Your 7-step plan to becoming
a successful captioner

Learn how to create subtitles and captions that give deaf and hard of hearing viewers meaningful access to audiovisual content

  1. Transcribe the dialogue
  2. Identify speakers
  3. Describe how characters speak
  4. Describe plot-pertinent sounds
  5. Describe music and lyrics
  6. Mark accents and foreign speech
  7. Put it all together

By the end of this course, you'll learn to...

  • create subtitles which help deaf and hard of hearing viewers access TV shows and other audiovisual content

  • master the creation of subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing using professional state-of-the-art subtitling tools

  • add plot-pertinent sound identifiers to your subtitles to help deaf and hard of hearing viewers recognize the source of the sound

  • identify characters in a film by adding speaker labels and colours

  • describe mood music and song lyrics using different strategies

  • use appropriate subtitling formats to export subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and closed captions

  • conform standard subtitles for hearing viewers to subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing, and vice versa

Who is this course for?

  • For language professionals

    - Subtitlers who want to add SDH and closed captioning to their skills

    - Translators who want to diversify into media accessibility

    - Linguists who want to apply their skills to audiovisual content

  • For organisations

    - Language Service Providers training captioning teams

    - Content owners working on accessibility

    - Localisation professionals managing accessible content

What you will get from this course

A proven 7-step framework

  • Practical exercises with answer keys

    Apply what you learn to real audiovisual material and compare your work with detailed sample answers

  • Professional subtitling software

    Get access to professional tools and learn how SDH is created in real subtitling workflows

  • Downloadable resources

    Keep practical checklists, style guides and reference materials you can use in future projects

  • One year to complete the course

    Study at your own pace for 365 days from the date of purchase

  • Subtitled video lessons

    All course videos are subtitled

  • Learn wherever you are

    Access the course on your computer, tablet or mobile phone

  • A learning community

    Connect with other AVT Masterclass students and continue the conversation beyond the lessons

  • Discounts on professional software

    After completing the course, you will be eligible for a discount to purchase professional subtitling software

Course curriculum

    1. Welcome to the course!

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. How to use this course

      FREE PREVIEW

    3. AVT Masterclass Style Guide

      FREE PREVIEW

    4. Glossary of AVT terms

    1. Types of SDH: subtitles and captions?

    2. Types of SDH: pre-recorded, semi-live and live

      FREE PREVIEW

    3. How is SDH different?

    4. Quiz on SDH

      FREE PREVIEW

    5. What is good quality captioning? (Interview)

      FREE PREVIEW

    6. Four Principles of Closed Captioning (Interview)

    1. Who benefits from subtitles?

    2. Why it won't help to turn up the volume

    3. Interview with a hard of hearing viewer

    4. Interview with deaf viewers

    5. Quiz on target viewers

    6. Captioning and universal design principles

    1. Subtitling tools in this course

      FREE PREVIEW

    1. Introduction to EZTitles Basic Course by EZTitles Development Studio

    2. Get your own EZTitles license

    3. Understand the EZTitles workspace

      FREE PREVIEW

    4. How to define project settings

      FREE PREVIEW

    5. How to customise layout

    6. How to work with videos?

    7. How to time your first subtitles

    8. Automatic fixes

    9. How to remove a keyboard shortcut?

    10. EZTitles User Guide

    11. Where to find more info?

    1. Cloud or desktop?

    2. How to sign up

    3. Closed Caption Creator: Closed Captioning for Beginners

    4. Introduction to Closed Caption Creator

    5. How to organise workspace and edit events

    6. How to define project settings and fix errors

    7. How to configure metrics in your workspace

    8. How to fix subtitles using QC and Review

    9. How to work with multiple media files in one project

    10. How to configure teletext captions

    11. How to batch export files from multiple projects

    12. Want to learn more?

About this course

  • €399,00
  • 102 lessons
  • 4 hours of video content

What our students are saying

Susana Serrão

5 star rating

“This SDH course by AVT Masterclass is a delight. Everything is thoroughly explained, with fellow professionals giving their input. And the materials to work with? Little film and TV gems. You will get to know several SDH conventions, and work with...”

→Read More

“This SDH course by AVT Masterclass is a delight. Everything is thoroughly explained, with fellow professionals giving their input. And the materials to work with? Little film and TV gems. You will get to know several SDH conventions, and work with industry software. I wholly recommend it!”

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Susana Lino

5 star rating

“The SDH course is great. It includes plenty of content and opportunies to put theory into practise using professional tools. The interviews are one of the details I liked the most, as they provide very relevant insights about the needs of deaf and...”

→Read More

“The SDH course is great. It includes plenty of content and opportunies to put theory into practise using professional tools. The interviews are one of the details I liked the most, as they provide very relevant insights about the needs of deaf and hard of hearing viewers as well as great input from professionals. Thanks, AVT Masterclass!”

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Cecile Pasquet

5 star rating

“I would strongly recommend this course to anyone interested in SDH. The course is very accurate, extremely insightful, and contains extra bonus sections, such as videos with professionals, practical exercises, useful guidelines and recommendations...”

→Read More

“I would strongly recommend this course to anyone interested in SDH. The course is very accurate, extremely insightful, and contains extra bonus sections, such as videos with professionals, practical exercises, useful guidelines and recommendations. A must-have, well-designed course.”

→Read Less

Simone Taylor

5 star rating

“I love the way the course focused on the audience and what they would like to see in captions, then contrasting this view with the technical challenges we face to produce such captions. ”

“I love the way the course focused on the audience and what they would like to see in captions, then contrasting this view with the technical challenges we face to produce such captions. ”

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Maryline Caujolle

5 star rating

“If you want to know the main guidelines for subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing, this is the course you are looking for. It provides useful information, exercises, and even interviews with deaf and hard of hearing viewers.”

“If you want to know the main guidelines for subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing, this is the course you are looking for. It provides useful information, exercises, and even interviews with deaf and hard of hearing viewers.”

→Read Less

Tiffany Cândido

5 star rating

“A self-paced course lectured by some of the best AVT professionals, that offers the trainee the chance to work with ultimate softwares, as well as the most pertinent and useful tips to the translators who would like to pursue a carreer in the audi...”

→Read More

“A self-paced course lectured by some of the best AVT professionals, that offers the trainee the chance to work with ultimate softwares, as well as the most pertinent and useful tips to the translators who would like to pursue a carreer in the audiovisual field. The fact that every lesson includes an exercise helps knowledge consolidation and makes a complete difference!”

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Fatima Saab

5 star rating

“I really enjoyed watching the first part of this course. The instructor is very clear, I am excited about the coming parts.”

“I really enjoyed watching the first part of this course. The instructor is very clear, I am excited about the coming parts.”

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Dylan Camilleri

5 star rating

“A professional course intended to all those who would like to become captioners or for SDH subtitlers who would like to improve their skills. The step by step approach of this course to SDH, helps the student to fully get to grips with the topic. ...”

→Read More

“A professional course intended to all those who would like to become captioners or for SDH subtitlers who would like to improve their skills. The step by step approach of this course to SDH, helps the student to fully get to grips with the topic. The interviews, quizzes, exercises and downloadable material make it worthwhile.”

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Inna Myhyrych

5 star rating

“Very informative course! I couldn't even imagine that I would learn so many differences between subtitles for hearing viewers and SDH. Each part is described in detail, plus exercises with the keys.”

“Very informative course! I couldn't even imagine that I would learn so many differences between subtitles for hearing viewers and SDH. Each part is described in detail, plus exercises with the keys.”

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Karina Wargula

5 star rating

“Your course made me feel a bit like I'm back on Uni! I really enjoyed clear way in which the material is presented. The greatest thing though is that interviews and videos included give insight into the world of deaf and hard of hearing people. ”

“Your course made me feel a bit like I'm back on Uni! I really enjoyed clear way in which the material is presented. The greatest thing though is that interviews and videos included give insight into the world of deaf and hard of hearing people. ”

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Kwiryna Proczkowska

5 star rating

“This SDH course is a true mine of information! Besides information on basic subtitling rules and different style guides, you also get interviews with SDH users and researchers that provide valuable insights into what constitutes good-quality SDH s...”

→Read More

“This SDH course is a true mine of information! Besides information on basic subtitling rules and different style guides, you also get interviews with SDH users and researchers that provide valuable insights into what constitutes good-quality SDH subtitles. There are very diverse videos provided in the exercise sections, which, for me, were the highlight of this course. I found them really interesting and challenging! Describing music and sounds seemed a bit daunting at first, but thanks to a cheat sheet with sample sound descriptions and keys to exercises, it got easier over time! I definitely recommend this course!”

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Paola Porciello

5 star rating

“No stone is left unturned in this amazing journey through closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing. You won't just find precise and complete technical information to get started, you'll also be given the possibility to put the things you...”

→Read More

“No stone is left unturned in this amazing journey through closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing. You won't just find precise and complete technical information to get started, you'll also be given the possibility to put the things you're learning to the test as you move on through the course. What I liked best about this course is that SDH subtitling is not a perfect science, but rather something that requires creativity, sensitivity and good sense. Highly recommended! ”

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Showcase your skills

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION

When you finish the course, you’ll receive an official Certificate of Completion. It’s a clear way to show you’ve built practical, professional skills in SDH and closed captioning. Share it with clients, employers, or colleagues – or add it to your portfolio or LinkedIn profile to highlight your expertise.
A woman holding a university diploma

Our guarantee

We are confident in the quality of our courses, which has been confirmed by many satisfied students. That’s why we are able to offer a 100% money-back guarantee.

If you buy the course and find that you did not learn anything new or that you think the course is not in line with its description or syllabus, we will refund you 100% of what you paid. [See “Terms of use” for details.]
We offer 100% money-back guarantee.

Captioning is no longer optional

Accessibility requirements are increasing across markets, and the demand for high-quality captions is growing with them


Accessibility requirements are tightening in both the European Union and the United States, and captions are increasingly treated as part of formal accessibility compliance for video content. In Europe, the European Accessibility Act applies from 28 June 2025, including to services providing access to audiovisual media services.

In the United States, the Department of Justice’s 2024 rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act sets enforceable web and mobile accessibility requirements for state and local governments, including standards that cover captions for video.

In practical terms, compliance isn’t achieved by “dialogue-only” captions. SDH requires captions that are accurate, readable and well-timed, with speaker identification and meaningful non-speech information (sound effects, music cues, tone). 

Meet your instructors

Prof. Agnieszka Szarkowska is a researcher and educator in audiovisual translation and media accessibility. With over twenty years' experience teaching audiovisual translation, she has trained hundreds of students internationally and is helping to shape the next generation of subtitlers and researchers. As a trainer, she connects everyday practice back to the research it's built on. She is also principal investigator of several research projects, a member of the European Association for Studies in Screen Translation (ESIST), and an honorary member of the Polish Audiovisual Translators Association (STAW).

Agnieszka Szarkowska

AVT Masterclass Co-founder

Meet your instructors

Agnieszka Walczak, PhD, is a media accessibility expert, audiovisual translator, translator trainer, and one of the founders of AVT Masterclass. She wrote the first thesis in Poland on text-to-speech audio description and later earned her doctorate at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where her research focused on how audiences receive audio description. For over ten years she has lectured at universities in Poland and Spain and is the author of more than fifteen publications on audiovisual translation. Alongside her academic work, she has worked for over a decade as a freelance subtitler, voice-over translator, and audio describer. She has also held a senior manager role in global content localization at a leading international media company. She is a member of the University of Warsaw's Audiovisual Translation Lab (AVT Lab) and a former member of the TransMedia Catalonia Research Group. She is affiliated with the Polish Audiovisual Translators Association (STAW). She also serves as an Event Manager for Women in Localization's Polish Chapter.

Agnieszka Walczak

AVT Masterclass Co-founder

Meet your instructors

Łukasz Dutka is an audiovisual translator, subtitling trainer and media accessibility expert, and one of the founders of AVT Masterclass. He has spent years as a freelance subtitler, template author and QC'er on high-profile titles for leading localisation companies, and he pioneered live subtitling through respeaking in Poland, from the first accessible public events in 2013 to the first television broadcast with respoken subtitles in 2017. With years of experience running corporate training and teaching university courses on audiovisual translation, subtitling, SDH and interpreting, he has helped shape how live subtitling is done in Poland. He is a member of the Polish Association of Audiovisual Translators, the University of Warsaw's Audiovisual Translation Lab (AVT Lab) and the European Association for Studies in Screen Translation (ESIST). Born by the mountains and now living by the ocean, he shares a multilingual family, a serious coffee habit and an unreasonable amount of chocolate.

Łukasz Dutka

AVT Masterclass Co-founder

Choose your payment plan

Pay the full amount or in three instalments

Pick the option that works best for you

Standard, Premium, or Bundle - you choose


The SDH course is available in two editions: Standard and Premium. 

The Premium edition includes 90 minutes of individual coaching, giving you personalised feedback and guidance as you work through the material. 

You can also choose the bundle "Become a Captioner", which combines the SDH course with Timing 101. The bundle is available in a Premium version too. 

For extra flexibility, the standard SDH course can be purchased in three instalments.

Want to get feedback?
Choose the PREMIUM version

90-minute one-to-one coaching included

If you also want to learn to time subtitles,
choose our bundle "Become a captioner"?

Choose the premium version for individual coaching sessions

Get 10% discount on the EZTitles licence

Exclusive deal for AVT Masterclass students

After completing this course, you will be eligible for a 10% discount on a licence of EZTitles professional subtitling software. You can save up to 238 euros!
EZTitles logo

FAQ

Any questions?

  • How long does it take to complete the course?

    Most students need around 20 to 30 hours to work through the course, including the practical exercises. However, there is no need to complete it within a specific timeframe. You have a full year of access, so you can take your time.

  • Will I have to attend live classes?

    No, this course is self-paced, which means you can do as much as you want at a time. You're in full control of your learning process. You're welcome to join our Facebook group to continue discussions with your fellow students. If you need more individual support, check out the Premium Edition of this course for details.

  • What is the difference between standard and premium editions of AVT Masterclass courses?

    The teaching is the same. Premium adds up to 90 minutes of one-to-one coaching with your trainers, and they will check your course assignments and give you individual feedback on your own work. Standard is the full course to do at your own pace; premium is the full course with a human looking over your shoulder when you want one. If you learn well on your own, standard is all you need. If you want your work marked by people who do this professionally, premium is worth it.

  • What if it is not for me?

    Then you get your money back. We offer a money-back guarantee: if the course does not deliver what we have described here, tell us and we will refund you. We would rather you took the course knowing that than talked yourself out of it at the checkout.

  • How long will I have access to the course?

    You will have access to the course for one year (365 days) from the date of purchase. This gives you plenty of time to work through the lessons and exercises at your own pace. You will also have lifetime access to our private learning community.

  • Can I access the course on my phone or tablet??

    Yes. You can access the course on your computer, tablet or mobile phone, making it easy to study wherever you are.

  • Are the course videos subtitled?

    Yes. All course videos are subtitled, so you can follow the lessons with subtitles if you prefer or need them.

  • Do I need my own subtitling software?

    No. The course includes 90-day access to professional subtitling software, allowing you to practise using industry tools while you learn. You will also receive information about discounts on professional software after completing the course.

Ready to get started?

Learn to create subtitles for deaf and hard of hearing viewers!
Become a captioner