Automatic Captions

Automatic Captions

The world of free and available auto-generated captions is advancing quickly. YouTube features auto-generated captions in playback. Both PowerPoint and Google Slides now have auto caption options when in presentation mode. Microsoft Translator is an app which translates into English and other languages from voice, text, and images in real time. It should be noted that "auto-generated" does not necessarily equate to "accessible." Users must remember that captions created by artificial intelligence often have errors in punctuation, spelling, and/or content, potentially creating a barrier to comprehension, impeding full access, and could even cause confusion for the reader. Providing auto-generated captions can provide an alternate means of representation in a universally-designed classroom for many learners including English language learners (ELL) who could use the captions in their native language while the teacher is speaking in English.

The auto-generated caption features in Google Slides, PowerPoint, and Maestra Web Captioner are a great addition in real-time professional learning environments but cannot be edited for accuracy while presenting. YouTube and PowerPoint, and some other auto-generated captions may be edited post-production. It can be time-consuming to edit the transcripts. In addition, a person would need to be identified to make the edits in a timely manner, especially if the captions are required for accessibility. In order for captions to be an accommodation to provide equitable access, a professional speech-to-text service may need to be hired to provide captions. Remember to choose your captioning choices and media with the audience and end product in mind.