This article outlines the error notifications instructors might encounter while attempting to add closed captions to your course lectures, and how can you resolve the issue.
For steps on how to add closed captions to your course videos, please click here.
Incorrectly Formatted Timing Information
If your caption entry includes timing information the system cannot read, then you will see an error notification reporting one or more of the entries has incorrectly formatted timing info.
In order for your .vtt closed caption entry to be accepted, it must be formatted with one of the timing formations below:
00:00:00 (HH:MM:SS)
00:00 (MM:SS)
00 (SS)
00:00:00.000 (HH:MM:SS.mmm)
00:00.000 (MM:SS.mmm)
00.000 (SS.mmm)
Please note: ‘m’ stands for microseconds
In addition, caption entries must have a start time that is earlier than the end time that’s been entered, in order for it to upload successfully. Accordingly, the caption entries also require a start time that is later than the previous entry’s start time.
If you receive an error sign indicating this is not the case, then you will need to edit the entry’s times.
Missing Timing Information
If the .vtt file has a correct header, but doesn’t have any timing information, or it can’t be recognised due to incorrect formatting, you will see an error sign reporting that one or more of the caption entries has text but no times.
The correct formatting for the timing information looks like “00:03:00.000 --> 00:05:00.00”. Please note that the separating arrow must have one or two space or tab characters on each side.
Missing WEBVTT Header
If the caption entry is missing the WEBVTT header, which is required for valid vtt files, you will see an error warning indicating this. Please add WEBVTT to the first line of the file in order to resolve the issue, as shown below:
Missing Track Text
If one of the caption entries has timing information but no text, you will be notified via an error sign. Each caption entry should have a start time, end time and some text in the following format:
No Caption Entries
Each caption entry should have a start time, end time and some text, and each caption entry must be separated from another with at least two line breaks. If the entry doesn’t, an error sign will appear indicating that there are no recognisable caption entries in the file.
Caption entries should be created with the following format: