What is captioning?

Captioning (hidden text) is a technology allowing the transcription of the audio information of a television program into a box with subtitles which are set in white characters on a black background. This facilitates access to information by the television viewer with auditory disabilities.

This text can be presented in two ways: The first is visible to the television viewer at all times and it is known as Open Caption. The second is activated by the television viewer, by means of the television remote control, and is called Closed Caption.

Since 1993 television sets made in the United States of America are required by U.S. law to include closed captioning (CC) capability.