Zoom: Closed-Captioning and Transcription of Synchronous and Asynchronous Lectures for Classroom Instruction

There are a few options available for Live and Recorded video:

1. LIVE: Manual Closed Captioning via Zoom (captions typed in real time by an assigned participant or by the Host - free)
2. LIVE: Automatic Closed Captioning via Zoom (captions generated automatically by an AI computer - free) - new
3. RECORDED: Automatic Closed Captioning via GauchoCast (transcription and closed captioning of uploaded video files generated by Panopto's machine speech-recognition service - free)
4. RECORDED: Professional Quality Closed Captioning via GauchoCast (professional, 99% accuracy, transcription and closed captioning of uploaded video files generated by Verbit; paid add-on service, some exclusions apply)

5. LIVE & RECORDED: Disabled Students Program Accommodations (closed captioning options for students requiring accommodations through DSP. Available for both synchronous and asynchronous sessions)

1. LIVE: Manual Closed Captioning for Zoom

In this method, a direct participant from the meeting (that is assigned by the host) is chosen to add closed captioning to a live Zoom session. The closed captioning is typed manually by either: the host, a co-host, or an assigned participant (eg. TA, student, or hired transcriptionist). The closed captions are typed directly via a Zoom window. Participants can view the closed captioning, line-by-line, at the bottom of the screen once they are typed and entered by the captioner.

1. As the host of a meeting, click on the Live Transcript icon (CC).
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2. There are two options under "Assign someone to type."
   • "Assign a participant to type": this will open the participants window, where you will find the user you wish to assign, click on More, then Assign to Type Closed Caption.
   • "I will type": this will open the closed captioning window for you to manually type closed captions.
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3. In the "Closed Caption - Broadcasting" window, the assigned user will type the captions into the text box and press the Enter key to broadcast. 
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4. Regular participants who wish to view the closed captions should click on the Closed Caption (CC) icon. A notification stating, "Closed Caption is available" will appear above the icon when this option is accessible. 
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2. LIVE: Automatic Closed Captioning for Zoom

In this method, live closed captioning is generated by an automatic speech recognition software that is directly integrated into Zoom. This will not require a physical user to type captions, nor will you need to incorporate a 3rd party closed captioning service. Please note, that names or certain words may not be displayed correctly and accents may produce less accurate results. Still, automatic closed captioning is estimated to be over 80% accurate. If your event requires over 99% accuracy during a live session, please consult the UCSB Disabled Students Program for additional solutions.

Step-by-step instructions with screenshots, below. Video provided by DSP, here. 

Enable Live Transcription on User Account:

1. Log in to the Zoom web-portal. 
2. Navigate to the "Settings" tab and confirm you are in the "Meetings" section. 
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3. Click on In Meeting (Advanced) and look for the setting, "Closed captioning."
   • Confirm that the "Closed captioning" setting is turned ON (blue toggle). If the toggle is grey (OFF) click on it to turn it ON. 
   • Confirm that the following check box is selected, "Enable live transcription service to show transcript on the side panel in-meeting."
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4. Lastly, if you would like to save a copy of the transcript for every meeting, toggle "Save Captions" to ON (marked in screenshot above). 
   • Note: this setting will allow participants to also save a copy of the transcript. The setting applies to both the host and participants. 

Initiate Computer-Generated Closed Captions:

1. In a live Zoom session, you should now see the Live Transcription icon (CC) on the meetings control bar. Click on it. 
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2. Under "Live Transcript," select Enable Auto-Transcription. 
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3. Zoom will automatically display closed captions to all participants who join from a Zoom account. The participant can then choose to hide subtitles or to view the full transcript.
4. To disable live transcription, select the Closed Captions icon and click on the blue button: Disable Auto-Transcription to terminate the computer captions. 
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3. RECORDED: Automatic Closed Captioning for GauchoCast

GauchoCast users have the option to view automatic speech recognition (ASR) captions on uploaded GauchoCast videos. By default, all sessions uploaded to a course folder on GauchoCast will receive ASR captions. Once a video has been uploaded and processed successfully, the captions will become available within the target completion time (Videos <1hr: ~8hrs. Videos >1hr: ~24hrs). These captions are machine-generated and will need to be edited and revised if 100% accuracy is desired.

Edit Automatic Speech Recognition Captions:

1. Navigate to GauchoCast and locate the folder and video you wish to work on.
2. Select the video and click “Edit”.
3. On the left side of the editing screen, click on the “Captions” section.
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   • If ASR captions have been processed successfully, they will appear under the "Captions" section along with their timestamps.
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   • If ASR captions are not ready, they will not appear under the "Captions" section. Check back after the estimated transcription time (Videos <1hr: ~8hrs. Videos >1hr: ~24hrs). If your captions are still not available after the targeted completion time, click on “Import captions” and look for an option titled “Import automatic captions." Please contact Instructional Development (help@id.ucsb.edu) if you continue to experience issues with closed captioning on GauchoCast. 
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4. To edit existing captions, simply move your mouse over the text and click on it. The captions will appear within a text-box that will allow you to edit, replace, or delete any of the text. Hit "Enter" on your keyboard to save the caption. 
5. When you are ready to save the entire transcript, hit Apply. This step is critical for your changes to be applied successfully.
6. The updated captions will become available to viewers after a quick processing phase.

4. RECORDED: Professional Quality Closed Captioning for GauchoCast

Professional quality closed captioning (with 99% accuracy) can be requested for recorded lectures uploaded and saved on GauchoCast. The high quality captions are provided by Verbit, a third party transcription service, that uses a combination of AI and human transcriptionists. Verbit is a premium add-on service that must be requested. Verbit fees for courses that are in conjunction with the Disabled Students Program (DSP), are covered by DSP. The rate for non-DSP Verbit requests is $0.84/minute and is billed to the faculty's department. Target completion time for captioning is approximately 2 business days.

For more information about requesting closed captioning through DSP, see below. 

For more information about Verbit or to request professional quality closed captioning (non-DSP request), please contact Instructional Development directly.

5. LIVE & RECORDED: Disabled Students Program Accommodations

Synchronous Transcription (via Zoom): 

Student must initiate request by contacting DSP and discuss their accommodation requirements. If approved, DSP will notify the faculty member and contract a transcriptionist. Faculty member will be instructed to invite and allow transcriptionist to join the live Zoom sessions. Transcriptionist will open a private chat with the student and type captions directly to them. 

Asynchronous Transcription (via GauchoCast): 

Student must initiate request by contacting DSP and discuss their accommodation requirements. If approved, DSP will notify the faculty member and provide instructions for provisioning the course folder on GauchoCast. Once provisioning process has been completed, DSP will notify Instructional Development of the captioning request. Instructional Development will set up course folder to automatically submit new videos to Verbit for professional quality transcription. Target completion time for Verbit captions is approximately 2 business days. 

For more information or to request DSP accommodations, please consult the UCSB Disabled Students Program.

Need more help? Contact us at: help@id.ucsb.edu