When creating subtitles for maximum accessibility, it’s important for viewers to easily follow who is speaking, especially in dialogues or interviews. Indicating speaker changes clearly ensures that your content is accessible and easy to understand for all audiences, including those relying entirely on subtitles. This article explains the key concepts.

According to the BBC Subtitle Guidelines, there are several techniques to assist the viewer in identifying speakers. The BBC's preferred techniques are colour and single quotes, but other techniques exist in legacy subtitle files and subtitles repurposed from non-UK sources. These may include the use of dashes ("-"), horizontal positioning, etc. In general, the dash and colour changes are the two most commonly applied methods.


1. The Dash (-)

A simple and effective way to indicate a speaker change is by using a dash, usually but not always at the beginning of the subtitle line. This method is recommended by most style guides, including the BBC, and works well across most platforms and media players.


Example:


– How are you?
– Fine, thanks.


This approach is particularly useful in situations where colour coding is not supported by the playback device or distribution platform.


2. Speaker Colours

An alternative method, especially recommended when subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) is the use of colours to differentiate between speakers. 


Often, but not always, different speakers are assigned a distinct colour, making it easy to visually distinguish them at a glance. This technique is popular in reality shows, documentaries, and unscripted content where multiple speakers may overlap frequently.


Example:


How are you?
Fine, thanks.


Colours can make subtitles more engaging and accessible, but it’s important to ensure sufficient contrast for readability. This is why SDH subtitles mostly use a dark background.


3. Limecraft Supports both Colours and Dashes to Indicate Speaker Changes

Whether you use Limecraft for manual subtitling or automated subtitling, both the use of dashes and speaker colours are supported.


  • Dash for Speaker Change: if enabled, Limecraft automatically inserts dashes to indicate speaker changes upon creation of subtitles based on a transcript. This follows industry-standard practices and ensures compatibility with all distribution formats.
  • Speaker Colours: For customers who prefer colour coding, Limecraft allows you to configure speaker colours when exporting subtitles, including any preferences about consistently using the same colours for the same speaker, or rather maximising the number of colour switches.


You can select and fine-tune the details of your preferred style via the Subtitling Settings.