Companies all over the world are actively seeking remote closed captioners to transcribe audio and video content.
If you have fast and accurate typing skills, attention to detail, and are eager to make content more accessible, this could be the perfect opportunity for you.
In this comprehensive guide, you'll discover 15 companies that provide a wide range of remote closed captioning jobs in 2024.
What is closed captioning?
Closed captioning is a feature that displays text on a screen to provide a written version of the spoken words & sounds in a video or TV program.
It's especially helpful for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Closed captions typically appear at the bottom of the screen and include dialogue, sound effects, and other relevant audio information, allowing viewers to follow along with the content more easily.
Closed captions (usually identified by a CC symbol) can be toggled on or off by the viewer.
Closed captions primarily aim to convey all audio information, including dialogue, background noises, and other relevant sounds.
They include additional cues such as speaker identification and sound descriptions to make content more accessible.
On the other hand, subtitles are translations of the dialogue or narration into another language for viewers who may not understand the original language in the video.
Subtitling is a style of captioning that assumes the viewer can hear the audio and aims to provide a translated version of the dialogue or narration.
15 Companies where you can find remote closed captioning jobs
If you need closed captioning jobs that you can do from home, you should check out these 15 companies:
1. Crowdsurf
CrowdSurf is a platform that offers transcription and captioning services to make online media more accessible to deaf, hard-of-hearing, or second-language speakers.
It provides remote jobs that you can apply for, even if you have little or no previous captioning experience.
You get paid based on your level of proficiency and the amount of work you complete. Payment on CrowdsSurf ranges from $0.03-$0.20 per media minute (plus additional bonus rates.)
How to apply
- Create a TransPerfect account.
- After creating your account, you must complete a form by inputting your personal information.
- Next, upload your CV/Resume.
- In the "Services" section, click on "Media."
- Scroll down until you see the "Subtitling" category. Toggle the "SDH/Captioning" option on, and input your years of experience.
- Upload relevant audio files, outline your expertise, set your rates, select which captioning equipment you have, and set your availability.
- Next, fill out your qualifications, including education level, professional experience, and certifications.
- Once you're done, wait for a Vendor Manager from TransPerfect to contact you.
2. TransPerfect
For over 30 years, TransPerfect has specialized in providing business transcription, translation, and captioning services.
You can join its expert team of linguists and captioning specialists to create accurate, timed, easy-to-read captions.
How to apply
- Create a TransPerfect account.
- After your account is created, you'll be required to fill out a form by inputting your personal information.
- Next, upload your CV/Resume.
- In the "Services" section, click on "Media."
- Scroll down until you see the "Subtitling" category. Toggle the "SDH/Captioning" option on, and input how many years of experience you have.
- Upload relevant audio files, outline your expertise, set your rates, select which captioning equipment you have, and set your availability.
- Next, fill out your qualifications, including education level, professional experience, and certifications.
- Once, you're done, wait for a Vendor Manager from TransPerfect to reach out to you.
3. Verbit
Verbit offers a wide range of services, including captioning, transcription, audio description, translation, and subtitling.
This platform also offers several remote closed captioning jobs that you can apply for to earn some extra income.
How to apply
- Head on over to Verbit's career listing page.
- Choose "Transcribers-Captioners" under "Select by Team."
- Select your preferred location, then click on "Go."
- Once you spot any job that catches your eye, click on it to apply.
- You can manually fill out the application or apply with your LinkedIn account.
- After you submit your application, Verbit will email you to let you know that you'll be contacted if there's a good match.
4. 3Play Media
3Play Media helps businesses make their recorded media accessible, searchable, and engaging with captions, transcripts, audio descriptions, and subtitles.
Regardless of your experience level, you can work with 3Play Media as a Voice Writer to provide real-time captions for live events.
How to apply
- Go to 3Play Media's contractor page.
- Click on "Apply to become an English Voice Writer."
- Input your basic information in a form. Click on "Save and Continue."
- Confirm your email address.
- Fill out your location information.
- Answer questions about your skills and experience, then click "Submit."
- 3Play Media will contact you about the next steps in your application process.
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Try Fireflies for free!5. Rev
Rev is a popular platform that provides human & AI transcription, closed captions, and translated subtitles.
It offers many remote captioning jobs ranging from YouTube videos to movie subtitles.
Captioners working for Rev earn around $240 monthly on average.
How to apply
- Sign up on Rev.
- Take a grammar quiz and submit a captioning sample.
- Once you get approved, you can start working right away.
- Rev allows you to pick what you want to work on — you can choose to caption educational videos, movies, TV shows, and more.
6. Capital Captions
Capital Captions provides subtitling, closed captioning, video transcription, translation, and voiceover services.
It also hires closed caption writers who can work freelance or on a sub-contract basis.
You’ll need to meet these requirements to become a captioner at this company:
- Possess at least two years of subtitling experience.
- Have a typing speed of at least 65 words per minute.
- Have access to subtitle creation software, a file converter, and a video editing tool.
- Have a high-speed broadband connection.
How to apply
All you have to do is send an email with your CV to info@capitalcaptions.com to kickstart your application process.
7. National Captioning Institute
This next company helps businesses and individuals with all their web captioning, subtitling, translation, transcription, and audio description needs.
It provides several captioning jobs that you can apply for.
How to apply
Email your cover letter and resume/CV to hr@ncicap.org.
8. AI-Media
You can also find remote captioning jobs at AI-Media, a platform that provides translation and captioning services for businesses.
How to apply
- Head on over to its careers page to view current job vacancies.
- You can filter your job search by title, location, type, and category.
- Apply for any job that would be suitable for you.
9. Daily Transcription
With almost 2 decades in the transcription industry, Daily Transcription is one of the top platforms for accurate transcription, subtitling, and translation.It provides a list of closed-captioning job openings that you can apply for.
How to apply
Go to its careers page, search its current job openings, and apply for any role you think would be a good fit.
10. Vanan Captioning
If you're looking for remote closed captioning jobs, Vanan Captioning is a great place to start. It offers accurate captioning and subtitling services in over 100 languages.
How to apply
- Fill out the employment form.
- Wait for feedback.
11. Upwork
You can also find closed captioning jobs on Upwork, a popular work marketplace that connects businesses with freelancers.
How to apply
Simply create an Upwork account and search for the jobs you want. You can also filter your searches based on your preferences.
12. Classroom Captioning
Classroom Captioning provides real-time captioning (CART) and TypeWell services (remote meaning-for-meaning captioning) for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, as it believes everyone deserves an equal learning advantage.
If you're looking to apply for a real-time captioning job, this company is a solid place to start.
How to apply
Send an email containing your resume to info@classroomcaptioning.com and wait for Classroom Captioning to get back to you.
13. CaptionLabs
CaptionLabs offers a cost-effective closed captioning solution for businesses of all sizes. It also provides several captioning jobs.
How to apply
Scan through its list of current job openings and choose the one(s) you'd like to apply for.
14. CaptioningStar
CaptioningStar offers live, broadcast, open, closed, and LMS captions, as well as audio descriptions.
This company also hires freelance real-time captioners.
How to apply
- Fill out a form with your contact details, upload your resume, and click “Send.”
- Wait for one of the company’s representatives to get back to you.
15. Indeed
Indeed is a popular job search platform where you can find various job opportunities across various industries and locations.
You’re sure to find many closed captioning jobs on this platform.
How to apply
Create an account on Indeed and begin your search. You can filter your search results by location, job type, salary range, and more to narrow down your options.
Deliver superior quality work using Fireflies.ai
If you're a captioner, having the right tools can make all the difference. These tools can help you focus on your craft without being bogged down by tedious tasks.
One such tool is Fireflies, an AI-powered transcription tool that transcribes meetings, calls, podcasts, and other audio/video files across video conferencing platforms, dialers, and more.
By providing accurate transcripts, Fireflies helps you enhance your captioning workflow, reduce turnaround times, and meet your clients' expectations.
Let's take a close look at some of its features:
- Automatically generate highly accurate (90+%) transcripts with time stamps and speaker labels.
- Supports transcription in over 60 languages.
- Transcribes files uploaded in the following formats: MP3, M4A, WAV, and MP4.
- Provides an easy-to-use transcript editor.
- Allows you to export transcripts in SRT format with timestamps to quickly add to your videos. You can also download transcripts in PDF, DOCX, CSV, and JSON formats.
- Lets you playback your recordings at five different speeds: 1x, 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x, and 2x.
- Aside from dialers and video conferencing platforms, Fireflies integrates with several other tools, including CRM and collaboration apps.
- Provides Smart Search to help you quickly search through lengthy transcripts
- Allows you to collaborate on transcripts with others using soundbites (shareable audio snippets from your meetings), playlists, comments, and reactions.
- Effectively stores and organizes your transcripts into different Channels for easier reference.
- Syncs your meetings across all your devices so you can conveniently review transcripts anytime and anywhere
- Keeps all your data safe and secure
- Offers a GPT-4-powered meeting chatbot, AskFred, which can answer your questions about the call and generate content such as blog posts, emails, social media posts, etc., from the conversation context
You don't have to break the bank to use Fireflies, as it offers flexible and affordable pricing.
You can get started for free (forever) or access more features and storage by trying any of its paid plans, which start at $10/user/month.
It also offers a 7-day free trial of its highest pricing tier!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What equipment is needed for closed captioning?
You'll need some essential tools and equipment for more efficient closed captioning, including:
- A foot pedal
- Reliable internet
- Noise-canceling headphones
- Laptop or computer
- A stenotype machine to write in shorthand
- An ergonomic chair and keyboard to ensure comfort while you type
2. How much do closed captioners make?
Your salary may depend on factors like your experience level, employer, and location.
As of 2024, ZipRecruiter reports that the average hourly pay of a remote closed captioner in the United States is $31.60.
Closed captioners who work for Rev, 3Play Media, VITAC, Verbit, and CaptionCall are paid an average of $18-$25/hour.
3. What qualifications do you need to be a captioner?
You often do not necessarily need a degree to become a closed captioner. However, having a degree or relevant education can be beneficial, especially in communication, linguistics, English, or journalism.
More importantly, you typically need skills like excellent typing speed & accuracy, good grammar and punctuation skills, superb listening skills, and familiarity with captioning software.
Some employers may also require certification or training in closed captioning. One well-known certification for closed captioners is the Certified Realtime Captioner (CRC) credential offered by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA).
Conclusion
If you’ve been thinking of how to get a job doing closed captioning, we hope this blog post helps you out!
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced captioner, there are a ton of remote opportunities out there waiting for you to explore.
And, by leveraging a handy tool like Fireflies, you can work more efficiently, meet tight deadlines, and deliver top-notch services to your clients.