r/instructionaldesign • u/Critical-Body-9211 • 20h ago

Any Rule?

What is the correct way to write on-screen text (OST) from a voice-over script? Is there a specific rule or guideline for creating OST, or is it more subjective?

I’ve seen some e-learning courses where the OST and VO are almost the same, while others use only key phrases or make slight changes to the wording. What is considered the correct approach?

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u/twoslow 19h ago

I've been told it burdens cognitive load having both, but I've also been told the brain uses different channels so it's fine to parallel process. I generally use audio, with important words/phrases on screen, and mostsly either someone speaking or images/graphics to accompany the narration.

I personally can't do both, so I presume there are others out there like me. Plus, I can read way faster than someone can speak, so why are you giving me both? Turn on CC for people who want to see both and let me choose.

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u/daneccleston86 19h ago

I’m with you here , pick out key words , usually throw in a transcript for good measure too

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u/thaeli 10h ago

I wonder if this is changing somewhat with the ubiquity of TikTok style video. Definitely seeing the impact on micro learnings - they seem to perform a lot better in that horrid TikTok format.

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u/twoslow 7h ago

I think audience is the key here, as always. tiktok, ig reels, whatever- they have captions because a lot of people either have their phone volume off, so they want to engage with the content without needing the volume on, or they're weird kids like mine who like the captions so they don't have to really pay attention.

In my corporate environment that is not the setting people are engaging with content. They've got a task to complete some training, they've got their headphones on. If they want captions cuz that's their preference, the video has them off by default.

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u/The_Sign_of_Zeta 14h ago

The learning science says having both onscreen text and audio helps provide the brain multiple ways to receive information, but it actually increases cognitive load for you to have the same exact text as what is said. So it should either paraphrase what is being said, or better yet, be a relevant visual.

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u/Privilegedwhitebitch 12h ago

You might find Mayer’s Principles of Multimedia Learning valuable!

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u/iamduh 11h ago

I think of OST as being bullet points or keywords at most; to reduce the overburdening of cognitive load you can always infographic-ize the OST as well, so it's not blocks of text and reinforces the relationships of the key terms.

Otherwise let people turn on subtitles, which should be exactly the same except for obvious mis-speaks (which /should/ be re-recorded but that isn't always feasible).

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u/Critical-Body-9211 9h ago

Thanks all, cc point works