Captions and Transcripts in Zoom
Closed captions are available for all VCU-hosted Zoom Meetings and Webinars through the "Live Transcription" feature. Users are encouraged to make use of this feature to create a more inclusive and accessible experience for participants.
By default, all VCU Zoom users have the "Live Transcription" feature enabled, but here's how to verify it's enabled for your account:
- Sign in to the VCU Zoom web portal (vcu.zoom.us).
- In the navigation menu, choose "Settings > Meeting > In Meeting (Advanced)."
- 'Verify that both "Manual captions" (including both boxes under it) and "Automated captions" are enabled'
- Go to “Settings > Recording > Local Recording” and check the box for “save closed caption as a VTT file” to have the file saved to your computer
- If your account allows for Cloud Recording, check the box for "save closed caption as a VTT file" to have your transcripts saved to the Cloud when using the “Record to Cloud” option.
The above settings will create your captions and transcripts on cue, but as the meeting host, you still need to trigger their creation during the meeting. Just choose "Live Transcript" from the Zoom toolbar and then click on "Enable Auto-Transcription."
This will begin the display of closed captions in your meeting or webinar. If your participants can't see the captions, ask them to click on "More" and choose "Display Subtitles."
If you want to change the size of the captions, you can do so by using the caret next to the “CC:Live Transcript” button to access “Subtitle Settings.”
Use the slider control to see a preview of the font size and choose what works best for you.
You and your participants can also use the “CC: Live Transcription” controls to launch a window that displays the full transcript in a scrolling side panel (similar to “Chat”) instead of, or in addition to, the captions scrolling across the bottom of the video window.
A Note About Streaming
Remember that when streaming your Zoom Meeting or Webinar via Facebook, YouTube, Twitch or a custom streaming service, you could be reaching a much larger audience, which increases the likely need for captions.
Whenever you launch captions in a Zoom meeting, they will be included in the live stream you send to these platforms, for the benefit of all viewers.