Subtitles and Caption Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield Subtitles and Caption facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. What subtitle format is commonly required by Netflix for professional content delivery? → TTML/IMSC (Timed Text Markup Language)
2. What is the maximum recommended character count per line in US captions according to FCC guidelines? → 32 characters
3. When subtitling music lyrics in a film for a U.S. audience, what is the standard approach? → Include the translated or original lyrics in italics to distinguish them from dialogue
4. Which of the following best describes 'offline captioning' in the context of captioning tools? → Captions prepared and synchronized in advance before the content airs
5. What is the recommended caption safe area to avoid text being cut off on older TV screens? → 10% inset from all screen edges
6. What is the primary purpose of a caption encoder in a broadcast television workflow? → To insert caption data into the video signal for transmission
7. What is the recommended approach for captioning overlapping speech from multiple speakers? → Use >> arrows or speaker labels to differentiate each speaker
8. What key advantage do cloud-based captioning tools offer over traditional desktop captioning software? → Scalability and the ability to support remote team collaboration
9. What technique is used to keep captions readable when speech is faster than the maximum recommended caption rate? → Condensing or paraphrasing the spoken words
10. Which of the following is a professional caption authoring software widely used in broadcast television production? → MacCaption
11. Subtitles are generally located in which part of the screen? → Lower center
12. What is an SRT file primarily used for in captioning software workflows? → Storing plain-text subtitle entries with timestamps for video playback
13. Which scenario requires open captions under ADA Title III guidelines for public accommodations? → Public movie screenings where no assistive listening device is available
14. What happens to subtitle timing if a video is edited (trimmed or rearranged) after subtitles have been created? → Subtitles will be out of sync and must be re-timed
15. What term describes the delay between spoken audio and the appearance of corresponding captions? → Latency
16. Spanish-language programming on U.S. television is required by the FCC to have captions in which language? → Spanish
17. What is the recommended minimum gap between consecutive subtitle entries to avoid visual merging? → 2-4 frames (approximately 80-160ms at 24fps)
18. What does 'burned-in subtitles' mean when exporting video? → Subtitle text that has been rendered permanently into the video frames as open captions
19. In international subtitle delivery, what does 'burnt-in' or 'open subtitle' mean? → Subtitles permanently rendered into the video image and cannot be turned off
20. What is 'subtitle latency' in live captioning? → The delay between speech being spoken and the caption appearing on screen
21. What is the recommended maximum display duration for a subtitle with 2 full lines of text? → 7 seconds
22. Under FCC rules, which type of programming was FIRST required to carry closed captions? → New English-language programming
23. Which FCC rule requires video programming distributors to pass through captions intact without degradation? → Caption pass-through requirement
24. In accessibility standards, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires captions for: → Video content produced or funded by U.S. federal agencies
25. What does 'sidecar file' mean in the context of subtitles? → A separate subtitle file delivered alongside the video file rather than embedded within it
26. What minimum duration is generally recommended for a caption to remain on screen to be readable? → One second
27. What is the recommended maximum number of lines per caption frame in US broadcast standards? → 2 lines
28. Which of the following is not one of the BBC's main television channels? → MTV
29. What is the main purpose of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Success Criterion 1.2.2 for captions? → Requires captions for all prerecorded audio content in synchronized media on the web
30. Which positioning is typically preferred for subtitles and captions in standard US practice? → Bottom center