Live Captioning

Faculty and instructors can also visit Tufts Educational Technology Services to learn more about captioning with other educational technology tools.

Overview

Automated live transcription/closed captioning is available during Tufts Zoom meetings. For information regarding captioning requirements at Tufts University, please review the Captioning Policy. 

Zoom window with closed captions and full transcript

 

Notes about the live transcription feature:

  • In order to use the feature, the scheduler of the Zoom meeting must have the live transcription service enabled in their Tufts Zoom settings before the meeting.
    • This service is enabled by default in Tufts Zoom account settings, but can be disabled if desired.
  • The automatically-generated transcript can be viewed as closed captions within the Zoom window, as well as a full transcript on the right-hand side of the window.
    • The full transcript is searchable during the meeting and will indicate which participant said what.
    • For privacy reasons, the ability for participants to save the full meeting transcript is disabled in Tufts Zoom account settings. However, this feature can be enabled if necessary.
      • If a copy of the full meeting transcript is desired, it is recommended that a host/co-host record the meeting to the cloud and use Zoom's automatically-generated transcript.
  • The live captioning feature can be disabled for the entire meeting by the host, but this is generally NOT recommended. Disabling this feature in a meeting will make live captions/transcripts unavailable for everyone in the meeting.
  1. Log in to tufts.zoom.us with your Tufts username (e.g. jjumbo01) and password.
  2. Click Settings in the left-hand navigation menu.
  3. Go to the “In Meeting (Advanced)” section.
  4. By default, the “Automated captions” setting is set to ON. This enables the automatic live captioning feature.
  5. Also by default, the “Full transcript” setting is ON. This allows participants to view the full live transcript in a separate panel within the Zoom window. Tufts Zoom caption settings

     

  6. For privacy reasons, it is recommended that you leave OFF the "Save Captions" option that is located immediately under the "Closed captioning" options. This will prevent participants from saving the full meeting transcript, which could then be shared will people outside of the meeting.Save Captions option in Tufts Zoom settings

Once the meeting starts, you should see a Show Captions button in the bottom toolbar. Click on the Show/Hide Captions button to turn caption subtitles on/off.

Zoom caption options

An up-arrow will be located next to captions button, which you can click on for more options. A menu will appear where you can:

  • Choose the language you are speaking. Note: Only certain languages are available.
  • Show/hide the full transcript in a panel on the right-hand side of the window. The full transcript is searchable and indicates who said what.Full transcript panel
  • Manage your own subtitle settings (i.e. the size of the caption text within your Zoom window).Zoom application closed captioning settings
  • (Host) Disable live captions for everyone in the meeting. This is NOT generally recommended.
  • (Host) Set up a manual captioner.

Tips for Schedulers/Hosts

  • For information regarding captioning requirements at Tufts University, please review the Captioning Policy. 
  • Notify participants that live transcription/closed captioning are available and explain how to access them.
  • If a copy of the full meeting transcript is desired, it is recommended that a host/co-host record the meeting to the cloud and use Zoom's automatically-generated transcript.
  • Please do NOT disable the live captioning feature for your meeting unless it is absolutely necessary. Instead, if you do not want to see the captions, consider hiding the captions only for yourself and allowing other participants to continue using them.

Tips for Speakers

  • Speak clearly, pace yourself, and give slight pauses between sentences to allow the transcription service to stay on pace.
  • If possible, use an audio headset with an attached microphone so your audio is captured more clearly.

Tips for Everyone

  • To minimize distractions, keep your audio muted unless you have a question/comment and it is your turn to speak.
  • If you do speak, do so loudly, clearly, and pace yourself.