To begin, head to UniversalSubtitles.org and click on the "Subtitle a Video Now" link at the top of the page to the right of the logo.

From the subtitle a video now page, paste in the URL from the video sharing website for the video that you want to caption and click the Begin button.



This works with Ogg, WebM, flv, mp4, YouTube, Vimeo, Blip.tv, or Dailymotion videos.

After clicking the begin button, you will be presented with your UniversalSubtitle workspace for the video that you just added. From this screen, click the gray "Subtitle Me" button underneath the video.

In the new pop-up dialog box, select the language of the video and the language that you will be providing captions for.
UniversalSubtitles.org lets you subtitle a video in multiple languages.

A new dialog box will pop up offering you a tutorial video on adding captions from the editor that you are about to use. You can watch this video to gain some valuable editing and usage tips, or skip it by clicking the Continue button.

Once you have entered into the working area, your video will begin to load. Click inside of the text entry box and hit tab; the first 8-seconds of the video will start to play. Type what is being said in the video, hitting enter to create a new line every few seconds. If you get lost and need to replay the last 8-seconds of the video, hit shift + tab on your keyboard.



When you have finished subtitling your video, click the "Done? Next Step: Syncing" button.

A new video will appear to help guide you through the syncing process. This process is where you will ensure that the text appears at the correct time in the video. You can watch this video to get some pointers, or move on by pressing the Continue button.

In this new workspace, you will be lining up the text that you just typed with the video itself. To do this, press tab to begin the video, then whenever the next subtitle should appear, press the down arrow key on your keyboard. If you mess up, just use shift + tab to go back 8-seconds in the video timeline. When you have finished, continue onto the next step by pressing the Next Step button.

In the last step, you will pretty much be doing the same thing as the syncing step. As you review the video and notice any issue with the timing, press the down arrow key to add the next subtitle, or revert to the previous 8-seconds of the video by pressing shift + tab. When you are done reviewing your work, press the "Done? Submit your work" button at the bottom of the screen.

If you don't already have an account, you will be prompted to create one or log in using Twitter, OpenID, or your Google account. Once you login, you may need to click the Done button once more to continue.

When you have finished adding subtitles to your video, you can share them through Facebook, Twitter, or email. In addition, you can use the embed script to embed the video onto any page, or simply share the permalink to your video page on UniversalSubtitles.org.