𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦: 4 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘴🕒
Live captions were actually our most popular service in 2025. And for plenty of projects, they were used for events.
So, we wanted to put together a guide that covers everything about live captions for events so if you are wanting to find out more detail, you have come to the right place.
In this blog, we’ll cover:
- What are live captions?
- The captioning process
- How does it differ for remote events?
- How real-time subtitles improve an event
- Whether AI live captions can be used for events
Let’s dive in!
What are live captions?
Live captioning is the conversion of audio, such as speech and sound, into text that is displayed in real-time. Live captions are a great way to enhance your audience’s experience at both live and in-person events, meetings, and conferences — increasing comprehension, memory, and attention.
Did you know that providing an inclusive experience also allows a wider audience to understand and enjoy your event?
For example, accessibility-first live captioning can benefit:
- Non-native English speakers, as captions can be accurately translated into multiple languages for easy access and understanding.
- Audience members who are deaf or hard or hearing who can now fully understand what is being said in real time
- Neurodivergent audience members who may not be able to process visual and audio at the same time
- Dyslexic attendees: A QR code is available for slower captions or captions that can change colour, text size, and contrast.
Types of live captions
There are two types of live captions:
- Open live captions
- Closed live captions
Open live captions are a type of live captions that are burnt into a video.
- They are displayed at the bottom of the screen in the middle. The streamer (the person who pushes/sends the stream) can place the captions anywhere they like, but it’s standard that they are at the bottom.
- The streamer can decide on the font and colours and then they push the feed to its destination with those caption settings.
- The client can choose as many lines of text as they want, but two or three is standard.
On the other hand, closed live captions are an extra layer of captions that are added to the video feed. They are an overlay on the video.
- They can be turned on and off.
- For closed captions, we can only push two to three lines of captions max. We decide (depending on whether the client chooses two or three lines), and viewers are stuck with the number of lines we push.
- Flexibility in terms of position, font, text size etc. is subject to the destination video player (e.g. YouTube) and the settings of the platform.
It’s your choice for which you choose.
The live captioning process
The process at events is relatively simple.
Live subtitles, or captions, are created by professional stenographers, who transcribe speech into text in real-time.
To do this, machines and other specialist computers are used to translate special phonetic symbols that the stenographers type.
Subtitles are then instantly displayed and will not disrupt the flow of the presentation in the event, conference or meeting.
For open live captions, they can also be fully customised to improve user experience and branding. Brands have the option to choose the amount of lines, select the font, select the background of the text, text size and text colour.
After the event has taken place, post-event transcripts are made readily available. Transcriptions are available in the event language, as well as any other desired language.
How does it differ for remote events?
There is basically no difference between remote and on-site events for live captioning projects.
We just need the client to send us the feed so we can attend and see the stream remotely, along with the stenographer so they can bring the captions to life.
Considerations for event organisers
If it’s an in-person event, you’ll need to consider where you place the stenographer in the room. They can’t be too close to the speakers, otherwise the noise will get picked up by a microphone. Additionally, if they are too close to the audience, they will hear the clicking of the stenography machine. The back of the stage is usually the safest bet.
Note that at VoiceBox, we always allocate one project manager for the event to take care of it from start to finish. Dedicated support, the only way we know how. That includes attending the rehearsals, being on a WhatsApp group to answer any questions, organising with the captioner, receiving the preparation material from the client and sending it to the captioner — we take care of everything. The project manager will also be on the same live stream from start to finish.
During a remote event, our project manager is remote.
For on-site events, note that the stenographer must be on-site but a project manager is not needed on-site unless this is specifically requested and the client has budget for it.
How real-time subtitles improve an event?
Real-time subtitles support an event by making it inclusive and accessible to members of the audience. This service level ensures that core messaging and points discussed are communicated effectively, especially for those who are part of the deaf and hard of hearing community, or non-native English speaking (if your event is in English).
There are many ways in which live captions can support your event, including:
- Allowing your event to be accessible
- Improving the understanding of the content
- Impacting the comprehension of the presentation by watching and listening
- Creating the captions in an accessible way by making them available in multiple languages
- Building trust with audience members who need live captions, so they are more likely to come to a future event
Can AI live captions be used for events?
Yes, they can.
AI live captions are best suited to smaller events with small budgets, such as community events or internal events. They can help events like this be more accessible to more people, which is great news.
Of course, they aren’t as accurate as human live captions (around 98%) and instead bring an accuracy rate of 70% – 85% depending on a glossary of terms, audio quality and accent. So, it’s worth considering the importance of accuracy in your event when thinking about human or AI live captions.
We will always advise you whether we think human or AI live captions are best suited to your specific event.
Conclusion
Are you hosting an event, meeting, or seminar? Then why not incorporate live captions?
Here at VoiceBox, we have been producing live captions and other inclusive multimedia content since 2015.
We have a catalogue of over 220 languages to suit our clients’ needs, which is one of the many reasons we are rated 4.6 on Trustpilot and have 5* Google Reviews. Get in contact today.
FAQs
Yes, live captions work for hybrid, multi-speaker or fast-paced events. With hybrid events, there can be a stenographer at the event and a feed with live captions for remote attendees. We can embed the captions in multiple places.
For in-person attendees, these captions are embedded on an on-site screen, or using a QR code or URL. For people online, if the event is on Zoom, we can add the captions to Zoom and they can click the CC button to see our captions. They can also have the QR code or URL if it’s easier for them.
Even with speaker overlap, audience questions and a fast-pace, we have found that over hundreds of events, live captioners can decipher what is being said and accurately caption it.
To make the live captions the best they can be, event organisers need to provide project managers with glossaries of terms (industry terminology), agendas, speaker names and titles.
Once they have been supported with preparation, our dedicated project manager will look after the event from start to finish. We will sort out all the technical areas.
Whether live captions can be branded mainly depends on how the client will show the captions. If they provide a URL, no one can brand that URL. However, if the client shows captions on a screen, the client can show our captions with a transparent background and behind that, add their own overlay with their logo, etc.
We advise that this does require testing and preparation in advance to get the dimensions correct.