YouTube Video Subtitles – and how to view them

YouTube Video Subtitles are easy to use and sometimes hard to find

I do a lot of translation and subtitling work for social causes each month. Those translations are done for free and as a volunteer. I want the speaker’s message to reach out to as many people in the world as possible. YouTube Video Subtitles go a long way to extend the reach of thought, idea or knowledge. They also help with accessibility.

At heart is the desire to help extend the reach of some beautiful video content, be accessible to the deaf and those hard of hearing or to the people who speak other languages. It brings the people and communities together and help share people’s wonderful experiences, ideas and thoughts with the whole world. And YouTube video subtitles go a long way helping alleviate this problem.

Recently I met one wonderful couple, in the extended family, who were very happy to know about some of the volunteering work I do. They wanted to see my work and use the subtitles I had translated. It was related to a social cause dear to them. So they were very keen to see my work. A week later they got back to me saying that they were not able to figure out how to access the YouTube video subtitles and hence were not able to see my work.

I reckon this to be a question others might have as well. So I hope this blog helps you find the YouTube Video Subtitles with ease after reading this blog.

My recent work as an example

I will use one of my recent work as an example to show how to view YouTube video subtitles.  It is a translation and subtitles I did for the Shah Rukh Khan’s TedTalks video. The link to the video on YT is here.

How to view the youtube video subtitles

Indicating how to view the youtube video subtitles

Step One : Viewing YouTube Video Subtitles

As a first step, click on the cog (gear) sign towards the bottom right of the video as shown in the figure on the left.

With that you will see all the languages the subtitles are available in. The number in the bracket indicates the number of languages the subtitles are available in. Just click on the language in which you want to see the subtitles and you will see them.

Step Two : Viewing YouTube Video Subtitle Transcripts

In addition, if you are interested in the transcripts as well, you can view those too.

How to view transcripts on a youtube video

How to view transcripts on a youtube video

For that, browse down a little below the video and click on the MORE…  link to have the dropdown appear. With that you will be able to see that TRANSCRIPT link and be able to see the transcripts of the video in you native language in the timeline format as well.

With this I hope you will now be able to see the subtitles of the videos as well as the transcripts of the video in your native language. Happy viewing !

Cheers !!