Open captions
Open captions (OC)
Captions burned permanently into the video frame so every viewer sees them. The opposite of closed captions, which can be toggled.
In depth
Open captions are rendered into the video pixels at export time, the same way titles or graphics are. There is no separate text track — the captions are part of the image, so they appear on every player, on every platform, regardless of caption settings or codec support. The trade-off is permanence: viewers cannot turn them off, switch languages, or restyle them.
When to use it
Use open captions when delivering to platforms with weak caption support (TikTok, Reels, Shorts), when the caption styling is part of the brand, or when you want guaranteed visibility in feeds where viewers scroll with sound off.
Frequently asked
Are open captions and hardcoded subtitles the same?+
Yes — different vocabulary for the same thing. 'Open captions' is the broadcast / accessibility term; 'hardcoded' or 'burned-in' is the post-production term. Both mean the captions are baked into the pixels and can't be turned off.
Do open captions satisfy ADA / WCAG accessibility requirements?+
They guarantee captions are visible, but most legal frameworks (ADA, WCAG 2.1 SC 1.2.2) prefer closed captions because viewers can adjust size and color. For full compliance, deliver a separate caption track alongside the open captions wherever the platform supports it.
Why pick open captions over closed?+
Reach. On TikTok, Reels, and Shorts the closed-caption layer is unreliable across feed contexts and many viewers never enable it. Burning the captions in guarantees they appear in autoplay, in the FYP preview, and in any reposts.
Captions that the viewer can toggle on or off, typically delivered as a separate text track encoded into or alongside the video.
Subtitles permanently rendered into the video frame. They can't be turned off, but they look identical on every player and platform.
Subtitles that include speaker labels and non-speech audio cues like [music], [door slams], so deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers get the full experience.