The YouTube captioning workflow is wonderful in that in negates the need to manually transcribe the audio from our videos, but automatically generated captions still require editing for accuracy. While this editing can be done directly within YouTube, as described in our captioning guide, users may prefer to edit their text within Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

Such a workflow enables users to utilize the more powerful text editing tools, such as spellcheck or find and replace, available within Word or Google Docs.  

To edit your captions in Word or Google Docs:

1. Navigate to YouTube Studio and go to the Subtitles menu on the left.
2. Select the video you wish to work on.
3. On the Video Subtitles screen, select Duplicate and Edit. The transcript of the video will be displayed within the captioning tool.
4. Select all of the text (Ctrl+A or Cmd+A) and copy it (Ctrl+C or Cmd+C).
5. Open your preferred text editor and paste the text (Ctrl+V or Cmd+V).
6. Edit the captions within the text editor and then select all and copy it.
7. Return to the captioning tool, delete the previous text and paste in your revised text.
8. Select Assign Timings and then Publish.

The Communications and Community Relations Department is offering an additional Zoom workshop on the YouTube captioning workflow on February 1. If you have captioning questions or tips in the meantime, please reach out to Robert Hardy, the district’s website accessibility specialist.