Virtual and hybrid delivery
How to deliver captions at a virtual event
Someone on your committee has asked for captions on the webinar, and nobody is sure who is meant to supply them.
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The short answer
Captions at a virtual event need five decisions made in writing: who produces them, in which language, where attendees see them, who switches them on, and what happens if they stop mid-session.
Platform features differ by product and plan and change over time, so confirm each one against the vendor's current documentation and with your platform supplier before you promise anything to attendees.
Start with who needs captions and why
Ask registrants, in an optional registration question, whether captions would help them. Keep the question about the support, not about a diagnosis or medical reason. The accessibility questions builder can help word it.
A request from one attendee, a sponsor's guest or a speaker changes the plan from nice to have into a delivery item with an owner.
The three common ways captions are produced
Each route has a different owner, a different cost line and a different failure point. Choose one as the main route and name the fallback.
| Route | Who produces it | Questions to settle |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic captions inside the platform | The platform, switched on by a host or organiser | Is it available on your plan? Which languages? Who can turn it on? Is it visible to every attendee or per person? |
| A human captioner joining the session | A captioning provider you appoint | How do they receive the audio? Where does the text appear? Are they briefed on names and terms? Who is the contact during the session? |
| Captions on the replay only | Added after the event | Who edits the text? By what date? Is the replay release held until they are ready? |
Where the captions appear
- Inside the platform window, so attendees can switch them on or off.
- In a separate caption viewer link that attendees open beside the session. If so, the joining instructions must carry that link.
- On the room screen for a hybrid event, which the venue and the AV supplier must confirm.
- Whether the same captions can be saved afterwards as a transcript, and who owns that file.
Test and back up before the day
- Brief the captioner or the person managing automatic captions with the programme, speaker names, acronyms and any terms in Malay, English or Chinese.
- Run a rehearsal using the same platform account, the same audio route and a speaker with a typical accent and pace.
- Ask one person who relies on captions, or an adviser on access, to read the rehearsal output and say whether it is usable.
- Name a backup: a second captioner, a switch to a viewer link, or a plain-language summary sent afterwards.
- Put the caption contact's name and the cue to switch on captions into the run-of-show.
What stays with your platform and captioning suppliers
The platform supplier and any captioning provider run the technology. The organiser decides the need, appoints and briefs them, and checks the result. For a longer view of hearing and live-captioning needs at a physical event, see the live captioning brief.
Worked example · Fictional example
A two-hour online forum for internal auditors
Fictional organisation and figures, for illustration only.
The Fictional Internal Auditors Forum plans a two-hour online session with about 180 registrants and four speakers. Two registrants tick the optional caption question.
The secretariat chooses a human captioner as the main route and platform captions as the fallback. The captioner receives the programme and a glossary of audit terms a week ahead, joins the rehearsal on Thursday, and is listed in the run-of-show with a mobile contact for the session. The joining guide carries the caption instructions, and the replay is held for review until the transcript has been checked.
Use this yourself
Caption delivery brief and supplier questions
Copy into a document and send to your platform supplier and any captioning provider. Record each answer in writing. The RFP completeness checker can show whether your request to suppliers covers these points.
- Which caption route is the main one, and which is the fallback?
- Which languages are needed for speech and for captions?
- Does our platform plan include the chosen route? Please point to the vendor documentation page.
- Who switches captions on, and at what cue?
- Where does the text appear for remote attendees and, if hybrid, in the room?
- How does the captioner receive the audio, and who is the contact during the session?
- What glossary, speaker list and slides will be sent, and by when?
- Who attends the rehearsal and who reviews the caption output?
- What happens if captions stop, and who decides to switch to the backup?
- Can the text be saved as a transcript, who edits it, and when is it released with the replay?
- What does the quotation or scope include, and what is excluded?
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- Your platform plan includes captions and your team has used them before.
- The session is short, in one language, with few speakers.
- Nobody has asked for human captioning and a fallback is easy to arrange.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- A caption provider, platform supplier, venue and speakers all need to be coordinated.
- The programme mixes languages or technical terms.
- A member or sponsor has formally requested captions and the secretariat needs a documented plan.
Need the caption plan coordinated?
A conference project lead can gather the access needs, put the caption questions to your platform and captioning suppliers, run the rehearsal check and keep the fallback written into the run-of-show. The platform, the captioners and the technical run stay with the suppliers you appoint.
Questions organisers ask
Are automatic captions enough?
That depends on the audience, the language mix and the terms used. Test with your own speakers and ask the people who rely on captions whether the output is usable. Keep a fallback.
Who pays for captioning?
It is a budget line the organiser decides, often under accessibility or production. Ask suppliers to quote it as a separate item so the committee can see it.
Should captions be on for everyone by default?
Check with your platform supplier whether that is possible and whether individual attendees can still switch them off. Say in the joining guide how to turn captions on.
Can the planner supply the captioner or platform?
No. A project lead coordinates and checks the work. You appoint the platform supplier and the captioning provider.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.