Captions
Captions are a key accommodation for people with hearing loss
By showing us speech as text, captions help people with hearing loss and people who are Deaf to participate equally in many settings and venues.
Captions also help children, people learning English, people with sensory processing disorders, and people with mild hearing loss. And captions help everyone concentrate, understand, and remember what they hear.
Combining captions with an assistive listening system creates the gold standard for ADA-compliant hearing access.
We encourage you to add — and enjoy! — captions whenever and wherever you can.
Realtime human-powered captions (CART)
Captioning provided by a real human in real-time is called Communication Access Real-time Translation, or CART. This type of captioning works in person or remotely.
We encourage you to hire a human CART provider for both online and in-person meetings, conventions, conferences, and live theater. How do you do that? Start by downloading our CART guide, which includes a list of providers you can call.
Movie Captions
Closed captions: Some movie theaters have closed captions that aren’t on the big screen, but are available via caption glasses or a small screen you place in your cupholder. Check these receivers out from theater staff.
Open captions: Open-captions are on the movie screen for everyone to see. Thanks to the John Waldo Act – which we helped pass – Washington State movie theaters have specific requirements to show open-captioned movies.
To find movies in your area with open captions, join the free OC movie club or this Facebook OC Group, or check the online listings.
If you need movie captions but don’t see them offered, request them from the theater manager. In Washington State, a small theater chain has 8 days to comply.
Online Meeting Captions
Whatever type of online meeting you have, please hire a CART captioner or turn on the automatic captions every time. Everyone will benefit, whether they let you know or not.
Television Captions
Today, most televisions have caption capabilities. Not sure how to turn your home TV captions on? This link at Rev can help.
By law, the captions must be turned on all TVs in public venues and spaces, such as bars or waiting rooms, in Washington State. We helped pass this law in 2021.
Because public safety and civic information are vital, we helped ensure that TV Washington includes captions, too.
You may see a difference in how TV programs are captioned. Some captions, such as for movies, do include sound effects, music descriptions, and character emotions like *scoff* or *sniff*. For live newscasts and similar programs, those types of sounds aren’t usually included, though we wish they were.
Captioned Landline Phones
If you’re not understanding well on your landline phone, you might benefit from a captioned phone. Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service, or IP-Captioned phones are available nationwide.
You can get a caption phone from several providers, including CaptionCall, Hamilton CapTel, and ClearCaptions. Our Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing has a helpful list of caption phone providers and their contact information.
Captions for Smartphones
Captions on your smartphone can be helpful across a variety of situations. Some apps and features can caption a phone call. Others turn nearby speech into text, like when you’re talking in person with someone or at group gatherings or meetings. There are also ways to caption media like videos and podcasts.
To start, your Android phone may offer a feature — not an app, but a feature — called LiveCaption, and your iPhone may offer subtitles and captions.
For more help on smartphone captions, see our clickable guide. And this terrific video from HLAA-Boston shows you how your smartphone can be used as assistive tech.
Captions for Tablets, Computers, and Laptops
You can caption live media, such as videos and podcasts, and even live speech, on these devices.
Captions on tablets: Turn on live captions on your iPad or use Live Transcribe on your Android tablet, such as a Samsung.
Captions on your computer or laptop: Turn captions on via your Chrome browser, Edge (via Windows; click on Open Caption Preferences), or other browsers.
Captions on a Mac: Your Mac shows captions, too. On this link, select the MacOS version that you have for directions.
Video Captions
Content creators can add captions to all their videos, shorts, and reels. It’s easy, inclusive, and sometimes required by law.
How to add captions to YouTube videos
How to add captions to Canva videos
The video on the left is made in Canva with added captions. For accuracy, we edited the captions ourselves by clicking on the text.
Caption Glasses
Caption glasses will show you speech as text in realtime, while you’re wearing the glasses. While they’re not inexpensive — $499 up to $4,999 — some people with hearing loss find caption glasses helpful in situations like doctor’s offices, or in a one-to-one conversation.
Brand names include XanderGlasses, XRAI Glass, Captify, and AirCaps. This story in Hearing Tracker explains how caption glasses work and compares the advantages and disadvantages of each. You can find more information in this report, “Caption Eyeglasses for Seniors,” written by HLAA-WA Board Director Carolyn Odio.(opens as a PDF.)
No captions or poor caption quality?
If you encounter confusing or incorrect captions, or you aren’t getting the captions you need, you can file a complaint.