A large share of people watching video on their phones do it with the sound off: at the office, on public transport, in a room with sleeping kids. Others can hear, but can't follow the Egyptian dialect quickly, or prefer English, or have hearing loss. A video with no written text loses all of them in the first few seconds.
Why add subtitles and text to your videos?
Text makes the video understandable to people who can't hear it, and to people who don't know the speaker's language or dialect well. For company videos aimed at mixed audiences in the Gulf and Jordan, English subtitles open the video to a whole audience that doesn't read Arabic.
A subtitle file also gives the platform a written version of what's said in the video, which helps on YouTube and on your website pages. When you publish the video on your site, put a written summary or transcript under it. Search engines can read that text, as covered in appearing in AI answers.
Should you use burned-in subtitles or an SRT file?
Burned-in subtitles are printed onto the picture itself and always show. An SRT file is a separate text file with timings that the account owner uploads to the platform, and viewers can turn it on, hide it or switch its language.
| Burned-in subtitles | Separate SRT file | |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility | Always, on every platform | Depends on platform support and the viewer's choice |
| Multiple languages | One video version per language | One file per language on the same video |
| Design | You control font, color and position | The platform controls the look |
| Editing later | Requires exporting the video again | Edit a text file and upload it |
| Best for | Reels, stories and ads | YouTube, your website and longer videos |
On most of our projects we deliver both: a vertical version with burned-in text for social media, and Arabic and English SRT files for the horizontal version on YouTube and the website.
How should subtitle lines be written so they're easy to read?
One or two lines on screen at most, and each line a sentence or part of a sentence that makes sense on its own. Viewers read while following the picture, so every extra word pulls their eyes away from it.
- Break the line where a meaning ends, never in the middle of a name or between a preposition and its object.
- Leave each line on screen long enough to read comfortably, and don't let it disappear before the speech ends.
- Trim repetition and stumbles, and keep the meaning and the speaker's style.
- Spell names and terms the same way throughout the video.
- Use a clear Arabic font at a medium weight, with a shadow or semi-transparent background to separate it from the picture.
In vertical video, place the text above the bottom area covered by the app's buttons and caption, as described in how to structure short reels.
What Arabic subtitle problems are common in editing software?
The best known is word order flipping when a line mixes Arabic text with an English word, a number or punctuation. You find the period at the start of the line, the English word in the wrong place, or, in some older programs, Arabic letters that appear disconnected.
Use editing software or a subtitle tool that supports right-to-left text, and check every line that contains a Latin word or a number on the final video itself, because what looks right in a text editor can appear reversed on screen. Save SRT files in UTF-8 encoding so Arabic letters don't turn into strange symbols.
- TranscriptionA full text of what's said, automatic first, then human review
- EditingTrimming and splitting into short lines
- TimingEach line appears as the speech starts and disappears after it
- TranslationInto English or Arabic, with consistent terminology
- Review on the videoReading every line on a phone screen
What is the difference between subtitles and on-screen text?
Subtitles carry what's said, nearly word for word, at the bottom of the screen. On-screen text is short headings that pick out an idea, a number or a name, shown in a larger design in a deliberate spot in the frame.
A good video balances the two. The speaker's name and title appear when they're first on screen, an important number the customer mentions shows up in large text, and the steps of an explanation appear as numbered headings. This text helps people who watch quickly catch the idea without reading every line.
Make sure on-screen text doesn't crowd the subtitles in the same area, and don't have two pieces of text animating at the same time. Take the fonts and colors from your visual identity and keep them the same across all your videos, so followers recognize your content from the look of the text before they see the logo.
How do you translate a company video from Arabic to English?
Translate the meaning into language a native speaker would write, since literal translation reads oddly to an English reader. Local expressions and proverbs need an equivalent the other audience understands, or a plain rewording of what they mean.
Machine translation saves time on the first draft and makes plenty of mistakes with dialects, product names and technical terms. Keep a short list of your company's terms and their approved translations, and use it on every video, so the same service doesn't get translated three different ways.
Accurate subtitles start with a clear recording, so read audio for company videos before filming. We write on-screen text and translate subtitles in Arabic and English as part of our media and video production service. Send us a video link and we'll return a one-minute sample subtitled in both languages.
Questions our partners ask
Is automatic translation good enough?
It's a good starting point that saves time, especially for transcription. It gets dialects, names and terminology wrong, though, so review every line yourself or with a translator before publishing.
Should subtitles be in Modern Standard Arabic if the speech is in dialect?
Many companies write subtitles in simplified Modern Standard Arabic so they're understood in several countries, and some keep the dialect to preserve the feel of the speech. Pick one and stick with it across all your videos.
Written by the Visual Innovate team, the people who build, host and follow up systems, websites and apps for our clients in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt.
