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[How to tackle reading-speed issues]

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Because we don't want our viewers
to miss any subtitles,

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we always want to maintain
an accessible "reading speed,"

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that is, the speed with which the viewer
must be able to read the subtitle

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before it disappears from the screen.

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The reading speed is a numerical value
of characters per second,

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and it may vary depending on
the script used in the subtitles,

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with 21 characters per second
as the maximum speed

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for languages which use
the Latin alphabet.

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If you're having problems maintaining
a good reading speed in your subtitles,

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here are some strategies that should help.

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First, you can give the viewer
more time to read the subtitle.

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To do this, simply click and drag
the end of the subtitle

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and extend its duration
until the reading speed is back to normal.

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This may also offset
the start time of the next subtitle

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but a good reading speed

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is always more important
than perfect synchronization.

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However, a later start time
for the next subtitle

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can create reading-speed
issues in it, too,

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so sometimes, you will need
to adjust that subtitle too,

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and then the next,

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until the reading-speed
correction cascade is complete.

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Extending the duration by a large amount
is not always a good idea,

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especially if the following subtitle
needs to be closely synchronized

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with something happening in the video.

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But you can also help the viewers
by giving them less text to read,

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and we call this
"compressing" the subtitle.

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By compressing, you rephrase a subtitle
to reduce the total amount of text,

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but without actually changing its meaning.

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There are multiple
compression strategies you can use,

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and here are just a few examples.

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You can get rid of
non-crucial words and phrases,

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like "well," "as a matter of fact,"
or "as I was saying."

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You can reduce
repetitions and restatements.

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For example, you can change

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"It was delivered in this huge,
enormous box."

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into "It was delivered in this huge box."

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You can reduce explicit references
to what is visible in the video.

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For example, you can change

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"You are seeing a slide
with the results of our latest test"

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into "You are seeing the results
of our latest test."

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You can find many more
compression strategies

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in our detailed guide on OTPedia.

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And remember that you can also
compress text in transcripts,

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because a transcript
doesn't have to be word-for-word

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if compression is necessary
for a good reading speed.

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One additional way
to tackle reading-speed issues

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is by combining two subtitles.

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Sometimes, you will see one subtitle
with just a little text

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that displays for a long time,

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followed by another subtitle
with a lot of text

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that displays for a short time
and has reading-speed issues.

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Merging them can eliminate the problem.

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To merge subtitles,

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copy and paste the text
of one subtitle into the other,

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delete the original subtitle,

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and then extend the duration
of the new, combined subtitle

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over the resulting time gap.

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Remember that you can't join

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the end of one sentence or clause
and the beginning of another,

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but if the subtitles actually do belong
to one complete clause

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and one complete idea,

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you can merge them, and get one subtitle
with a good reading speed.

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For example, you wouldn't
merge these subtitles,

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and that's because
"who he was, and later, I found"

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combines parts of two different clauses

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and doesn't really express
any coherent, complete idea.

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However, you can merge
subtitles like these,

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because "and this was the book
that I had been looking for"

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is a full clause and does express
a coherent, complete idea.

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I will leave you with one important hint.

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When tackling reading-speed issues,

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always try to combine these strategies.

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Compress a little,

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and then extend the duration a tiny amount

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to completely fix the reading-speed issue.

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Remember that by not exceeding
the reading-speed limit in your subtitles,

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you can make sure that no part
of the ideas that you are helping to share

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will end up being
inaccessible to the viewers.

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And for now,

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happy transcribing and translating!

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And compressing!