Introduction

In the digital age, content consumption happens everywhere—from smartphones in noisy cafes to offices where sound is muted by default. In such environments, captions have become essential. Captions are not only critical for making your video or podcast accessible to people with hearing impairments but also help those who prefer to watch or listen without sound. Moreover, captions boost search engine optimization (SEO) by providing readable text that search engines can index, helping your content get discovered more easily.

User engagement also benefits from captions. Studies show that videos with captions retain viewer attention longer and have higher completion rates. On social media, where many users watch videos muted by default, captions can make or break your content’s success.

If you’ve ever found captioning your content overwhelming or time-consuming, this blog will introduce you to Descript, a tool that simplifies the entire process. Whether you produce podcasts, tutorials, interviews, or marketing videos, Descript offers an intuitive way to add professional-quality captions.

We’ll walk through everything you need—from setting up your project and transcribing your media, to editing transcripts, customizing captions, and publishing your final content. By the end, you’ll see how Descript can empower you to enhance your content’s accessibility and reach without the usual technical headaches.

What is Descript?

Descript is a powerful, all-in-one media editing platform designed primarily for podcasters, video creators, and marketers. It combines transcription, audio/video editing, screen recording, and captioning into one seamless workflow.

Unlike traditional video editors that require complex timelines and tools, Descript lets you edit media the way you edit text. This text-based editing model means you can delete, move, or change words in the transcript, and the audio/video automatically updates to reflect those edits. This innovative approach saves time and reduces the technical barriers many creators face.

Key Features Relevant to Captioning:

Automatic Transcription: Instantly turns your audio or video into text. The transcription is highly accurate, especially when the audio quality is good, saving you hours of manual typing.
Video and Audio Editing: Edit your content by editing the transcript—cut out filler words, rearrange sentences, or remove mistakes.
Screen Recording: Capture your screen alongside your narration, great for tutorials or demos, with captions generated as you go.
Audiograms: Automatically create shareable video snippets with animated waveforms and captions to boost social media engagement.

Why Descript is Ideal for Creators:

Ease of Use: No complicated timelines or video editing knowledge needed.
Accuracy: Advanced AI transcription with options for human review.
Efficiency: Combines several tools in one platform, reducing the need to juggle software.
Collaboration: Teams can work on the same project remotely, adding comments and edits.
Integration: Export captions in formats compatible with all major platforms.

For anyone producing spoken-word content, Descript streamlines the entire post-production process, including captioning, which often gets overlooked but is essential for reaching a wider audience.

Setting Up Your Project

Before you start captioning, you need to get your audio or video file into Descript and create a workspace for your content.

Head to Descript.com and either sign in if you already have an account or create a new one. The free tier offers transcription minutes and basic features, which is great for getting started.

Step 2: Create a New Project

Once logged in, click the “New Project” button. This project acts as your workspace, where you can upload files, edit transcripts, and generate captions.

Step 3: Upload Your Media

Drag and drop your audio or video files into the project. Descript supports a variety of formats:

Audio: MP3, WAV, M4A
Video: MP4, MOV, AVI

Tips for Supported Media:

Use high-quality recordings: Clear audio leads to better transcription accuracy.
Avoid background noise: It can confuse AI transcription.
File size: Large files upload slower; consider compressing if necessary.
Multiple speakers: If you have more than one speaker, make sure their voices are distinct for better speaker identification later.

At this point, your media is safely in Descript, ready for transcription.

Transcribing Your Media

Transcription is the foundation for captions. Descript’s AI transcribes your file quickly, turning spoken words into editable text.

How Automatic Transcription Works

After upload, Descript processes the file in the cloud, generating a transcript that appears within minutes. The accuracy depends on:

Audio quality
Speaker clarity
Language and accents

Options to Improve Accuracy

Automatic Transcription: Fast and suitable for most content, with around 90-95% accuracy on good audio.
Human Transcription: For higher accuracy (above 99%), especially useful for interviews, legal content, or technical talks. You can order this directly through Descript for an additional fee.

Language and Speaker Settings

Select the correct language before transcription to improve AI understanding.
Enable speaker labeling if your recording has multiple people. This allows Descript to identify and tag each speaker, creating clearer captions that viewers can follow more easily.

Using these options upfront saves time later and improves the quality of your captions.

Editing the Transcript for Accuracy

No transcription is perfect, so editing is crucial. Captions are only helpful if they accurately reflect what’s being said.

Editing Your Transcript

Play the media alongside the transcript and fix any spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors.
Confirm speaker names and ensure each segment is attributed correctly.
Use Descript’s Find and Replace feature to quickly fix recurring errors, such as commonly misheard words or names.
Correct homophones and jargon to match the content’s context.

Why Is This Important?

Accurate captions:

Prevent confusion and misinterpretation.
Maintain professional quality.
Help search engines correctly index your content.
Make your content accessible and respectful to all users.

Descript’s editing interface is designed to feel like editing a document, which means even beginners can make precise changes without needing transcription expertise.

Creating and Exporting Captions

Now that your transcript is polished, you can generate captions customized to your style and platform needs.

Customizing Captions in Descript

Font and Size: Choose legible fonts like Arial or Helvetica. Adjust size based on the viewing device—larger fonts for mobile viewing.
Position: Position captions at the bottom center or bottom left to avoid covering important visuals.
Style: Change text color, background color, and opacity to ensure captions stand out against your video.
Line Breaks: Insert line breaks manually to keep captions concise and easy to read.
Timing: Adjust timing to sync captions with speech naturally, preventing them from appearing too early or too late.

Export Options

Burned-in Captions (Hardcoded): Captions are permanently embedded into the video. Ideal for platforms like Instagram or Twitter that don’t support separate caption files.
SRT/VTT Files (Soft Captions): Export subtitle files compatible with YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and many video players. Viewers can toggle captions on or off.

Best Practices for Readability

Keep lines short—about 1-2 lines or up to 32 characters.
Use proper punctuation to mimic speech cadence.
Avoid long sentences that overwhelm viewers.
Ensure sufficient contrast between caption text and background.
Don’t block essential video elements like faces or action.

Following these guidelines makes your captions user-friendly and effective.

Tips for Better Captioning

Captioning is both an art and a science. Here are some additional tips to improve your captions beyond just technical accuracy.

Keep Lines Short and Synced

Long captions are hard to read and can distract viewers. Break sentences into smaller chunks and sync them tightly with the speaker’s pace.

Use Punctuation and Speaker Labels

Punctuation clarifies meaning and pauses. Speaker labels help distinguish who is talking, especially in interviews or multi-person podcasts.

Watch Playback to Ensure Timing Feels Natural

Always review captions with the video. Look for:

Captions lingering too long after the speaker has moved on.
Overlapping captions.
Missing or delayed captions.

Adjust timing as needed.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Overloading captions with unnecessary sounds (e.g., [laughter] is fine occasionally but don’t overuse).
Ignoring accents or dialects—caption what’s said, not what you think should be said.
Neglecting special terminology or jargon.

Publishing and Using Your Captions

Captions are only useful if they reach your audience effectively.

Uploading Captions to Major Platforms

YouTube: Upload SRT files in the “Subtitles” section of YouTube Studio. YouTube also auto-generates captions, but uploading your edited transcript improves accuracy.
Vimeo: Upload captions in various formats under video settings.
Podcast Platforms: Some support transcripts as part of episode notes or in apps that display captions, improving accessibility.

Use Descript’s audiogram feature to create shareable clips with captions baked in, perfect for Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn where videos autoplay muted.

Enhancing Engagement and Accessibility

Captions allow viewers to watch in sound-sensitive environments and improve understanding for non-native speakers. They also help comply with accessibility laws and guidelines, expanding your audience.

Conclusion

Captions are no longer optional—they’re essential for reaching a diverse, engaged audience. Descript simplifies adding captions by combining transcription, editing, and exporting in a single platform. Its intuitive interface lowers the technical barrier, so even creators new to captioning can produce professional results.

From setting up your project to fine-tuning captions and publishing across platforms, Descript offers a streamlined, efficient way to make your videos and podcasts accessible, SEO-friendly, and viewer-ready.

Try adding captions with Descript on your next episode or video. You’ll find the process faster, easier, and more impactful than you imagined.

How to Add Captions to a Video or Podcast Using Descript