How to Enable Live Captions on Zoom
Live captions are a powerful tool for ensuring accessibility and inclusion for Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. By providing real-time text-based transcriptions of spoken content, live captions enable those who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing to actively participate and engage in online discussions, presentations, and collaborations. Moreover, live captions benefit not only individuals with hearing impairment but also those facing language barriers or who prefer visual aids for better comprehension. In this article, we go over two methods for getting captions on Zoom.
Using Zoom live captions
Check to see if Zoom captions are enabled in your meetings
If your Zoom meeting already has captions enabled, you will see a “show captions” button next to the other Zoom buttons in the bottom bar.
If you do not have this option enabled, you will have to change a setting within your Zoom account.
Changing setting to enable live captions
Go to zoom.us and sign into your account. Once you’ve logged in, click on “settings” on the left hand side to manage your account’s settings.
Within the settings window, click on the button that says “In Meeting (Advanced)”.
Within the advanced meetings settings, find the setting for “Automated captions” and make sure the button is in the “on” position.
Turning on live captions in a Zoom meeting
When you start a new meeting, the settings changes will be made and you should see the “show captions” button. Simply press the button, select your language, and your live captions should pop up.
Live captions using Ava
Live captions on Zoom may not always be an option. If a meeting has already started, you must end the meeting and restart in order to implement setting changes. Also, if you are not the meeting host, you may not be able to enable auto captions on Zoom. If you cannot enable Zoom live captions through Zoom, you can still obtain captions through Ava.
Ava provides live captions from your device or browser, so it works on any video conferencing software.
To get started using Ava, simply click the “get started” button on the upper right hand corner of this web page. You will be given instructions for signing up and downloading the software. If you have any questions, please contact our support team or live chat.