{"id":15131,"date":"2021-06-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-webvtt-file\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T19:32:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T19:32:28","slug":"how-to-create-a-webvtt-file","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-webvtt-file\/","title":{"rendered":"WebVTT Captions: How to Create a Web Video Text Track File"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-dark alignfull p-post-header has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained has-background is-style-dark--1\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);background-image:url(&#039;\/wp-content\/themes\/core\/assets\/media\/backgrounds\/hero-wave-blog.svg&#039;);background-position:50% 50%;background-size:cover;\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group aligngrid has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons aligngrid is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-ghost is-style-reversed is-style-ghost--2\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"\/blog\">Blog<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity aligngrid\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);margin-bottom:0\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center aligngrid is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-008400e6 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);margin-bottom:0\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div style=\"padding-bottom:0;padding-top:0;\" class=\"is-style-category wp-block-tribe-terms\"><ul class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__list\"><li class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__term\"><span class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__link t-category\">Captioning<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n<h1 style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);margin-bottom:0;\" class=\"alignwide wp-block-post-title\">WebVTT Captions: How to Create a Web Video Text Track File<\/h1>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-9116416d wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\"><div class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-post-author-name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/author\/3playmedia\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"wp-block-post-author-name__link\">3Play Media<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-post-date has-10-font-size\"><time datetime=\"2021-06-09T00:00:00+00:00\">June 9, 2021<\/time><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><figure class=\"alignfull alignfull wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1400\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/.\/WebVTT-header.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"border-radius:1rem;object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WebVTT-header.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WebVTT-header-300x107.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WebVTT-header-1024x366.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WebVTT-header-768x274.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/go.3playmedia.com\/wp-create-webvtt-file\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Create your own WebVTT Files [Free Guide]<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>A \u201cWeb Video Text Track\u201d file, also known as WebVTT (.vtt), is a popular subtitle and caption file format. WebVTT was created in 2010 by the <a href=\"https:\/\/whatwg.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG)<\/a> to support text tracks in HTML5.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/webvtt1\/#file-structure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WebVTT<\/a> was broadly based on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/create-srt-file\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SupRip format<\/a>, another popular caption format, and was even called WebSRT with the same .srt file extension. Later, it was renamed WebVTT and introduced with the tag for HTML5.<\/p>\n<div class=\"featured-snippet\" style=\"background-color: #f1f1f2; padding: 30px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #ffffff; padding: 20px; max-width: 95%; margin-bottom: 20px; border: 2px solid #E6006F;\">\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left; color: #e6006f;\">How is WebVTT different from SRT?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Unlike the SRT format, WebVTT allows for description and metadata information to be included within the frames, which is not displayed to the viewer.<\/li>\n<li>All WebVTT files start with the line \u201cWebVTT,\u201d while SRT files don\u2019t use an SRT distinction and instead begin with a \u201c1\u201d for the first caption sequence.<\/li>\n<li>In an SRT file, frames need to be separated by cue identifiers. In WebVTT, cue identifiers are optional.<\/li>\n<li>In a WebVTT file, the timecodes are separated by full stops rather than commas.<\/li>\n<li>WebVTT files must have a UTF-8 encoding, which is not required in an SRT file.<\/li>\n<li>WebVTT files can support additional information, such as frame placement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>\u00a0<\/h2>\n<h2>What are the components of a WebVTT file?<\/h2>\n<p>A WebVTT file has two requirements and many optional components.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>two requirements<\/strong> are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>WEBVTT at the beginning of the transcript.<\/li>\n<li>A blank line in between each caption frame to indicate the end of a sequence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The <strong>optional<\/strong> components are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A byte order mark (BOM) telling the reader the file is encoded with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fileformat.info\/info\/unicode\/utf8.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UTF-8<\/a>. An example of a BOM could be EF BB BF.<\/li>\n<li>A header to the right of the WEBVTT. There must be a single space between and must not include a newline or \u201c\u2013 \u2013&gt;\u201d. You can use this to describe the file.<\/li>\n<li>Comments: indicated by NOTE and on separate lines.<\/li>\n<li>A sequence number to help keep captions organized.<\/li>\n<li>Positioning information on the same line after the second timecode.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-24945\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WebVTT-scaled-1.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" alt=\"WebVTT format broken down\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" \/><\/center>\n<p>All sequences begin with a <strong>timecode<\/strong>. The time format used is <strong>minutes:seconds.milliseconds<\/strong> or <strong>hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds<\/strong>, with the milliseconds rounded to 3 decimal places. A two-hash arrow separates each timestamp (\u201c\u2013 \u2013&gt;\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>You can use a hyphen to indicate the start of a caption, such as:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-24946\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WebVTT-caption.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" alt=\"WebVTT format showing start of captions\" width=\"1400\" height=\"200\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Keep in mind that you do not want to have blank lines within a caption sequence. A blank line indicates the end of a sequence and should only be used to separate the captions in different timecodes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Comments<\/strong> can be added, and the end-user will not see them. You can use comments to describe a file or keep reminders within the file. Comments must start with NOTE, followed by a space or a new line. Similar to a sequence, you cannot have a blank line between a single comment. You can include as many characters as you need within a comment.<\/p>\n<p>Comments can look like this:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-24944\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WebVTT-Coments.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" alt=\"WebVTT comment format\" width=\"1400\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Cue settings<\/strong> indicate the positioning of the caption. These are added after the second timecode with a space in between. You can use cue settings to indicate where the captions will be placed and positioned. You can also indicate the width of the text area and alignment of the text. You can also use cue settings to make the text <strong>bold<\/strong>, <em>italic<\/em>, or <u>underlined<\/u>.<\/p>\n<p>Here is an example:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-24947\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WebVTT-Cue-setting.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" alt=\"WebVTT cue setting example\" width=\"1400\" height=\"200\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Track tags<\/strong> are used to specify time text tracks. You can define the type of track with a \u201ckind\u201d attribution. There are five kinds: subtitles, captions, descriptions, chapters, and metadata. By default, a &lt; track &gt; tag will be a subtitle unless defined otherwise.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/go.3playmedia.com\/wp-create-webvtt-file\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Create your own WebVTT Files with our free guide<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Why should I use a WebVTT file?<\/h2>\n<p>WebVTT is a popular captioning format. The benefit of using WebVTT is that you can add additional information such as frame placement, styling, and comments.<\/p>\n<p>WebVTT is also the format choice for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/how-to-guides\/html5-video-captioning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">HTML5<\/a> video.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the most common platforms that use WebVTT are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/services\/integrations\/vimeo-integration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vimeo<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/services\/integrations\/brightcove-integration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brightcove<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/how-to-guides\/jw-player\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">JW Player<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/how-to-guides\/video-js-captions-subtitles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Video.js<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/services\/integrations\/youtube-integration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouTube<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How to create your own WebVTT file<\/h2>\n<p>You can either create a WebVTT file yourself or hire a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/plans-pricing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">professional captioning company<\/a>. With a professional service, you can avoid having to figure out timecodes or worry about positioning. If time is a constraint, a professional vendor is a great option.<\/p>\n<p>If you decide to make captions yourself, follow the steps below to create your own WebVTT file from scratch. The instructions are slightly different depending on the operating system you use (Mac or Windows PC).<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #e6006f;\">For Mac users:<\/span><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Open a new file in <strong>TextEdit<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>First, type \u201cWEBVTT\u201d to indicate this is a .vtt file, then press enter twice to leave a blank line. <em>Note: You can include a title or comment before your caption sequence. If you decide to include a comment, either do it on the same line as \u201cWEBVTT\u201d or press enter and start a new NOTE. <\/em>Enter the beginning and end timecode using the following format:<center><\/center><center><\/center><center><\/center><center>hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds \u2013&gt; hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds<\/center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-24948\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WebVTT-timecode.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" alt=\"WebVTT 00:00.000 to 00:04:440\" width=\"1400\" height=\"200\" \/><\/li>\n<li>If you choose to add a sequence indicator, such as a \u201c1,\u201d do so on a separate line above the timecodes. Then press \u201center.\u201d <em>Note: To add cue settings, put a space between the second timecode and add position, size, alignment, etc.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>In the next line, begin your captions. Try to keep a 32-character limit with 2 lines per caption so that the viewer doesn\u2019t have to read too much and the caption doesn\u2019t take up too much screen space. Also, make sure your captions are compliant with captioning guidelines.*<\/li>\n<li>After the last text line in the sequence, press \u201center\u201d twice. Make sure to leave a blank line to indicate a new caption sequence. <em>Here are two examples of the same WebVTT file. You can see how to use comments, sequence numbers, and cue settings.<\/em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-24950\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Two-WebVTT-examples.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" alt=\"WebVTT two examples\" width=\"1400\" height=\"600\" \/><\/li>\n<li>Repeat the steps until you have a completed transcript.<\/li>\n<li>To save your file as a .vtt, go to Format \u2192 Make Plain Text or use the keyboard shortcut: Shift + Command + T.<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/03-07-2017-change.jpg\" alt=\"changing to plain text\" \/><\/li>\n<li>Next, go to File \u2192 Save.<\/li>\n<li>Under \u201cSave As,\u201d type the name of your file but <strong>switch \u201c.txt\u201d to \u201c.vtt\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Uncheck both \u201cHide Extension\u201d on the bottom left-hand side of the menu. \u201cIf no extension is provided,\u201d use \u201c.txt\u201d<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/06-29-2017-vtt-saving.jpg\" alt=\"saving vtt form\" \/><\/li>\n<li>Then hit save.<\/li>\n<li>Congratulations! You are now ready to upload your captions.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #e6006f;\">For Windows users:<\/span><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Open a new file on <strong>Notepad<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>First, type \u201cWEBVTT\u201d to indicate this is a .vtt file, then press enter twice to leave a blank line. <em>Note: You can include a title or comment before your caption sequence. If you decide to include a comment, either do it on the same line as \u201cWEBVTT\u201d or press enter and start a new NOTE.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Enter the beginning and end timecode using the following format:<center>hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds \u2013 \u2013&gt;hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds<\/center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-24948\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WebVTT-timecode.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" alt=\"WebVTT 00:00.000 to 00:04:440\" width=\"1400\" height=\"200\" \/><\/li>\n<li>If you choose to add a sequence indicator, such as a \u201c1,\u201d do so on a separate line above the timecodes. Then press \u201center.\u201d <em>Note: To add cue settings, put a space between the second timecode and add position, size, alignment, etc.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>In the next line, begin your captions. Try to keep a 32-character limit with 2 lines per caption so the viewer doesn\u2019t have to read too much and the caption doesn\u2019t take up too much screen space. Also, make sure your captions are compliant with captioning guidelines.*<\/li>\n<li>After the last text line in the sequence, press \u201center\u201d twice. Make sure to leave a blank line to indicate a new caption sequence.<\/li>\n<li><em>Here are two examples of the same WebVTT file. You can see how comments, sequence numbers, and cue settings are used.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-24950\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Two-WebVTT-examples.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Two-WebVTT-examples.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Two-WebVTT-examples-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Two-WebVTT-examples-600x257.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Two-WebVTT-examples-768x329.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Two-WebVTT-examples-585x251.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Two-WebVTT-examples-888x381.jpg 888w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Two-WebVTT-examples-350x150.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Two-WebVTT-examples-175x75.jpg 175w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Two-WebVTT-examples-174x75.jpg 174w\" alt=\"WebVTT two examples\" width=\"1400\" height=\"600\" \/><\/em><\/li>\n<li>Repeat the steps until you have a completed transcript.<\/li>\n<li>To save, go to File \u2192 Save.<\/li>\n<li>Under \u201cFile Name,\u201d type the name of your transcript using \u201c<strong>.vtt<\/strong>\u201d at the end.<\/li>\n<li>Under \u201cSave as type:\u201d select \u201cAll Files.\u201d<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/04-07-2017-save_as_srt.jpg\" alt=\"Save As SRT\" \/><\/li>\n<li>Then hit save.<\/li>\n<li>Congratulations! You are now ready to upload your captions.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>*For more information on legal requirements and closed captioning guidelines, refer to our white papers:<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"\" class=\"su-box su-box-style-noise\" style=\"border-color: #b3003c; border-radius: 5px;\">\n<div class=\"su-box-title\" style=\"background-color: #e6006f; color: #ffffff; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px;\">Captioning laws and guidelines<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-box-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px;\">\n<div class=\"su-row\">\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-2\">\n<div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<p><strong>For online video previously aired on television:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/go.3playmedia.com\/wp-fcc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Are You Compliant? FCC Updates for Closed Captioning<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/go.3playmedia.com\/wp-cvaa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CVAA Online Video Captioning Requirements and Deadlines<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-2\">\n<div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<p><strong>For all federal government and federally subsidized entities who create online video:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/go.3playmedia.com\/wp-section-508\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Section 508 &amp; 504: Captioning and Web Accessibility Requirements<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/go.3playmedia.com\/wp-wcag\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WCAG 2.0: Web Accessibility in the 21st Century<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/go.3playmedia.com\/wp-create-webvtt-file\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Create your own WebVTT Files [Free Guide]<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>How to upload your WebVTT file<\/h2>\n<p>Depending on the media player, lecture capture software, or video recording software you use, the process to upload your WebVTT file will be different. Use the following 3Play Media guides to learn how to upload your caption file.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/services\/integrations\/vimeo-integration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vimeo<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/services\/integrations\/brightcove-integration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brightcove<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/how-to-guides\/jw-player\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">JW Player<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/learn\/how-to-guides\/video-js-captions-subtitles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Video.js<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/services\/integrations\/youtube-integration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouTube<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The downside of creating your own WebVTT files<\/h2>\n<p>If you want to create your own captions, making a WebVTT file from scratch is an easy and free option. The only downfall is that you have to create your own timecodes and any other style elements, making DIY captioning a time-consuming process.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/long-take-manually-caption-videos\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How long it will take to caption a video<\/a> depends on the length of your video, your captioning experience, and the quality of the video. Typically, if you are an experienced transcriptionist, a five-minute video can take 5 to 10 times the length of the video, or 25-50 minutes. If you create your own timecodes and cue settings through a WeBVTT file, this may take longer.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t let the time it takes to create captions keep you from adding captions to your videos. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/7-ways-video-transcripts-captions-improve-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">There are numerous benefits to captioning your videos<\/a>, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/why-3play\/case-studies\/discovery-digital-networks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">improving your SEO<\/a> and opening up your content to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/how-accessible-content-can-reach-a-wider-audience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">new audiences<\/a>, from viewers who are deaf\/hard of hearing, to viewers who know English as a second language, to viewers who enjoy using captions.<\/p>\n<p>Though many people choose to create their own captions to save money, if you are captioning many videos or your videos are long, consider hiring a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/plans-pricing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">captioning service<\/a>. With a captioning service, you do not need to worry about timecodes or making sure your captions are compliant. A good captioning service will take care of all the logistics within a reasonable amount of time and offer a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/caption-quality\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">99% accuracy rate or higher<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Before choosing a vendor, make sure you research <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/matters-selecting-closed-captioning-service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">who will caption your videos<\/a>\u00a0and the company\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/how-captioning-and-transcription-process-determines-rates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">captioning and transcription process<\/a> to understand their rates.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/go.3playmedia.com\/wp-create-webvtt-file\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26994\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/webvtt-cta.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" alt=\"Create Your Own WebVTT Files. Download the Guide.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"286\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>This article was originally published on June 30, 2017, by Sofia Enamorado and has since been updated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" style=\"margin-bottom:0\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c28011a wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0\">Filed under<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);\" class=\"is-style-pills wp-block-tribe-terms\"><ul class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__list\"><li class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__term\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/tag\/blog\/\" class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__link t-category\">Blog<\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__term\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/tag\/captioning\/\" class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__link t-category\">Captioning<\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__term\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/tag\/video-accessibility\/\" class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__link t-category\">video accessibility<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-dda23514 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-right:0;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0\">About the author<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);\" class=\"wp-block-post-author\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__avatar\"><img alt='' src='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/077af0eed48d15985c692daeff79eaff223726049f53bd6ef9a51ffb76629ed1?s=96&#038;d=mm&#038;r=g' srcset='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/077af0eed48d15985c692daeff79eaff223726049f53bd6ef9a51ffb76629ed1?s=192&#038;d=mm&#038;r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-96 photo' height='96' width='96' \/><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/author\/3playmedia\/\" target=\"_self\">3Play Media<\/a><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__bio\"><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-fe217b39 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p style=\"margin-bottom:0\">Share this page<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-fe217b39 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing has-normal-icon-size has-icon-color is-style-logos-only is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-outermost-social-sharing-is-layout-95ca00fe wp-block-social-sharing-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10)\"><li style=\"color: #767676; 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margin-bottom:0;\" class=\"p-card-post__image wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ada-auditing-budgeting.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"person typing on calculator\" style=\"width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ada-auditing-budgeting.png 600w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ada-auditing-budgeting-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"margin-top:0;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-bottom:0;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\"><div style=\"margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10);\" class=\"is-style-category wp-block-tribe-terms\"><ul class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__list\"><li class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__term\"><span class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__link t-category\">Legislation &amp; Compliance<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n<p style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;\" class=\"p-card-post__link wp-block-post-title\">A University Guide to Budgeting and Auditing for ADA Video Compliance<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<a class=\"p-card-post__link a-link-cover wp-block-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/ada-video-compliance-budgeting\/\" target=\"_self\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">: A University Guide to Budgeting and Auditing for ADA Video Compliance<\/span><\/a><\/article>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-15026 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-legislation-compliance tag-accessibility-laws tag-ada tag-blog tag-wcag\">\n\n<article class=\"wp-block-group p-card-post l-clearfix is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-left:0\"><figure style=\"aspect-ratio:16\/9;width:100%; margin-bottom:0;\" class=\"p-card-post__image wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"393\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ada-video-requirements-hero-e1762464429188.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"person at laptop with judge&#039;s gavel\" style=\"width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ada-video-requirements-hero-e1762464429188.png 600w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ada-video-requirements-hero-e1762464429188-300x197.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"margin-top:0;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-bottom:0;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\"><div style=\"margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10);\" class=\"is-style-category wp-block-tribe-terms\"><ul class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__list\"><li class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__term\"><span class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__link t-category\">Legislation &amp; Compliance<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n<p style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;\" class=\"p-card-post__link wp-block-post-title\">Everything to Know About the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Video Compliance<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<a class=\"p-card-post__link a-link-cover wp-block-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/ada-video-requirements\/\" target=\"_self\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">: Everything to Know About the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Video Compliance<\/span><\/a><\/article>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-15201 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-dubbing category-subtitling tag-blog tag-video-accessibility\">\n\n<article class=\"wp-block-group p-card-post l-clearfix is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-left:0\"><figure style=\"aspect-ratio:16\/9;width:100%; margin-bottom:0;\" class=\"p-card-post__image wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/subs-v-dubs-hero.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"couple watching tv\" style=\"width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/subs-v-dubs-hero.png 600w, https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/subs-v-dubs-hero-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"margin-top:0;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-bottom:0;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\"><div style=\"margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10);\" class=\"is-style-category wp-block-tribe-terms\"><ul class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__list\"><li class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__term\"><span class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__link t-category\">Subtitling<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n<p style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;\" class=\"p-card-post__link wp-block-post-title\">Subtitling vs. Dubbing: Which is Right for Your Audience?<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<a class=\"p-card-post__link a-link-cover wp-block-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.3playmedia.com\/blog\/subtitling-vs-dubbing\/\" target=\"_self\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">: Subtitling vs. Dubbing: Which is Right for Your Audience?<\/span><\/a><\/article>\n\n<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2022 Create your own WebVTT Files [Free Guide] A \u201cWeb Video Text Track\u201d file, also known as WebVTT (.vtt), is a popular subtitle and caption file format. WebVTT was created in 2010 by the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) to support text tracks in HTML5. WebVTT was broadly based on the SupRip format,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":4798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[8,23,31],"industry":[],"resource_type":[92],"class_list":["post-15131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-captioning","tag-blog","tag-captioning","tag-video-accessibility"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v26.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WebVTT Captions: How to Create a Web Video Text Track File<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The WebVTT caption format is a popular alternative to SRT files. 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