical terms come out wrong, and lines break where the software runs out of characters rather than where the meaning allows. Every file we deliver is produced and checked by a professional subtitler.
Deliverables
Professional subtitle formats
We create English subtitles, captions and SDH from scratch, or adapt what you already have. And if the project needs a timed script or a plain document instead, we deliver that too.
Standard text-based
Compatible with most platforms and players.
Broadcast & professional
For broadcasters, post houses and streaming delivery specs.
Burnt-in video
A finished file with the subtitles baked into the picture.
Need a different format? Convert SRT, VTT and more with our free subtitle converter →
English specifics
Compliance, and the file every other language is built from
Whether you need captions depends on where you are publishing and who you are. Broadcast regulators, public sector accessibility rules, and the major streaming platforms each set their own captioning requirements, and the WCAG accessibility standards are widely referenced for web content. We can advise on what applies to your distribution, though the compliance decision remains yours.
The second consideration is downstream. Translators work from the English template, so its timings, segmentation, and phrasing carry into French, Japanese, Arabic, and everything else in scope. An ambiguity left in the English becomes a translation error repeated across every language you deliver, which is why we treat the English file as the foundation of a multilingual project rather than one deliverable among many.
Since 2008
Subtitling & captioning
100+
Languages covered
ISO 9001 & 14001
Certified processes
In-house
Subtitling team & studios
Subtitling rates
Professional English subtitling
For single videos and straightforward content where accurate, well-timed subtitles are what you need.
- Professional English subtitler
- Subtitles, captions or SDH
- Frame-accurate timing
For longer content and recurring projects, including transcription, SDH, burned-in subtitles and multiple output formats.
- Everything in Standard
- Transcription and spotting
- SDH and burnt-in
- Template ready to translate from
Every project is quoted individually and backed by our Price Match Promise. Send us your video for an exact, no-obligation quote.
Trusted by global brands
We have used GoLocalise on a regular basis for projects in a number of languages. The service we receive is great. The team is always friendly and professional. The voiceovers we receive are of a very high quality and the turnaround is extremely quick. We are very happy to recommend GoLocalise to other businesses.
It was a pleasure to work with David and the team at GoLocalise. David gave me lots of help and advice, guiding me through my first subtitling project. He really knows his stuff! The experience was completely pain-free. I would not hesitate to recommend GoLocalise – outstanding work at a good price.
They're reliable, adaptive and obsessed with quality. And while you can never be 100% guaranteed of perfection, you can be sure GoLocalise will go the extra mile to get it right every time. We've worked with them now for over 5 years and we are truly thankful to have such a strong localisation partner for our business.
Related services
The rest of your English project
Most common questions
Subtitles carry the spoken dialogue and assume the viewer can hear everything else. Closed captions are made for viewers who cannot hear the audio and include sound effects, music cues, and speaker identification. SDH is subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing, and it combines the two: dialogue plus the non speech information, formatted like subtitles rather than broadcast captions. Which you need depends on your audience and your distribution route.
Ready to subtitle your video in English?
Send us your video and we'll come back with an exact, itemised quote.
Professional voice over services for your audio and video productions
Voice over
- State-of-the-art studios
- Neumann microphones
- On-hand sound engineers
- 1,000+ voice actors
Translation
- 100+ languages covered
- Tailored to your needs
- Stringent quality control
- Dedicated project managers
Subtitling
- Experienced subtitlers
- Industry-standard software
- Burn-in and graphic editing
- Open and closed captions
Transcription
- Improve accessibility
- Reach a wider audience
- Boost SEO and video views
- Maximise video engagement