Making Virtual Meetings Accessible: The Benefits of Live Captioning
Live captioning (an optional feature in Microsoft Office Teams) provides ‘real-time’ speech-to-text of the information being communicated. Live captioning aids learners in their comprehension, accuracy, engagement and retention of course material (Dallas, McCarthy & Long, 2016; Dello Stritto & Linder, 2017). Live Captioning not only benefits learners who are deaf or hearing impaired, or learners who are impacted by challenges with auditory & visual processing, verbal comprehension and/or focus and concentration – but all learners (Matheson, n.d.). When students are able to focus on and engage in information being presented, their understanding and retention of that information greatly increases (Dallas, McCarthy & Long, 2016; Dello Stritto & Linder, 2017). Live captioning may also provide a way for learners to overcome poor audio or allow for no audio if their learning environment is not conducive to a virtual meeting.
Difficulty: 1/5
TIME
1–2 minutes
Participants
2+
Core Competency Connection
MATERIALS
Help Guide in Microsoft Office Teams
PREP
N/A
The Process
Step.1
In Teams: In a Teams Virtual meeting, click on the three dots that appear on the menu control bar. From the menu that appears, click on “Turn on live captions (preview).” The setting takes a second to enable; you should see CC on the far–left side of the menu control bar, indicating that live captioning is enabled. Captions will appear at the bottom of the screen.
Step.2
Create a reminder for all virtual meeting participants to turn on live captioning at the beginning of the meeting. Post instructions on how to do this in a place all learners can access.
References
Dallas, B. K., McCarthy, A. K., & Long, G. (2016). Examining the educational benefits of and attitudes toward closed captioning among undergraduate students. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning, 16(2), 56–65. https://doi-org.lc.idm.oclc.org/10.14434/josotl.v16i2.19267
Dello Stritto, M.E., & Linder, K. (2017). A rising tide: How closed captions can benefit all students. Educause. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2017/8/a-rising-tide-how-closed-captions-can-benefit-all-students
Matheson, G. (n.d.). 5 benefits of live captioning at university. AI Media. https://blog.ai-media.tv/blog/5-benefits-of-live-captioning-at-university
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