Who this is for: Motion producers planning timed educational and brand studies.
What to prepare
- Approved dialogue and final recorded timing
- Speaker identities and meaningful sounds
- Protected caption region and visual label map
Copyable creative brief
An authored planning example. Replace illustrative details with your approved product facts and assets.
Use the fictional exchange below to plan speaker changes and a relevant sound caption. Replace the sample with approved dialogue and align it to the actual recording. W3C's caption guidance supports conveying speech, speaker identity and meaningful sound; this template is not an automatic compliance guarantee.
Scene-by-scene storyboard
24-second planning sequence · illustrative copy and visual direction
- 01
0–4s
Introduce speakers and context
Show Mira and Tomas labels beside a stable illustrative channel diagram.
On screen:Mira and Tomas • illustrative model
Sound direction: No unsupplied dialogue.
- 02
4–10s
Ask the question
Highlight Mira's label and show her caption in the protected zone.
On screen:Mira: Is the channel open?
Sound direction: Mira speaks the supplied question.
- 03
10–14s
Caption the relevant event
Show the latch moving while keeping its visual label unobscured.
On screen:[latch clicks]
Sound direction: A latch click marks the state change.
- 04
14–20s
Show the response
Highlight Tomas's label after the latch event and retain the open-state diagram.
On screen:Tomas: Now it is.
Sound direction: Tomas speaks the supplied response.
- 05
20–24s
Hold the resolution
Keep the open state and explanatory context still after the dialogue ends.
On screen:Illustrative channel: open
Sound direction: Quiet hold; no new spoken claim.
Make it your own
- DIALOGUE
- Provide exact final words with speaker attribution.
- SOUND_DESCRIPTION
- Describe the meaningful non-speech event accurately.
- CAPTION_PLACEMENT
- Define a readable region that avoids essential visuals.
Keep the sound's role clear
The click helps explain why the response follows the question. Caption it accurately rather than describing a dramatic alarm that is not present. Speaker names are useful when identity would otherwise be ambiguous. Avoid relying only on different caption colors.
Retiming the exchange
Twenty-four seconds is a planning duration. For 30 seconds, use 0–5, 5–12, 12–16, 16–23 and 23–30 seconds as a planning map, then align captions to the real audio. Extra runtime should support context and reading, not create unnatural gaps inside spoken phrases.
Review with both audio states
Watch muted to assess speaker identity and the latch event, then listen while checking exact words and synchronization. W3C notes that captions should not obscure relevant video information; move the diagram or caption region when they collide. Review the language and final export after any dialogue edit.
Review checklist
- Speaker identities remain clear without voice.
- The sound caption reflects the actual event.
- Captions align with final recorded speech.
- Placement preserves the latch and channel labels.
Sources & further reading
- W3C: Captions (Prerecorded)
Explains synchronized captions for speech, speaker identity and meaningful sound, plus the text-alternative exception.