Zoom Support

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Overview

Zoom has a variety of options for creating closed captioning in your meetings and webinars, providing subtitles of the spoken in-meeting communications. This may be used for participants to more easily follow the conversations, or to meet accessibility requirements.

In meetings, the host or another meeting attendee assigned by the host can provide manual captioning, an integrated third-party closed captioning service can provide the captioning, or Zoom’s built-in live transcription feature can automatically provide captions.

Live transcription currently only supports English, and the accuracy of the feature depends on many factors including but not limited to:

  • Background noise

  • Volume and clarity of the speaker’s voice

  • Speaker's proficiency with the English language

  • The vocabularies and dialects specific to geography or community

  • Not supported in breakout rooms

Individual User - Host

To enable the closed captioning for your own personal use:

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.

  2. In the navigation panel, click Settings.

  3. Click the Meeting tab.

  4. Verify that Closed Captioning is enabled.

    closed captioning settings

Note: If the option is grayed out, it has been locked at either the group or account level. (UCSF should have your close captioning setting automatically enabled on a campus level). If otherwise, please contact the Student Help Desk for further instructions.

Closed captioning or live transcription in a meeting

MacOS - As a Participant

In a Zoom meeting or webinar, the Live Transcript icon CC will show up in your toolbar once the closed captioning feature is enabled by the host of the meeting.

live transcript icon

Click the caret to reveal the following options:

  1. Show Subtitles displays subtitles on the screen.
  2. View Full Transcript displays subtitles in real time with both the speaker's name and a time-stamp within the transcript window.
    1. Note: If you would like a copy of the transcript, click View Full Transcript and Save Transcript.
    2. Note: The transcript saves up to the moment of clicking Save Transcript and is saved to your computer in Documents → Zoom. We recommend you click Save Transcript just before the meeting ends to ensure you retain the transcript from the entire meeting. This option may not be available if the host has disabled this feature.
    3. Note: Live Transcripts are computer-generated, users should be aware that their accuracy may be affected and may require editing to meet full accessibility standards.
      Save transcript
  3. Subtitle Settings will open a window where you can adjust the font size of both the subtitles.
    1. Note: All other screen reader options are enabled by default.
      advanced options

Windows - As a Participant

In a Zoom meeting or webinar, the Live Transcript icon CC will show up in your toolbox once the closed captioning feature is enabled by the host of the meeting.

live transcript icon

Click the caret to reveal the following options:

  1. Show Subtitles displays subtitles on the screen.
  2. View Full Transcript displays subtitles in real time with both the speaker's name and a time-stamp within the transcript window.
    1. Note: If you would like a copy of the transcript, click View Full Transcript and Save Transcript.
    2. Note: The transcript saves up to the moment of clicking Save Transcript and is saved to your computer in Documents → Zoom. We recommend you click Save Transcript just before the meeting ends to ensure you retain the transcript from the entire meeting. This option may not be available if the host has disabled this feature.
    3. Note: Live Transcripts are computer-generated, users should be aware that their accuracy may be affected and may require editing to meet full accessibility standards.
      Save transcript
  3. Subtitle Settings will open a window where you can adjust the font size of both the subtitles.
    1. Note: All other screen reader options are enabled by default.
      advanced options

Mobile - As a Participant

In a Zoom meeting or webinar on your mobile device, once the Live Transcription feature is enabled by the host, closed captioning will be automatically turned on.

Who can see this transcript

How do I view the full transcript on my mobile device?

On the bottom of your screen, select the More icon.

mobile view transcript

View Full Transcript displays subtitles in real time with both the speaker's name and a time-stamp within the transcript window.

mobil full transcript

How do I turn off closed captioning on my mobile device?

On the bottom of your screen, select the More icon.

mobile meeting settings

Meeting settings will further direct you to a menu list that will have the option to turn the closed captioning on and off.

disable closed captioning

Tips to improve the accuracy of live transcriptions

  • Make sure to speak slowly and clearly.
  • Utilize a headset or external microphone, or get as close to your computer's internal mic as possible.
  • During a meeting, click the Reactions icon at the bottom of your Zoom screen, then click the left-facing arrow to urge the speaker to 'Go slower'.
    meeting reactions