9 posts tagged with "Real-Time Captioning"

CART captions in Microsoft Teams refer to professional human-powered real-time transcription displayed during a meeting, distinct from Teams' built-in automatic live captions. Teams' native "live captions" use AI speech recognition, while CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) delivers 99%+ accuracy from a trained captioner for accommodation requests, legal proceedings, and high-stakes events. Teams also exposes "caption options" settings for language, profanity filtering, and speaker attribution on its built-in captions.

California Senate Bill 707 is the most significant update to the state's open meeting law in decades. Signed by Governor Newsom on October 3, 2025, SB 707 amends the Ralph M. Brown Act to require public agencies across California to offer hybrid meetings with two-way remote participation, activate real-time captioning on video platforms, translate meeting agendas into languages spoken by significant portions of the local population, and take concrete steps to encourage participation from underrepresented communities. The law took effect on January 1, 2026, with enhanced requirements for larger agencies kicking in on July 1, 2026.

Every summer, cities across the country host parades, fireworks shows, festivals, and outdoor ceremonies. A grandstand announcer calls out each float, marching band, and community group as they pass. But that speaker system only carries 2 to 3 blocks. Anyone watching from further down the route, sitting in a lawn chair around the corner, or standing across a noisy intersection hears nothing.

For attendees who are deaf or hard of hearing, the announcer was never accessible in the first place. Recap changes that for both groups: live captions and text-to-speech voiceover turn any outdoor event into one that every attendee can follow, from anywhere, on their own phone.

Live captioning for public meetings, lectures, and broadcasts depends entirely on the speech recognition engine running behind the scenes. If that engine goes down, captions stop. For organizations with accessibility obligations under ADA Title II or WCAG 2.1 AA, an outage during a city council session or commencement ceremony is not just inconvenient; it is a compliance gap.

Recap now supports three live speech recognition providers: Deepgram, ElevenLabs, and Google. When one provider experiences errors, Recap automatically fails over to the next, keeping captions running without manual intervention.

Government agencies and educational institutions increasingly issue RFPs for real-time closed captioning services. These requests appears in solicitations from school boards, city councils, state agencies, and colleges that need captions during live meetings, not just on recorded video afterward.

This guide explains what a real-time closed captioning service is, what procurement teams typically require, and how to evaluate vendors for school board meetings, city council sessions, public hearings, planning commission meetings, and commencement ceremonies.

Live captions and real-time translation already remove barriers for attendees who are deaf or hard of hearing, and for those who speak a different language. But what about attendees who would benefit from hearing the translation rather than reading it? Starting today, Recap Innovations supports multi-lingual voiceover for translated live captions, powered by high-quality natural sounding text-to-speech.

Not every live event has the same captioning needs. An informal departmental meeting and a graduation commencement require very different levels of accuracy. That is why Recap Innovations now offers three distinct live captioning service tiers, including a new professional CART option with human captioners delivering 99%+ accuracy in real time.

Live captions—also known as real-time captions or Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART)—are becoming essential for colleges and universities. With the April 2026 ADA Title II compliance deadline requiring institutions to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards, live captioning for all live audio content is now mandatory, not optional. This comprehensive guide explains what live captions are, when they're required, how they work, and how to implement them effectively at your institution.

Recap Innovations is excited to announce the launch of our comprehensive live captioning and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services, designed specifically for educational institutions preparing for the April 2026 ADA Title II compliance deadline. This new offering extends our industry-leading video accessibility platform to include real-time captioning for live events, lectures, webinars, and broadcasts.