Arabic subtitle delivery checklist for client videos

A subtitle file can open correctly and still be the wrong deliverable. It might match an earlier edit of the video, misplace a name, or show mixed Arabic and English text awkwardly in the client’s player. Before you send an Arabic SRT, check the wording, the timeline and the file the client will actually use.

The checklist

• The subtitle file belongs to the final video edit, and the handoff names that version.
• Names, numbers, dates, negatives and English terms were checked against the recording.
• The spoken dialect is kept, or the client agreed to an edited style.
• Timing was checked on the final video, in the player or editor the client will use.
• Arabic text, punctuation and mixed Arabic and English lines display correctly there.
• An untouched UTF-8 copy of the file is saved.
• The handoff note says what was reviewed and what is still open.

The sections below explain each check.

Start with the final video edit

If someone trims the introduction after you generate the subtitles, the text may arrive late throughout the recording. If they remove a section in the middle, the timing problem may begin only after that cut. Keep the reviewed subtitle file together with the exact video version it belongs to.

Check the words against the recording

Listen while reading. Give extra attention to names, numbers, dates, negatives and English terms inside Arabic speech. A sentence that looks fluent can still change the speaker’s meaning.

Decide with the client whether the subtitles should keep the spoken dialect or use an edited style. Do not silently turn a dialect transcript into formal Arabic. Keep repeated names and technical terms consistent, and keep a list of uncertain passages until someone can resolve them.

In Arabic Subtitles you can fix words in the editor while you listen. It also plays your own video beside the cues, and that video is never uploaded.

Check timing in the destination

Open the reviewed SRT with the final video in the player or editor the client plans to use. Watch the beginning, a few transitions and the ending to find obvious offsets, then review the full track before treating it as approved.

Look for cues that disappear before they can be read, captions that stay after a speaker stops, and phrases split in an awkward place. Check the result on a small screen too: the same words can be comfortable on a desktop and crowded on a phone.

The Arabic Subtitles editor marks cues that break its caption limits, such as too many lines, long lines, very short or very long cues and fast reading speed. A flag is a prompt to look, not a verdict, and your client’s own specification may use different limits. The Arabic SRT checker runs the same kind of checks on any SRT file in your browser, without uploading it.

Check Arabic display

Keep an untouched UTF-8 copy. Inspect punctuation around Latin names, numbers and product codes, because text direction and font handling depend on the destination. Do not reverse the typed characters to imitate the appearance you want.

SRT and WebVTT files from Arabic Subtitles put an invisible right-to-left mark at the start and end of each Arabic line. Keep those marks if you edit the file in a text editor. A TTML file declares the direction in the file itself.

If the file displays correctly in one player and incorrectly in another, investigate the destination’s font and direction handling before rewriting the text. If characters have become question marks, return to an intact original rather than assuming a format conversion can recover them. The Arabic SRT page shows how to recognise each case, and the Arabic SRT checker flags stray direction marks and replacement characters.

Send a clear handoff

Include the subtitle file, the video version it matches, the language and any unresolved questions. Ask which format the client’s tool accepts: Arabic Subtitles can download the same reviewed cues as SRT, WebVTT or TTML. Say whether the client is receiving an editable subtitle track or a video with permanent captions. An SRT is a separate text-and-timing file; it does not contain the video or determine all of its styling, and Arabic Subtitles does not burn captions into a video.

A simple handoff note is enough. This one is an illustration written for this page:

“This Arabic SRT matches the final video dated October 7. Names and timing have been reviewed. Please preview the imported track before publishing.”

Use “reviewed” only for the checks you actually completed.

Keep your own copy

A finished project stays online for seven days after it completes, even if you edit it later; then it is deleted. Download the reviewed file within that time and keep a local copy next to the source video.

What this checklist does not do

It does not check meaning, and it does not establish that captions are complete for every viewer: sound descriptions and speaker labels may also be needed. It is not your client’s delivery specification either, so follow that specification where it differs.

Related guides

• Arabic SRT files: formats and troubleshooting
• How to add Arabic subtitles to a video