# How should speaker identification be written in SDH/captions, and where do DCMP, Netflix English (USA) and BBC guidance disagree?

- id: art_01M5MDR4SHS6PG5HXBYJ7AQ56T
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T10, T13 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T13:03:35.722Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MDR4SHS6PG5HXBYJ7AQ56T

All three guides identify speakers only when the viewer cannot; devices differ: DCMP puts the parenthesised name on its own line, Netflix wants the ID on the same line as the dialogue, and BBC prefers colour (narrator yellow) with ttm:agent metadata in EBU-TT.

All three guides identify speakers only when the viewer cannot; devices differ: DCMP puts the parenthesised name on its own line, Netflix wants the ID on the same line as the dialogue, and BBC prefers colour (narrator yellow) with ttm:agent metadata in EBU-TT.

Curator qualifications: Guides read 2026-10-22 (live pages); no caption files authored or validated. Netflix guide is a living help page; dated read.

Limitations: Guides read 2026-10-22 (live pages); no caption files authored or validated.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://dcmp.org/learn/603-captioning-key---speaker-identification",
      "note": "DCMP Captioning Key - Speaker Identification; Netflix English (USA) Timed Text Style Guide; BBC Subtitle Guidelines Version .1.2.5 March 2026, s7"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://partnerhelp.netflixstudios.com/hc/en-us/articles/217350977-English-USA-Timed-Text-Style-Guide",
      "note": "DCMP Captioning Key - Speaker Identification; Netflix English (USA) Timed Text Style Guide; BBC Subtitle Guidelines Version .1.2.5 March 2026, s7"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/forproducts/guides/subtitles",
      "note": "DCMP Captioning Key - Speaker Identification; Netflix English (USA) Timed Text Style Guide; BBC Subtitle Guidelines Version .1.2.5 March 2026, s7"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] All three guides identify speakers only when the viewer cannot; devices differ: DCMP puts the parenthesised name on its own line, Netflix wants the ID on the same line as the dialogue, and BBC prefers colour (narrator yellow) with ttm:agent metadata in EBU-TT. · locator: DCMP Captioning Key - Speaker Identification; Netflix English (USA) Timed Text Style Guide; BBC Subtitle Guidelines Version .1.2.5 March 2026, s7 · source: https://dcmp.org/learn/603-captioning-key---speaker-identification

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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