Teaching · Special Education

Live captions on, tested,
and backed up where it counts

Choose the platform to see where live captions live and how to start them. Record what they are for, where they sit and how large they are, mark each setup step, then test them on real lessons and calls and note what they get wrong.

Start a setup What you get

Setups

The worked example is made up: a school laptop captioning lesson videos and calls in a floating window, which misses some math terms, and a phone captioning speech in the room, which struggles with group talk. Use initials or a code, not names.

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What you get

Teaching · Special EducationFree

What you finish with: A setup record per person and device: the main use, caption position, text size and language; eight steps marked done, to try or not needed, including a test with the real speaker and whether human-made captions or CART are arranged where every word matters; real tasks tried; and what to try next. The flags show where live captions live on that platform, how to start them and when automatic captions are not enough. A large-print setup card prints for the device.
Who it is for: Teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing, special education teachers, assistive technology staff, families and students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Format: Browser tool with a saved record per person and device. Prints a large-print setup card, the full record, every setup in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access: Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives: The Special Education space in Caveat Teaching.
Support: Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

Choose the platform and the main use.
Download the language and set the style.
Test with the real speaker and subject words.
Arrange human captions where every word matters.
Print the setup card.

Start a setup

Where live captions live

Every major platform now makes captions on the device. They are a good everyday tool and a poor substitute for human captioning when accuracy matters.

Automatic is not the same as accurate

On-device captions are fast, private and free, but they make mistakes with names, technical words, accents and several people talking at once. For instruction, tests and meetings, the student’s plan can call for human-made captions on recordings or CART, a trained captioner writing in real time.

Use the captions that already exist

Many videos carry captions made by their creators, which are usually more accurate than live captions. Turn those on first. Use live captions for what has none: calls, unlisted videos and speech in the room.

Sources

Microsoft Support. Use live captions to better understand audio (support.microsoft.com).
Apple Support. Get live captions of spoken audio on Mac (support.apple.com/guide/mac-help).
Apple Support. Get live captions of spoken audio on iPhone (support.apple.com/guide/iphone).
Android Accessibility Help. Use Live Caption (support.google.com/accessibility/android).
Chromebook Help. Use Live Caption on your Chromebook (support.google.com/chromebook).
National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes. Automatic captions and real-time captioning services (nationaldeafcenter.org).

The worked example is made up. Menu paths, shortcuts and device and language support are from current versions of each platform in general terms and change often; check the platform’s own help for the device in hand. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat, and the page itself never listens to audio. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.

Live captions on, tested,and backed up where it counts