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Captions & translation
Captions turn your spoken words into text on screen in real time. They're essential for deaf and hard-of-hearing students and a quiet boost for English learners, note-takers, and anyone in a noisy room.
Free and instant
Live Caption is built into Chrome (Settings → Accessibility), Android, and iPhone/iPad. It captions any audio or video playing on the device — no setup per video.
Captions in the tools you use
| Tool | How to caption |
|---|---|
| Google Slides | Click Captions while presenting — it captions you live as you talk. |
| Google Meet / Zoom | Turn on live captions in the call toolbar (and live translation in Meet). |
| YouTube | Turn on CC; pick a video that has real (not auto) captions when accuracy matters. |
| Chrome (anything) | Live Caption captions any audio/video on the page. |
Translation for multilingual families & students
- Google Translate — translate a handout, or use "Conversation" mode to talk with a family.
- Immersive Reader — translates a passage word-by-word or whole-page as students read.
- Microsoft/Google Slides + captions — some tools caption in one language and display in another.
- Translate key directions and family messages first — that's where it matters most.
Auto-translation isn't perfect
Machine translation gets the gist but misses nuance and idioms, and can mangle names or academic terms. For anything high-stakes (IEP meetings, legal notices), use a professional interpreter — your district is required to provide one.
Wrapping up the track
These supports pair naturally with read-aloud and dictation — together they cover accessing content and expressing understanding.