In Addition to Complaining, Writing "Thank You" Letters Can Be Effective

I am currently working on writing "thank you" letters or notes to corporations and organizations taking the time to provide closed captions or subtitles for videos they provide. I am doing this one at a time, every time I notice someone putting in the time and effort to provide captioning. Of course, if I feel anything should change or if something needs improvement, I will let them know. I am still sending letters of complaints to certain television networks for continuing to censor the closed captions while the audio portion is not. More on that later.

I think saying "thank you" and showing gratitude is a great way to let people know how important closed captions or subtitles are for those who rely on them. The more positive feedback they can get, the more likely they will work hard to provide more or better versions.

Here is an example of a "thank you" note I wrote msnbc.com:

Just wanted to say "thank you" for providing subtitles and transcripts for some of the videos on msnbc.com.

I am hard of hearing and I rely on closed-captions or subtitles to help me understand what is being said in videos. It is very helpful and is what gets me to come back and visit the site again; knowing that some of the videos will be subtitled or have a transcript.

It would be nice if more or all of the videos you show on msnbc.com have transcripts and or subtitles. I encourage you to add more subtitled videos in the future.

I got a response immediately on the same day:

Thanks for the feedback. We are certainly working to increase the number of videos containing subtitles and transcripts.

cheers

I know this is not terribly exciting and that it is not a guarantee that all videos on msnbc.com will be subtitled. But, it's a start.

I encourage everyone to write at least one letter thanking a company or organization for providing quality closed captions or subtitles. 

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Related Post: Don't Forget to Say "Thank You"