I am severely hearing impaired, so I absolutely rely on closed captioning with videos, but lately very

[tblue37]

few videos here on DU have a closed caption ing button! What are we cracked supposed to do? I feel very cut off from information I want to access.

[drray23]

1. Obviously, DU does not produce the videos

Whether they come from YouTube, X, etc, the closed captioning is provided by these platforms. On youtube for example, you click cc.

[tblue37]

5. But the cc button isn't there. This didn't used to be a problem.

[LeftInTX]

6. Some videos don't have that option.

Chalk it up to lazy uploaders!

I uploaded a video to YouTube a few months ago and enabled "auto-generated" CC.

However, it was discussion video.

Yes, they can enable CC on a random street video, but sometimes the conversation is not very audible, so I guess they don't enable CC.

[tblue37]

8. Again, until the last few days almost all of them had the cc button.

[hlthe2b]

2. I empathize. IF you follow some videos back to the absolute source (youtube, for instance)

You might be able to see a version where CC is enabled. I get it, though. It is especially becoming a problem with these video "shorts" captured from someone on BlueSky or someone's Patreon page, and elsewhere. I'm not hard of hearing (yet), but some of the garbled speech presented or thick accents make CC convenient for me as well.

[leftstreet]

3. DURec

I swear 10 yrs ago every video seemed to have the CC button. Now you see it less often, but I don't know why.

The option's important regardless of hearing status, so users can keep the sound muted without having to grab earphones

[Ocelot II]

4. Honestly, you're not missing much. Most of the posted videos are garbage.

They're just clickbait promoting a report on some cataclysmic event which turns out to be something widely reported elsewhere (and not that big a deal anyhow), but the video creator wanted to add his/her commentary, which takes up most of the video. They are collecting clicks and likes to make money. The really useful videos will be from a legit news source and will almost always have cc. The rest of them don't because they're do-it-yourself jobs recorded on somebody's iPhone.

[PCIntern]

7. Very true....

Some of these folks are as embarrassing in their own way as Trump is.

[teach1st]

9. Gemini can whip up a nicely formattted transcript

It's not the same as CC, but if you don't mind using AI, Gemini can whip up a transcript of a YouTube video in no time flat. Just paste the YouTube link, and ask Gemini to get a transcript formatted in paragraphs or bullet points. Gemini even posts the timestamp for each paragraph.
I don't know if you can use it without being signed in with a Google account, and I don't know how well it works on a phone.

https://gemini.google.com/app

[teach1st]

12. Here is Gemini's answer for why some YouTube videos don't have closed captioning:

(Always double-check AI answers. Gemini makes mistakes. I haven't checked this answer)

Here are a few specific reasons why those captions might be missing or "broken" right now that could help that person understand what's going on:

1. YouTube's Recent "Special Caption" Bug
In early 2026, YouTube temporarily disabled certain advanced caption formats (specifically SRV3 and YTT). These formats allowed creators to use different colors for different speakers or place text in specific areas of the screen. Because these files were causing playback issues, YouTube began removing them or preventing new ones from being uploaded, which has left many high-quality videos suddenly "silent" for those who rely on them.

2. The "Processing" Delay
Even when a video is set to have auto-captions, they aren't available the moment a video is published. For long-form videos or those with complex audio, it can take anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days for the AI to generate the transcript. If someone is watching "fresh" content, the captions might simply not be ready yet.

3. Quality Failures
YouTube's AI will often give up on generating captions if:
* The audio quality is poor or has too much background noise.
* There are long periods of silence at the beginning.
* Multiple people are talking over each other (which the AI can't parse effectively).

4. Technical Glitches (ISP/VPN Issues)
Interestingly, some users have reported that captions disappear due to their internet connection. Sometimes a specific IP address is flagged by YouTube’s security systems, which can break "extra" features like captions even if the video itself plays fine. Switching to a different network or using a VPN has actually fixed this for some people.A Helpful Tip to Share: If they are on a desktop, they can search specifically for captioned content by using the Filter menu after a search and selecting "Subtitles/CC." This filters out any videos that don't have a confirmed caption track.

[scipan]

10. What platform are you using? My android phone has a caption option

Under settings> accessibility. You could try that.

[SheltieLover]

11. Maybe message your favorite content creators and ask that they add the CC option?

[allegorical oracle]

13. Agree with you. I prefer to read captions because my old computer gives me

fits about turning on audio. Thing about CC these days is that there are so many misspellings -- or misinterpretations about what is being said. Watched a recipe video the other day and CC kept showing "dis shirt". Finally figured out the speaker was saying "dessert".

[Cheezoholic]

14. Glad you didn't follow it "to the T"! lmao n/t

[Nittersing]

15. I'm sorry tblue. This must be extraordinarily frustrating for you

Reading teach1st's posts, this seems to be a fluid situation... If you come across any petitions or collective attempts to bring them back, please let us know.