Captioning FAQ
We usually just hire sign language interpreters for our events. Why do I need a captioner?
There are over 48 million people in the US with some form of hearing loss and less than 1% of them understand ASL. By hiring a live captioner for your event, you’re making it accessible for the many people who don’t understand ASL.
How does live captioning work?
Live captioning is a service provided by a trained stenographer who can translate the spoken word to text with a high rate of accuracy at up to 225 words per minute. The captioner, typically working remotely, will listen in to the meeting or event as an attendee. Captions will stream back to the user either in the platform or in our caption streaming platform in real time with virtually no delay. Captions can be viewed on a screen or monitor in the venue or on a users laptop or mobile device, or both depending on your requirements. For a demo of our caption streaming platform, click here.
Do you use live people or is this a machine?
We use only experienced, certified live captioners to provide our captions. Captioners are trained stenographers capable of transcribing at rates of up to 250 words per minute. Live captioners provide the most accurate captions with no delay in the captions so your viewers can follow the event in real time.
How accurate are the captions?
Our experienced captioners are required to have accuracy rates of 98% or better. It is important to provide the captioners with as much preparatory information as possible in advance of the event so that they know what to expect in terms of names and vocabulary. In addition, the quality of the audio is very important to accurate captions.
Is there a delay in the captions?
Because we use only live captioners, the delay, if any, is typically not more than 2-3 seconds, short enough that viewers can easily follow along with the event. With artificially generated captions (AI) delays can range from 6-12 seconds while the computer fine tunes the text.
How do I reserve services?
The easiest way to reserve services is to submit a request through the website with the details of your event. We'll need the following information: your name and contact info, the date, time and expected duration of your event, the platform you are using (Zoom, Webex, YouTube, etc.) and where to send the invoice. Once we have this information we'll follow up to confirm and to get any additional information we might need.
How far in advance do I need to reserve captioning services?
Obviously the more lead time the better but generally if you can let us know of your event the week before, we can get it scheduled. So even if its Friday and you want service for the following Monday, we can usually make it work. That being said, don't hesitate to reach out as we can usually fill last minute requests. Best of all, there are no additional fees or charges for last minute requests.
Do you support live captioning in web streaming platforms such as Zoom, Webex and ON24?
Yes, we can provide live captioning services in a wide range of web streaming platforms. For a complete list, check out our caption integrations.
Do you provide captions in foreign languages?
Yes, we can provide captions in several languages. There are two options. For live captions, we can provide captions in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and German. Typically these captioners provide captions in the language that is being spoken; that is, French captions for French language. If you have an English language event that you would like to have captioned in French, you will need a translator to translate the English to French, then have the French captioned. This is a very specialized service that requires a good deal of advance coordination but is perfect for high profile business and professional events. We also offer machine translation of English captions to captions in over 80 different languages. Using Google Translate, these translations are over 90% accurate in most cases. If you're not too concerned with a perfect translation, this might be a cost effective option for you.
What is your cancellation policy?
We require 48 hours notice to cancel services without penalty. Captioning cancelled with less than 48 hours notice are billable in full.
Are there any minimums or commitments?
We offer flexible pay-as-you-go plans for all clients with no commitments.
What support do you offer?
Our customer support team is available 24/7 to support client scheduling and technical requests. You can call us anytime at 800-870-1795 x 2 and speak to a live person for help.
What about the security of my captions?
We work with a number of major technology companies captioning their in-house event. These companies are very concerned about the confidentiality and security of the information being captioned. With this in mind, we offer a number of different security options in our caption streaming platform to make sure your confidential information stays secure. These include: IP address white-listing, user names and passwords for access to captions. We can allow multiple users to log in under the same ID, domain name restrictions and flexible transcript retention policies