Identify Final Caption Masters

01 / CONTEXT

Define the control decision

A video accessibility team may hold source transcripts, editor projects, draft SRT or WebVTT files, language variants, previews and delivery packages. Record the authoritative final master, video title, language, frame rate, owner, accessibility reviewer and release date before applying restrictions.

02 / PROCEDURE

Run the control sequence

1. 01

   Name the caption owner and authorized accessibility reviewer.

2. 02

   Record title, language, format, frame rate, version and release date.

3. 03

   Separate drafts, localization variants and previews from the final master.

4. 04

   Test only with fictional media and non-identifying speaker labels.

5. 05

   Publish correction, delivery and recovery owners.

03 / EVIDENCE

Preserve proof without personal data

A defensible control record identifies the caption owner, video title, language, subtitle format, frame rate, authoritative path, permitted accounts, restriction mode, version ID, accessibility-review date, checksum evidence, recovery owner and next review date. It should not contain unreleased media, personal data, credentials or confidential production notes. Use fictional media and non-identifying speaker labels during every technical test.

Recheck the arrangement after changes to Windows, caption software, accessibility tooling, localization workflow, storage, Folder Protect, permissions, service accounts or production roles. Confirm both usability and recovery: an authorized editor should read the final subtitle master, an unauthorized account should not alter it, and the recovery owner should restore a separately held copy without depending on the protected folder. Preserve unexpected behavior before changing controls.

Keep the claim narrow. Local restrictions may reduce accidental writing, deletion or access on a tested Windows path, but they do not encrypt data, establish caption accuracy, timing, synchronization, speaker identification, readability, accessibility conformance, localization quality or delivery acceptance, administer identities, provide version history or replace backup. Escalate those requirements to the platform and accountable accessibility owner designed to meet them.

Ask a second editor to follow the written procedure without verbal help. Record whether that person can identify the final master, create a working copy, recognize the version stamp, interpret denied access and find the recovery owner. This usability check reveals ambiguous paths, hidden service-account dependencies and undocumented knowledge before a caption application, delivery platform, storage or staff change. Correct the procedure, repeat the test with fictional media and retain only minimal evidence.

04 / BOUNDARY

State what the control cannot prove

A protected file does not establish caption accuracy, timing, synchronization, speaker identification, readability, accessibility conformance, localization quality or delivery acceptance.

Validate the exact Windows account, caption application, caption workflow, storage path and current product release. If encryption, caption approval, accessibility review, immutable history, identity governance or regulated retention are required, select systems designed for those jobs rather than broadening a desktop restriction claim.

05 / SOURCES

Primary references

• W3C: Captions
• NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5

References support specific controls and do not imply endorsement.