Instagram has added auto-generated captions to videos, making life easier for creators, whilst boosting the platform’s accessibility. What does this mean for creators?

At the start of March, Instagram announced in a tweet that it would be rolling out audio-generated captions on video content. Prior to this, creators had to add captions themselves before uploading content to the platform.

This change applies to Instagram Feed videos. When uploading Reels, creators can already add auto-generated captions via a sticker. But, when it comes to regular video posts, there’s no such option available. Adding captions to video content makes the platform much more accessible for the deaf or hard of hearing communities. Users have the option to enable captions or turn them off.

Adding captions also means people can enjoy content more easily with the volume turned off. Consuming content on mute has become a much more popular option, with people watching videos out and about, or whilst in public.

Instagram will be adding auto-generated captions in 17 different languages, with more to be added in the future. Last October, YouTube made auto-generated captions available to all creators. Before this, it was only an option for channels with over 1000 subscribers. This was also in a bid to improve accessibility, and help creators reach a wider audience.

Ever competing with TikTok, this addition to Instagram videos comes as the feature has always been available on the short-form video content platform. Instagram also added the Remix feature, in order to match up with TikTok’s Duet feature.

The announcement of auto-generated captions on Instagram videos came just a day after it announced it would be ending support for its standalone IGTV feature. This has been done in order to make video content more discoverable and easier to find, placing firmly within the regular feed.