Instagram is improving the accessibility of Stories with the addition of captions. Going forward, creators can choose to add captions in Stories using an Instagram sticker. You can access the captions sticker in the story creation interface. It works with videos you record from Instagram’s built-in camera tool and videos you have in your phone’s gallery.
Captions on Instagram Stories and Reels
Instagram started testing the auto-caption sticker in March and has announced the arrival of the feature on Twitter. Through its announcement tweet, the company also revealed that captions are coming soon to Reels too. Take a look at the announcement tweet below:
Sound off 🗣
…with sound off 🔇Now you can add a captions sticker in Stories (coming soon to Reels) that automatically turns what you say into text.
We’re starting in a handful of countries and hope to expand soon. pic.twitter.com/OAJjmFcx4R
— Instagram (@instagram) May 4, 2021
When you post Stories with captions, you can customize the font, color, and position of the caption. You can also edit and replace specific words in case the automated transcription has inaccurately added some words or if the transcription missed proper punctuation. All you have to do is tap on an individual word to make adjustments before posting the story.
As mentioned earlier, Instagram users with hearing impairment will have to rely on creators to see captions. While this is a good first step, the success of the feature depends on the creators since viewers can’t manually choose to turn it on, at least in the current implementation.
Instagram is currently rolling out captions stickers ‘in a handful of countries,’ with plans to expand the availability of the feature to more regions soon. It is also worth noting that the feature is available only in English and in English-speaking countries at the moment. Reels creators will have to wait longer to get auto-captions for their short videos.
