Providing the option to use closed captions and translations during your live stream gives attendees an accessible experience and opens the door to a global audience. While setting up captions and translations with a third party often involves added cost and coordination, Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations is included with your streaming credit at no extra cost!

Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations uses machine learning to generate live stream captions and translations in over thirty languages in Agenda Sessions and Live Stream features using Webex Events Production Studio, Webex Events RTMP Player, Webex Events Video on Demand, or Webex Events Simulive. In the web version and Mobile App, captions automatically display the language that attendees set in their app profile settings.

Keep reading to learn how to set up and use Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations, and be sure to read the FAQ at the end. 📖

Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations is compatible with the following live streaming platforms:

When creating a Live Stream feature or Session, select either 'Production Studio', 'RTMP Player', or 'Simulive' as the Stream provider.

Next, activate the 'Enable Closed Captions' toggle and select Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations from the Closed Captions Provider drop-down menu.

When you're done, click Save Changes. It's that easy!

Now attendees can activate closed captions and choose a language while viewing your live streams.

Now that you know how to activate Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations, let's explore the attendee experience on the web version and the Mobile App.

When attendees join a live stream on the web version of the Event App, they click the 'CC' icon below the lower right corner of the live stream and select a language from the drop-down. Captions then appear below the live stream.

When attendees join a live stream on the Mobile App, they have access to a 'CC' icon and a 'Language' icon.

To turn on captions, attendees tap the CC icon, or they can select a language. Tapping the Language icon opens a window with a list of supported languages. Selecting a language automatically turns captions on.

The Mobile App displays closed captions in a few formats. By default, captions appear under the live stream. To show full caption mode without video, attendees simply swipe up on their mobile device. They can also display captions in landscape mode by rotating their phones horizontally.

Now you know all about setting up and using Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations. Read the FAQs below to learn even more!

Here are some common questions and answers we've gathered to help you learn more about Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations.

Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations works with the following stream providers on the Mobile App and web experience:

Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations isn’t available for the following:

It's included for free when you buy a Webex Events Streaming credit.

Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations supports 35 languages — for now. 😉 Read our full list of available languages for more details.

Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations uses the same technology as Webex Meetings, so you can expect the same level of accuracy described in this Webex blog post. In summary, machines aren't perfect, so Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations aren't as accurate as a human can be.

If you need the accuracy of human captioning and translation for your live stream or simulive content, use an alternative third-party provider like Syncwords. Learn more in our Third-party Captions & Webex Events Streaming article.

Yes! Both the Mobile App and web version support Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations.

Yes, if the video uses a file you uploaded to the Video Center, and you activated Closed Captions for the video when you uploaded it.

No. Even though recordings from any Webex Events Production Studio streams are automatically added to the Video Center, closed captions aren't available for those recordings. To add captions to a Production Studio recording, download the recording, then re-upload it to the Video Center, making sure to activate Closed Captions in the upload modal. Learn more in our Video Center article.

At this time, Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations doesn't supply audio translations. If you need audio translations for your live stream or simulive content, use an alternative third-party provider like Interprefy. Learn more in our Third-Party Captions & Webex Events Streaming article.

When you activate Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations, the stream starts with a 30-second delay. This affects in-person speakers addressing Q&A with a hybrid audience. In-person attendees at the session who use captions in the live stream will also notice this delay, and for virtual attendees, the stream will start 30 seconds after you go live.

Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations currently only translates from spoken English. For captioning to work, everyone in the session needs to speak English.

We recommend using SyncWords or Interprefy for sessions and live streams with multi-lingual speakers. For more information about our recommended third-party caption providers, refer to our Third-Party Captions & Webex Events Streaming article.

If an attendee leaves a live stream and rejoins it, the language they initially chose will remain the selected language option. They will, however, need to turn closed captions on again.

Speakers and event organizers can't use live captions in the Webex Events Production Studio. Only attendees in the Event App can use closed captions in the live stream.

At this time, recordings from the Webex Events Production Studio don't include the captions. However, you can upload recordings to Video Center, making sure to activate Closed Captions in the upload modal. Learn more in our Video Center article.

At this time, Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations doesn't support caption transcript downloads.

Now that you know all about Webex Events Closed Captions & Translations, head over to our Live Streaming Best Practices article for tips on hosting an amazing live stream!