The Quick Answer
Closed captions describe all the audio in a video — dialogue, sound effects, music cues, and speaker identification — so viewers who can't hear can still follow what's happening. Subtitles assume the viewer can hear the audio and translate the spoken dialogue into another language.
They look similar on screen, but they carry different information and serve different audiences. This post walks through the technical distinction, when each matters legally, and how to produce both in After Effects with Subflow.
The Technical Difference
A closed caption for a scene where two characters argue while a glass shatters might read:
ALICE: Don't you dare — [GLASS SHATTERS] BOB: I didn't mean to. [Tense music swells]
A subtitle for the same scene, translated to Spanish, would only carry the dialogue:
ALICE: No te atrevas — BOB: No quise hacerlo.
The caption carries non-dialogue information that's essential for accessibility. The subtitle drops it because the viewer can presumably hear the glass and the music — they just don't speak English.
The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative summarizes the distinction this way: captions are for viewers who can't hear, subtitles are for viewers who can hear but don't share the audio's language.
When You Need Closed Captions
Closed captions are required (not just recommended) in several contexts:
- US federal-funded video under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
- Broadcast television in the US under FCC closed-captioning rules covering nearly all pre-recorded and live programming
- Public-facing web video from covered entities under ADA Title III — case law since 2017 has consistently treated commercial websites as places of public accommodation
- WCAG 2.1 conformance at Level A or AA, which is the de-facto standard most accessibility audits use
In practice, this means: if your video is going onto a corporate website, a SaaS marketing page, a government portal, a streaming service, or a public broadcast — closed captions aren't optional.
YouTube doesn't legally require captions, but the platform autopromotes captioned content because watch-time on captioned video is consistently 7-12% higher across most categories.
When You Need Subtitles
Subtitles are about reach, not accessibility. You need them when:
- The video's primary audio is in one language and you want to serve viewers in another
- You're localizing for international markets — the spoken language stays the same, but on-screen text appears in the target language
- Distribution platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube auto-translate) expect a subtitle track to power their language menus
Subtitles assume the viewer can hear; if they can also see your scene, they don't need a description of the glass shattering — they can hear it.
How They Look Different on Screen
Same scene, two on-screen treatments:
| | Closed Caption (English) | Subtitle (Spanish) | |---|---|---| | Dialogue | ALICE: Don't you dare — | ALICE: No te atrevas — | | Sound effect | [GLASS SHATTERS] | (omitted) | | Music cue | [Tense music swells] | (omitted) | | Speaker label | Yes — bracketed | Optional, less common | | Position convention | Often top of frame when bottom is busy | Almost always bottom |
There's also a visual styling convention: captions often use a slightly heavier weight or contrasting background box to ensure legibility for viewers relying on them; subtitles tend to be lighter typography.
Making Closed Captions in After Effects
The process with Subflow:
- Open your composition in After Effects, route dialogue audio to a clean layer
- Open the Subflow panel (Window → Extensions → Subflow)
- Generate the transcription — this produces one text layer per spoken cue
- Add non-dialogue cues manually as additional text layers:
[GLASS SHATTERS],[Tense music swells], speaker IDs where the speaker isn't visually obvious - Apply your caption styling — typically a high-contrast weight with optional background bar
Because Subflow generates native AE text layers, you can copy your styling once and apply it across all caption layers with a single character preset.
Making Subtitles in After Effects
This is where the AE workflow gets more complicated, because Subflow generates captions as native text layers — it doesn't output to .srt or any other subtitle file format. A few honest paths depending on what you actually need:
- For translated text visible on the video itself (open subtitles burned in): generate captions with Subflow in the target language directly (Subflow supports 51 languages — change the language setting and re-generate). The text layers go straight into the comp and render with the video.
- For a separate translated .srt file delivered alongside the video (closed subtitles): this is outside Subflow's scope. You'd transcribe the source audio with a separate tool (Whisper, Deepgram, AssemblyAI), translate the resulting .srt via DeepL or our free translator at subflow.cc/tools/translate-srt, and hand the translated .srt off independently of the AE composition.
- For multiple languages baked into one video: use approach #1 in multiple AE compositions (one per language), or generate captions in the source language with Subflow and replace the text in each layer manually with translated copy.
For multi-language deliverables, plan up front whether you need burned-in text (Subflow's strength) or separate subtitle files (separate toolchain).
Subflow Generates Captions for In-Video Display — Quick Walkthrough
The captioning step inside Subflow produces native AE text layers, time-synced to the audio. It's well-suited to accessibility captions and burned-in subtitles where the text becomes part of the rendered video. Subflow's three caption modes (Single Word, Smart Flow, Full Sentence) all produce the same kind of output — what changes is how the words are grouped on screen. For step-by-step instructions, see How to Add Captions in After Effects.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are closed captions and subtitles the same thing? No. Captions describe all relevant audio (dialogue plus sound effects, music, speaker IDs) for viewers who can't hear. Subtitles assume the viewer can hear and translate the spoken dialogue, typically into a different language.
Do I legally need closed captions on my video? Depends on the venue. Public-facing video from US covered entities needs to meet ADA and WCAG 2.1 guidelines, which require captions for prerecorded media. YouTube, broadcast TV, and most streaming platforms also require captions either by policy or regulation.
What's the difference between open and closed captions? Closed captions can be turned on or off by the viewer. Open captions are baked into the video and can't be disabled. Open captions are common on TikTok and Reels; closed captions are standard on YouTube and TV.
Can I make both in After Effects? Yes, but via different toolchains. Subflow generates accessibility captions as native AE text layers — just add speaker IDs and sound-effect cues as additional layers. For translated subtitles as a separate file, Subflow doesn't help (it doesn't export to .srt); you'd transcribe with a separate tool, translate the .srt, then either burn the translated text into the rendered video or hand the .srt off as an external track.
Does YouTube auto-generate captions or subtitles? YouTube's auto-captions are closed captions in the platform sense — viewers can toggle them, and they describe only dialogue. Quality varies; for brand-critical video, uploading your own .srt or .vtt is more reliable.
What to Do Next
If you're producing video for a US commercial website, broadcast, or any platform that lists accessibility requirements, closed captions aren't optional anymore. See the captioning workflow, check pricing, or install Subflow to get started.