On-Screen Text and Subtitles
01
Definition
On-screen text and subtitles are the words a video ad shows: hooks, captions, product lines, and subtitled speech. Because most feed viewing happens muted, on-screen text is not a supplement to the message; for the majority of viewers it is the message, and it is scored for presence, legibility, and voice.
02
What on-screen text means in your creative
The evaluation covers whether the essential story survives with sound off, whether type is readable at feed size and speed (scale, contrast, time on screen, safe zones), and whether the words speak the brand's voice. Text is also part of the visual craft: typography that fights the footage or defaults to platform styles undercuts a premium frame from inside it.
03
Why text matters for fashion and luxury video
Luxury's minimalist instinct often deletes text entirely, which reads beautifully and communicates nothing to a muted feed. The discipline is restraint with function: few words, placed with intention, styled to the brand, carrying the one line the viewer must receive. A single well-set line outperforms both silence and clutter.
04
How Veicolo scores on-screen text and subtitles
The Performance Creative Report reads every piece of on-screen text across the video's timeline, quotes it verbatim in evidence with timestamps, and scores presence, legibility, and voice as part of the video craft block. Where spoken audio exists, subtitle coverage is checked; where the ad is silent by design, the text is scored for carrying the load alone.
05
Frequently Asked Questions
Do fashion video ads really need subtitles?
If anyone speaks, yes: muted viewing is the default. If nothing is spoken, the question becomes whether on-screen text carries the message the sound cannot.
How much text is too much?
When reading competes with seeing. One line per beat, readable in the time it is given, is the working standard; walls of caption text tax the very attention the hook bought.
What makes ad text legible at feed speed?
Scale, contrast against the footage, duration on screen matched to line length, and placement inside safe zones. Legibility is measurable, which is why it is scored with evidence.
