Twitter is implementing automatic captions for videos globally

In a big boon for accessibility, Twitter is now implementing automatic captions for videos, the company announced Tuesday. Automatic captions will be available globally on iOS, Android, and the web in "most languages," according to Twitter.

However, a significant problem with automatic captions is that they will only appear on new videos uploaded to Twitter. Old videos that don't have subtitles won't have them either. There's also no way to report impaired or incorrect captions, a Twitter spokesperson tells The Verge, though they say, "we're always looking for ways to improve our accessibility features."

Twitter has a somewhat shaky history with accessibility features, although it has improved. For example, the company was heavily criticized for launching voice tweets in 2020 without captions. However, it soon came to light that Twitter did not have a dedicated accessibility team. Since then, Twitter has created two teams focused on accessibility, eventually adding captions to voice tweets, albeit more than a year after its launch. Twitter has also added live captions to Spaces, its clubhouse-like audio room product. Tags: Twitter, automatic captions for videos