Video Caption & Subtitle QA Release Checklist

# Video Caption & Subtitle QA Release Checklist Use this pre-flight verification checklist before publishing video captions or uploading subtitle sidecars (.srt, .vtt) to hosting platforms. --- ## 📋 Phase 1: File Format & Encoding Integrity - [ ] **Encoding Standard**: File is encoded in **UTF-8** (without unexpected Windows-1252 or Latin-1 byte corruption). - [ ] **BOM Handling**: Byte Order Mark (BOM) is stripped or properly handled if targeting strict web players. - [ ] **Sequential Indexing**: Cue numbers in .srt files increment strictly sequentially with no gaps or duplicates. - [ ] **Timestamp Format**: Timestamps follow exact format specifications (e.g. `00:00:00,000` for SRT, `00:00:00.000` for WebVTT). --- ## ⏱️ Phase 2: Synchronization & Timing Accuracy - [ ] **First Line Anchor**: First spoken dialogue event syncs within 100 ms of the spoken audio onset. - [ ] **End-of-Video Anchor**: Final spoken cue lines up accurately with the end of dialogue (confirms zero frame-rate drift). - [ ] **Minimum Cue Duration**: Every subtitle event displays for **at least 700 ms**. - [ ] **Scene Cut Alignment**: Subtitles do not bleed across scene cuts for brief fractional frames. --- ## 👁️ Phase 3: Legibility & Reading Speed Compliance - [ ] **Line Count Limit**: No subtitle cue exceeds **2 lines**. - [ ] **Line Length Limit**: Lines do not exceed **about 42 characters** in width. - [ ] **Reading Speed Ceiling**: Reading speed remains **under about 21 characters a second** across all cues. - [ ] **Natural Break Structure**: Line breaks preserve prepositional phrases, verb phrases, and proper nouns. --- ## 🚀 Phase 4: Player Validation - [ ] Rendered preview verified in target player (e.g. Web player, VLC, YouTube studio). - [ ] Subtitles render legibly against both bright and dark background scenes.