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Support for explaining to school a child's need and rights to clear mask accommodation

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Support for explaining to school a child's need and rights to clear mask accommodation

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Effective Communication with Face Masks and Shields COHVJul242020Final

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Watch us try on masks and review them- Emmett Schlager & Julie Schlager

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Watch us try on masks and review them- Emmett Schlager & Julie Schlager

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Support for use of face shield in a school setting

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Support for use of face shield in a school setting

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by Cochlear Implant Alliance

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Educational Audiology Association supports use of face shields

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Educational Audiology Association supports use of face shields

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(They also make adult masks and bulk orders & sell anti-fog drops.)

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Communication & Safety for All! Here at ADCO we believe that you should not have to choose between access to communication and safety. The widespread usage of face coverings and masks has made it difficult for those who rely on lip reading to effectively communicate.

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Another cloth mask with window - unreviewed. Child & Adult sizes, ear loops or tie style.

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Another cloth mask with window - unreviewed. Child & Adult sizes, ear loops or tie style.

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At Rafi Nova, we design our products with families in mind, and hope to empower parents to take their families on new adventures, share new memories, and blaze new trails.

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Wear a type of Clear Mask EVERYWHERE YOU GO.  It models what you want your teachers and friends to do. The positive feedback from everyone around will feel great! HAVE EXTRAS to share with your child's friends.  Ask schools to sell in their bookstore, have for your child's classmates, etc.

# data[].attributes.subject
Wear a type of Clear Mask EVERYWHERE YOU GO.  It models what you want your teachers and friends to do. The positive feedback from everyone around will feel great! HAVE EXTRAS to share with your child's friends.  Ask schools to sell in their bookstore, have for your child's classmates, etc.

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They can be de-fogged with dish soap!

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Several different ways to wear a mask with CI device

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Several different ways to wear a mask with CI device

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Ear Savers to get mask ties off your ears

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Ear Savers to get mask ties off your ears

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Comparison of Automatic Captioning Products

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Comparison of Automatic Captioning Products

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One good thing came out of COVID-19.

It forced me to try video calls again.

The reason I don't love video calls is that I miss too much. While I'm a strong lipreader, video calls have a few challenges.

Why I Shied Away from Video Calls

Often, the video jerks or jumps. It's like ________ of a thought. Exactly. It's like missing part of a thought.

Lipreading is hard when the sound doesn't sync with lip movements. Another problem is that some videos look pixelated or blurry. That affects lipread-ability

These factors together create a frustrating experience. For me, listening is more important than speaking. Listening to video calls requires I work harder to hear than the average person. My brain is multitasking. It has to convert lip movement and sound into sentences. It has to fill in the blanks. It has to absorb what the person says. It has to make meaning of it. It's a tall order in a short time.

You've probably seen the studies on multitasking. That most of us become less efficient at each task. That's what happens to me on a video call.

The Turning Point

A client sent an invitation to a friendly lunch video conference. No pressure. Not mandatory. I decided to give it a try. At the very least, I could see their faces.

Just before the call, Ann Marie Beebout tells me she's going to caption the call.

Wait. What?!

She researched it and found a way to do it with Google Slides.

It worked! It wasn't perfect. I followed the conversation well enough. And even chimed in a couple of times.

Knowing when to speak up in a group video call is hard. I don't want to interrupt anyone.

One-on-one video calls are best, of course. The more attendees there are, the harder it is to follow. Even with live subtitles from an automatic captioning tool.

Automatic Captioning Guidelines for Video Calls

None of the automatic captioning tools are perfect. Still, a couple tend to work better than others.

Live transcription while on a video call is a wholly different experience than simply transcribing a call after the fact. The guidelines for automatically captioning a video call is also different from the captioning guidelines for videos.

Based on my experience as someone who depends on captions to hear, I've created these automatic captioning guidelines for video calls. These determine the effectiveness of the tool.

1. Readability

Readability is a big factor. This refers to the ability to read the captions, not the actual content of the captions. Readability has three components: size, format (color), and scrolling. This factor quickly knocked some apps out of contention. Nonetheless, I tried the apps because I wanted to give them a fair chance.

Size

A larger text size works better. Where possible, I placed the captions below the video, which brings them closer to the lips. (Cover in the next item: Caption Placement.) I constantly go back and forth between the two.

Format (Color)

You know how most captions contain a black-ish background with white-ish text? Yup, this combination also works well for live video calls. I've done many experiments using feedback from people including those with color blindness, dyslexia, and ADHD. I use the following in my captions.

Background: #242424 (slightly off-black)

Text: #FFFFFD (slightly off-white)

Scrolling

Another factor is the scrolling of the text. Does it do it on its own? Or do I have to play with it to keep it in place? Does it keep disappearing or jumping?

2. Caption Placement

I asked people if they prefer captions on the top or bottom of videos. At 98 percent, almost everyone picked the bottom. One of the biggest reasons is because it puts the captions closest to the lips. This is especially true in video conferencing.

To follow a conversation, I depend on reading lips, my cochlear implant, and the captions. It's all happening in real-time. Conversations move fast. Remember that part at the beginning about my brain multitasking to listen (in my own way)? That's why the placement of the captions matter. See the section on eye contact for more information.

Perhaps, a compromise is to give users a choice on caption placement. The key is that it needs to be part of the app. In other words, when I select the video app, the captions will be right there. I won't have to work to bring both the captions and the video app back into view.

Some people suggested using a phone for the captions. This doesn't work well because of caption placement. It takes my eyes off the video. As such, I miss too much information trying to read the captions on the phone during the call. Remember that automatic caption accuracy is far from perfect.

3. Accuracy

The same goes for accuracy. Every call is different in sound quality, volume, and content. In testing the tools, I couldn't fairly say whether one is more or less accurate than the others. That's why I tested all the apps against a single podcast. This provides an apples-to-apples comparison in terms of content.

4. Synchronized

Timing, of course, matters. You want the text to keep up with the audio. With live captions, you can count on some lag. Some apps have less lag than others. And some have more.

5. Caption Flow and Movement

Live captions tend to scroll along where you read them from right to left and top to bottom. Typically, like any other captions, you see about one or two lines at a time. This helps with tracking. Anything longer makes it easy to lose your place as your eyes dart between the video and the captions.

In some live captions, the captions jerk. They don't flow smoothly and move unpredictably. The captions don't keep up with the audio. There should be no more than a few milliseconds of delay between the audio and its associated captions. For more on this and examples, see Flow in the Caption Guide.

6. Transcript

Can you save the transcript after the call? For important meetings, I'll want to review the transcript. Remember, my brain is multitasking during these calls to follow the conversation. It doesn't remember everything.

Important Note About Microphones

Listening refers to the app's ability to listen. It can't caption without the ability to hear the conversation. I want to use my desktop for video calls. But it doesn't have a built-in microphone like my laptop does. Every app except Google Meet need this microphone to work. The apps cannot "hear" through the desktop's internal speaker. They need a microphone.

If I had a webcam on my desktop, it probably will work just like the laptop. What I do is turn my phone into a webcam with an app. The app doesn't use the phone's mic. But there are apps that do. The app didn't work, which is why I couldn't use them.

So, these are the guidelines I follow in analyzing the quality of each tool.

Another person who is deaf like me expressed concern about caption placement on video calls. He believes it's harmful because it takes away from eye contact. This is not an issue limited to people who read captions. I've been on many calls since writing this and eye contact is rarely direct. People cannot always set up their webcams to get the kind of eye contact we get in person.

An informal poll reveals that many people agree eye contact isn't important on a video call. It's all about the content.

In person, I struggle to talk to people who don't make eye contact. I cannot explain why this happens when I'm doing the talking. A deaf friend expressed the same thing. Obviously, when I'm listening, eye contact improves lip-readability.

The challenge with some of these tools is that you're managing two apps: the video call app (i.e. Zoom) and the captioning tool. If you switch to another app or share your screen, it can mess up everything. And you'll have to fiddle with the apps to get them all back.

That's why captions built into the app is the ideal solution. This way, you're only dealing with one app instead of two. Only two apps have this capability: Skype and Google Meet. Microsoft Teams will have this feature, but it's not widely available yet. Users appreciate it when they can resize the captions and select where they want to position the captions.

Portable Captions Hack

A couple of automatic speech recognition (ASR) apps would make good portable captions. You may find yourself in a situation where you need to use the ASR app on your phone for captions. Or you want to improve eye contact on a video call. Here's a hack from Simon Lau.

Take a large binder clip as shown in the following image. Use the clip to place the phone on the top or bottom of the monitor where you'd want the captions.

Use a binder clip to put a phone providing the captions on the monitor.

Important Note About Microphones and Headsets

Microphones and headsets complicate things with automatically captioning video calls. For most automatic captioning tools, I use my laptop with its built-in camera and microphone. It's the only way the apps could "hear" voices in videoconferencing.

My desktop computer has a speaker, but no mic. when I plug in a mic, the sound disappears. And when there's no sound coming through the speakers, there's nothing to caption. Catch -22. After fiddling with the sound settings, I finally got the computer to allow the mic to work and play sound over the speakers. It worked for most of the tools and apps except Skype. It just stood there silent.

Headsets with a mic won't work with tools that need to hear the audio. The apps can't hear anything. Thus, they can't provide captions.

This is where video calls with built-in automatic captioning have an advantage. These include Google Meet, Skype, and Microsoft Teams.

The Best Captioning Tool for Video Calls

Of course, the best way to caption video calls is with a human typing the captions. The reality is that it's not feasible for many calls. But if accuracy is important, this is your best bet. It's ideal for large companies, conferences, seminars, and classes.

How to caption video calls with a human depends on the software you're using for the call. For example, Zoom explains how to add captions to its calls.

For the majority of calls, automatic captions is the next best thing. If I'm in a small meeting or a one-on-one call, it's not feasible to bring in a human to caption it. But humans provide the highest accuracy rate. Yay, humans!

One thing to note. Most of these apps are not designed for captioning video calls. A negative review doesn't mean the tool isn't good. It means the tool's focus is elsewhere.

Here are the tools covered in this article:

All righty. Let's dig in!

Skype with Automatic Captioning

Thank goodness I didn't stop video conferencing after my second experience with live automatic captions.

It was bad. Very bad.

I couldn't believe it. Microsoft's Skype. Really?

It surprised me because Microsoft is an ardent supporter of accessibility. They have a Chief Accessibility Officer named Jenny Lay-Flurrie. And get this. She happens to be deaf like me.

The Skype caption formatting is good except the text size is too small.

But the real problem is the live captioning. If one person says a few sentences, Skype displays one or two words at a time quickly. No one reads that fast.

A moment or two - much too long compared to other apps - after the person finishes speaking, the whole paragraph shows up as one big block of text. A Microsoft employee reports this is an issue that recently regressed.

Automatically captioning a podcast in Skype.

You can work around it by switching to the transcript view. I try that and the flow of the text is the same as the standard view.

The employee also shares a workaround for the text size. Open Skype in a web browser and use the browser's zoom tools to enlarge the captions. And this is what happens.

Enlarging the captions in Skype's transcript view.

You can't control the box placement and it covers up other tools.

And finally, Skype's automatic captions live up to their nickname of autocraptions. While on a call with my family, my husband and I were laughing hard and taking screenshots of the captions. I sent it to my family during the call. We saw them crack up in seeing the humorous autocraptions.

Google Meet with Automatic Captioning

Google Meet with captions for video calls is now available free!

I discovered it by accident while adding a meeting in Google Calendar.

To create a Google Meet videoconferencing meeting, Open Google Calendar. Select "Add Google Meet video conferencing" and set up your meeting.

Schedule Google Meet meeting in Google Calendar.

As soon as you enter Google Meet, you'll see a CC button to add captions.

And the GAME-CHANGER is that it tells you who is talking. It'll be interesting to see how well (or not) this works for a larger group.

Another thing I like is that the captions appear on the bottom and they're readable. I don't have to open a second app for the captions and then rearrange the video and captioning apps to line them up. When I do something on the screen that takes the captions and video out of view, I have to fix both to get back to the meeting with captions. That's not an issue with Google Meet.

However, Google Meet does not save the conversation. This is its biggest weakness. Updated on May 13, 2020: I received the following email from Google saying that my feature request for transcripts is in the correct hands to make it potentially happen in the future!

Email confirming transcript feature request in the right hands to potentially make it happen.

I tested Google Meet captions on the same podcast that I used to test the different automatic captioning tools for video calls. This way you have an apples-to-apples comparison. The accuracy was about the same as the rest of them - far from perfect.

However, I used the free Google Meet in a personal call. It did a fantastic job captioning both of us. Yes, my deaf accent!

Google Meet works on my desktop when I use a headset with a microphone. The captions always work whether you use a mic, headset, or neither. All the other apps - except Skype and Microsoft Teams - require using a device with its own mic. This could be a laptop with a built-in webcam or any device with a webcam.

Artificial intelligence is improving. I hope it'll eventually understand my accent that hails from nowhere. I look forward to the day it gets my name right!

Several studies say eye contact affects trust. I watched the captions while creating this video (at the end of this article). You can see I'm looking down a little and reading.

Google Slides: Automatic Captioning in Presentation Mode

Next victim ... err ... tool is Google Slides automatic captioning.

Google Slides allows presenters to add subtitles to their presentation. Using a black background with white text, it's one of the most readable captions. And the text size is Goldilocks approved: just right.

Scrolling causes no problems. Google Slides' captions are about as synchronized as it can get for live captioning. As for accuracy, it has one of the better rates out of all the apps reviewed.

The downside is that you can't download a transcript. And that it requires managing two apps during the call. If you switch apps or share your screen, you have to fiddle with getting them all back together again.

Here are the steps to turn on Google Slides captions:

1. Make sure your microphone is on. (It won't give you the CC option without it.)

2. Open a blank Google Slide presentation.

3. Select "Present" to go into presentation mode.

4. Select "CC" (you can format it here)

I put the Zoom screen above the captions. When I used this for a group meeting, I followed the conversation pretty well.

The following image is a snapshot of the podcast. During a call, the video shows up instead of the white box.

Google Slides automatically caption a podcast.

Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation Translator Add-In

PowerPoint for the web and an Office 365 subscription come with subtitles. All other editions will need to download Presentation Translator, a PowerPoint add-in.

It's like Google Slides. Both automatically caption a live presentation. Both let you post the captions at the bottom or the top. And both have captions with a black background and white text.

Both involve managing two apps during the call and fiddling with them if you switch apps or share your screen.

And that's where the similarities end.

PowerPoint has more features than Google Slides. You can add a slide with a QR code for others to scan to view the live captions on their devices! So. Cool.

The add-in can save the full transcript. You can choose the language spoken and the language for the subtitles.

Here are the steps to use Presentation Translator:

1. Open a blank PowerPoint presentation. (I created one called Captions.pptx to use every time.)

2. Select the "Slide Show" tab.

3. Select "Start Subtitles."

The following pop-up box appears:

PowerPoint Presentation Translator add-in options

Select "Additional Settings" to see the following options:

PowerPoint Presentation Translator add-in settings box

The "Add instructional slide" contains the QR Code that lets attendees see the captions on their own devices.

The only negative is the URL that shows up in the captions. At times, it'd cover up some of the captions. I've found a solution.

After starting the subtitles in PowerPoint, press "Esc" to give the captions its own box. You can adjust the box's width, length, and placement. I put it right below the video app.

You can view more than two lines of captions at a time. Adjust the width to your liking. Mine is somewhere in the middle - neither too long or too short. Longer makes it harder to track while reading the captions.

Beware that it automatically mutes the captions after you press Esc. Just un-mute it and ta-da! The URL stops blocking the captions. Here's what the transcript looks like.

PowerPoint Presentation Translator add-in caption transcript.

Microsoft Teams for iOS and Android

I could only test on the Microsoft Teams iOS app because it's the only free version that comes with captions as explained in The Verge. I don't have an Android device, but I suspect it's similar to the iOS. The captions are built-in like Google Meet. You won't have to fiddle with two separate applications to caption a video call.

This scenario requires opening a second app for the captions and rearranging the video call and captioning app to line them up. As soon as I do something on the screen that sends the captions and video behind other windows, I have to fix both to get back to the meeting with captions. That's not an issue with Microsoft Teams.

To turn on the captions, join a meeting in the app. Select the ellipsis ... (three dots) and "Turn on live captions."

The captions appear on the bottom with a mild transparent black background with white text as shown in the next image. It'd be great if Microsoft would allow users to adjust the captions and transparency. Sometimes the movement behind the transparent captions can be distracting.

Caption style on Microsoft Teams

The captions on the iPhone are small. If you have an iPad or Android tablet, try those. They will appear larger. I hope that Microsoft will make a web-based or desktop version available free like with the iOS apps.

Microsoft Team's caption accuracy is decent. The captions don't contain much punctuation and they incorrectly captured a few words. Unlike Google Meet, it does not tell you who is talking. Moreover, Microsoft Teams does not save the conversation.

Otter.ai Voice Meeting Notes

Otter.ai has a few options for using its transcription tool as a captioning tool. The end of the article shows videos of all three Otter.ai methods.

Otter.ai for iOS (Free)

The best free option is with the Otter.ai app for iOS. Sometimes we need a portable captioning option. This is one of the better options for portability.

1. Select Record button.
2. Tap the Maximize in the upper-right corner. This turns the screen black with the text in white.
3. Change the size of the text by tapping the Size icon next to the Minimize icon.

It did a good job of captioning the podcast. The scrolling is decent. It could use some paragraph spacing to break up large blocks of test for improved readability.

Otter.ai Desktop Premium

A similar option is available on the desktop for premium versions of Otter.ai. Here are the steps to use this option:

1. Open Otter.ai in a web browser.

2. Select Record.

3. Select Present button at the upper right corner.

4. Resize the window.

5. Select one of the icons at the upper right to adjust the font size.

And this method works exactly like the iOS version. I could move the Otter transcription below the podcast screen (which is where a video call would be). It worked great. So much better than the following approach. However, this option is only available on the premium version.

Otter.ai Desktop Premium works as captions below the "video call" window.

Otter.ai Desktop Free

FYI: Otter.ai has a partnership with Zoom. It automatically transcribes meetings during the call for paid Zoom plans. If you don't have a paid Zoom account, Otter requires a different set-up than the others. That's because the app is inside the browser.

Yes, Google Slides is also in a web browser. But it puts the captions at the bottom, so I just have to move the Zoom app in front of it. Then, I resized the Zoom screen to fit right on top.

The free desktop version of Otter requires a different approach. To set it up, I opened Zoom in its own window. Then, I loaded Otter in a web browser. I put the browser side-by-side with Zoom like in the following image.

Lining up the video and Otter.ai transcript side-by-side.

Yes, I tried resizing the web browser to put Otter below Zoom. But it didn't work well. Parts of the text would appear in light grey, which is hard to read. Otter is designed to act like a notetaker rather than a captioner. Like PowerPoint and Google Slides, it involves managing multiple apps. And it gets crazy when you switch apps or share your screen.

Here are the challenges with this method:

Words didn't flow smoothly.

Unpredictable content movement.

Text is small for captioning and hard to track.

Couldn't put it below the video, which made reading difficult.

Remember, I'm looking at the person for lipreading. So, my eyes dart back and forth. Reading Otter's captions is like trying to find something in an email with no paragraph breaks.

During the call, I barely looked at Otter's transcription because it required a lot of effort. With smaller text in blocks of paragraphs, I couldn't follow it.

How is the accuracy? I don't know because I couldn't follow the transcription. However, I had Otter transcribe the podcast. the accuracy is about the same as Google and PowerPoint as the next image shows.

Otter.ai transcript of podcast transcript.

Descript for Creating Transcripts

To use Descript, first download the app. Run the app and hit record whenever you're ready to transcribe a conversation.

Descript requires a different set-up than the others. That's because it's a desktop app. The text is more suited for notetaking and transcriptions than for captioning. The text is smaller and uses a mix of transparent grey and violet for the font color.

Putting the app's window below the video doesn't work well. A better option is to put the video and Descript window side-by-side. However, reading lips while glancing at the Descript text proves tiring.

When the text reaches the bottom of the screen, it does not automatically scroll down. I had to continuously use the mouse to scroll down to the next lines. This takes my focus away from the conversation. Remember, I'm relying on lipreading and reading the text all while comprehending the content. It's quadruple-tasking to add scrolling.

Descript has one advantage over some transcription services: it breaks up the text into multiple paragraphs. Transcription apps tend to create one long, unreadable paragraph. It's too easy to lose your place. The accuracy is about the same as the other apps.

Descript screen shot of podcast transcript.

Web Captioner is a web-based captioning software.

Out of all the tools, it has one major drawback. It only works with Chrome.

Web Captioner's formatting is great. You can change the font, color, text size, and other traits.

The speed in keeping up with the live conversation is good.

Accuracy-wise. Ehhhh ... I think it may be less accurate than Google Slides and the PowerPoint add-in.

One of its automatic caption errors had had me LOL. I can't share it with you as it's not G-rated. Let's just say the autocraptions easily beat another app's "jock itch."

While I was laughing, my friend on the video call looked puzzled. I could barely get a word in and said, "Captions."

Web Captioner wrote, "Cat urine." LOL again.

Like Otter, using Web Captioner means contending with two apps or screens. It can make it tricky to manage especially if you share your screen or switch apps.

Web Captioner has the following unique features:

Saves transcripts as a text file.

Saves transcripts to Dropbox automatically.

Accepts word replacements. For example: Replace "Merrill" and "Marilyn" with "Meryl".

Supports multiple languages.

Offers option to censor profane language.

The transcript appears in the browser tab. To put it below the Zoom video, I had to resize the entire Chrome browser. Even after resizing it, the text would fly off the screen. I had to keep an eye on the scrolling to ensure the captions stay visible.

If you create an account, Web Captioner will save your settings.

And here's the transcript of the podcast à la Web Captioner.

Web Captioner transcript of podcast

WebCaptioner.com Score

Other Apps for Automatically Captioning Video Calls

You may be wondering why I didn't include [fill in the blank] tool.

First, several people sent me the link to a knowledge base that lists live captioning and automated captioning tools. What do you know? I've tried all of the possible ones on the list and then some.

Now as to why some aren't included. Live Transcribe is for Androids only. I don't have an Android device. However, a dear friend of mine who is deaf speaks highly of the app.

Microsoft Translator is a non-starter. It can't handle constant talking. It's made for conversations. I tried using it to transcribe a podcast and it'd stop after about a paragraph. It's tedious to keep pressing the microphone button to run. And it still doesn't always go.

Thanks to Tilak for this Microsoft Translator tip. He advised going into conversation mode. Select the icon with two people chatting and tap "Start." Type your name, select your language, and tap "Enter." Tap the mic icon to talk. This works better than the previous method. But it ran into a lot of bumps. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.

Microsoft Teams automatic captioning is in preview mode. So, it's not yet available. Someone says it won't save the captions. That's surprising. Let's hope that changes.

Ava for iOS and Android also doesn't make the cut. I've used Ava for a few calls and conversations. It starts strong and then falls apart after a few minutes. It's like the more she translates, the more tired she gets. The same goes for Live Transcribe Voice to Text for iOS (not the same as Google's Live Transcribe for Androids).

As for GoToMeeting and Webex, the only way to caption is with a third-party live captioner. Blue Jean will have automatic captioning when the host turns it on. Alas, it's not a free service.

A Comparison of Automatic Caption Tools

As a comparison, I tested all the apps on a podcast with my daughter. This way the content is the same across the board.

The following table has all the scores. The rating is on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being poor and 5 is excellent.

Here is a description of each factor.

Readability: Ability to read the captions. This relies on a mix of size, font choice, and colors.

Size: The size of the captions.

Format: How the captions look including font type, font color, and background color.

Scrolling: How well the captions scroll through to the next lines.

Synchronized: How well the captions keep up with the audio.

Accuracy: How accurate the captions are and punctuation, if any.

Transcript: If you can go back and review the text of the conversation.

Skype Automatic Captioning Video

Google Meet Automatic Captioning Video

Google Slides Automatic Captioning Video

PowerPoint Presentation Translator Add-in Automatic Captioning Video

Microsoft Teams iOS App

Otter.ai iOS Free

Otter.ai Desktop Premium

Otter.ai Desktop Free

Descript Automatic Captioning Video

Web Captioner Automatic Captioning Video

When it's up to me, I use PowerPoint's add-in for automatically captioning live video calls. That's because it scores high on all the factors, saves the transcript, and puts the captions in their own box. The box is adjustable and works well.

I just learned that Facebook plans to add automatic captions to live video and audio. It's not out yet, but I will update this post when it's available. You may want to bookmark this.

Thanks to Ann Marie and these tools, I'm enjoying video calls instead of trying to duck 'n' dodge 'em.

What's your tip for video calls?

Resources

Captions in video calls: better accessibility, but harmful side effects: Quinn Keast is concerned about the effects of captions on video calls. He references a study that shows when you don't make eye contact, it affects trust. I share my experience in this post. I've had video calls with people who aren't using captions and they're not making eye contact. It's not their fault. I'm interested in the content of the call and their lack of eye contact doesn't affect trust.

Online Meetings and Google Speech to Text Technology: Hamish Drewry shares his experience with video calls. I love that he points out that what works for him doesn't necessarily work for another person who is deaf. Absolutely. People who are deaf and hard of hearing as just as diverse as the world.

Originally posted April 22, 2020

Updated May 12, 2020: Added note about microphones and headsets.

Updated May 13, 2020: Added note about Google Meet feature request for transcripts.

Updated May 27, 2020: Added Blue Jean.

Updated June 1, 2020: Added Descript.

Updated June 11, 2020: Added Otter.ai iOS and Desktop Premium.

Updated June 15, 2020: Added portable captions hack.

Updated June 17, 2020: Created comparison table to compare the tools.

Updated July 1, 2020: Added Microsoft Teams.

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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Which Is the Best Automatic Captioning Tool for Video Calls? - Meryl Evans

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One good thing came out of COVID-19. It forced me to try video calls again. The reason I don't love video calls is that I miss too much. While I'm a strong lipreader, video calls have a few challenges. Often, the video jerks or jumps. It's like ________ of a thought.

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PROFESSIONAL, TECHNICAL COMPARISON OF SPEECH TO TEXT 

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PROFESSIONAL, TECHNICAL COMPARISON OF SPEECH TO TEXT 

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Note spreadsheet options across bottom!

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-older students speech to text notes

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Supporting Success For Children With Hearing Loss | Streamer

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As a classroom accommodation, the many features of Streamer provide students with not only classroom real-time captioning, but also note-taking with transcript annotating, private messaging, document sharing, auto-transcription summarization, broadcast notifications, morning announcement instructions, general assembly captioning, and multi-directional language translation.

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for casual conversation/life outside your house/class.

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Ava equips you during COVID-19 - Caption any online meetings with Ava Web. Understand people even with a mask with Ava App.
Learn More →
Make online & in-person conversations
accessible to all Deaf and hard-of-hearing people.

Ava helps 100,000 deaf & hard-of-hearing people in captioning their everyday life & be part of a fully inclusive society.

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Ava equips you during COVID-19 - Caption any online meetings with Ava Web. Understand people even with a mask with Ava App. Learn More → Make online & in-person conversationsaccessible to all Deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Ava helps 100,000 deaf & hard-of-hearing people in captioning their everyday life & be part of a fully inclusive society.

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Otter.ai Speech to Text application- works with Zoom, provides transcription

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Otter.ai Speech to Text application- works with Zoom, provides transcription

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Otter.ai uses artificial intelligence to empower users with real-time transcription meeting notes that are shareable, searchable, accessible and secure.

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If you are really challenged by distance learning audio quality- change teacher mic?

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If you are really challenged by distance learning audio quality- change teacher mic?

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Improve Your Zoom Audio Quality in 2020 - [6 Tips]

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Basic Zoom tips -re: windows, distance to mic, and adding a mic

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Basic Zoom tips -re: windows, distance to mic, and adding a mic

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How To Improve Zoom Video And Audio Quality

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How to set up Krisp noise cancellation in Zoom

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How to set up Krisp noise cancellation in Zoom

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see sample of app in other padlet resource

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Wondering how to cancel out background noise in Zoom calls? Then keep reading to learn more about Zoom noise cancellation.

If you work remotely, then you probably know about Zoom, which is a cloud-based video conferencing software. It's one of the leading video communication technologies that exist in the market at the moment.

Zoom is also one of the pioneers in noise cancellation technology. If you make conference calls, then you know how distracting and annoying background noises can be. Keyboard typing, barking dogs, and crying kids - all these noises can affect the productivity of your call.

Fortunately, with the help of technology, you can easily get rid of all unwanted sounds and enjoy professional conference calls. So, if you are interested to know how to cancel out background noise and how Zoom's noise cancellation function works, then keep reading.

What is Zoom noise cancellation?

In August 2018, Zoom announced and added the long-awaited background noise cancellation feature. According to Zoom, this function automatically detects and blocks background noise, such as keyboard typing.

This function is switched on by default, so you don't have to do anything in the settings. When you make calls using Zoom, noise cancellation automatically works in the background, and you don't need to worry about turning it on.

Recently, Zoom added two additional advanced settings that allow you to suppress either persistent or intermittent background noises or both. The difference between persistent and intermittent types of noise is that the first is continuous noise, such as air conditioning or fan noise. In contrast, intermittent noise is irregular sounds like keyboard strokes and barking dogs.

These two settings are also enabled by default, which means that when you're in a call, Zoom recognizes background noises, whether they're persistent or intermittent, and removes them from your calls.

However, sometimes you don't need to remove background noises. For example, if you're teaching online guitar classes, then the enabled noise cancelling feature will do more harm to you than good - your students simply won't hear you playing. In such cases, it's better to turn off Zoom noise cancellation feature.

How to turn off Zoom noise cancellation?

To disable Zoom noise cancellation feature, you need to enable the preservation of the original sound. It's not as difficult as it sounds. Preserving the original sound means that other call participants will hear the original audio from your microphone, without the audio-enhancing effect and noise cancelling feature of the app.

This option is great when you have a high-quality microphone, or you want the other call participants to hear clear audio like in the case with music classes. So if you'd like to turn off Zoom noise cancellation, you will need to enable the option of preserving original sound.

How do I reduce background noise in Zoom?

To do this, you only need to take a few steps.

1. Open Zoom's desktop app on your Mac or Windows device

2. After opening the app, click on Settings icon.

3. From there, select the Audio section.

4. Then click on Advanced in the lower right corner.

5. Check the box to Show in-meeting option to "Enable Original Sound" from microphone.

6. Set to "Disable" both Suppress Persistent Background Noise and Suppress Intermittent Background Noise as shown in the picture below.

So you now disabled background noise cancellation in Zoom from the advanced audio settings. However, to turn on the option of preserving original sound, there's one more step.

7. When you're in a meeting, press on Turn on Original Sound.

By pressing the blue checkmark in the advanced settings, you only allow Zoom to display the "Turn on Original Sound" pop-up during your calls. To actually enable the preservation of the original sound, you'll have to manually turn it on from the pop-up during your Zoom meetings. This is convenient as you can turn it on and off as needed.

How to cancel out background noise?

But sometimes there is so much background noise that the built-in noise cancellation may not be enough. Or maybe you often switch between communication apps, making your work calls with Zoom, personal calls with Hangouts, and sending quick video messages via Loom. In such cases, Krisp app can help you cancel out with background noise and have a productive noiseless experience.

What is Krisp?

Krisp is an AI-powered noise cancelling app that removes background noise from your calls with one click. With a single button, helps you to have a productive and professional conferencing experience without background noise.

Plus, Krisp can block background noise on both ends of the call. You can cancel noise on your side with Krisp Microphone so that other call participants can only hear your voice. Conversely, if there is a lot of background noise coming from other participants, Krisp Speaker can help you don't hear their noises.

It seamlessly works with any conferencing app, including Zoom. Here's how you can easily set up Krisp with Zoom.

1. Download Krisp app.

2. Follow the Krisp Setup Wizard instructions to install Krisp.

3. After this, open Zoom and select Settings -> Audio tab.

4. From there, select Krisp Speaker and Krisp Microphone.

5. Now start a Zoom call and switch on Mute Noise toggle in Krisp.

That's all! Try Krisp app during your next Zoom call and feel the difference for yourself.

Tip: Krisp is also available as a meeting and mobile dialer, so you can use it with Zoom on your phone too.

Wondering how Krisp compares with Zoom noise cancellation ? Take a look at this video review.

If you're a Mac user, here's a helpful video on how to set up Krisp with Zoom on Mac.

If you don't have Zoom app yet, you can download Zoom for Mac.

And if you're PC user, here's the tutorial on how to set up Krisp with Zoom on Windows.

Wrapping up

Hopefully, this short tutorial will help you to block background noise from your Zoom meetings and enjoy productive conference calls. If you have any questions, ask us on Twitter.

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Zoom Noise Cancellation - How to Cancel Out Background Noise | Krisp

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Wondering how to cancel out background noise in Zoom calls? Then keep reading to learn more about Zoom noise cancellation. If you work remotely, then you probably know about Zoom, which is a cloud-based video conferencing software. It's one of the leading video communication technologies that exist in the market at the moment.

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Elimination of both incoming and outgoing noise in all apps

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How to use captions in Google slides and Powerpoint in  Zoom

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How to use captions in Google slides and Powerpoint in  Zoom

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How to use Power Point and Google Slides within ZOOM to provide closed captioning

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Julie's Back to School Checklist- Timeline to prep teacher for D/HH student

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Julie's Back to School Checklist- Timeline to prep teacher for D/HH student

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Example of parent back to school preparation - edit for yourself

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Example of parent back to school preparation - edit for yourself

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Accommodations Notes for students to share with teacher

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Example of Accommodation Explanation to teachers including what FM does. -

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Example of Accommodation Explanation to teachers including what FM does. -

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edit for your use!

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Audiologist with hearing loss- great resource page on LOTS of things.

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Audiologist with hearing loss- great resource page on LOTS of things.

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Face masks can be a serious communication barrier for deaf people but there are ways to help increase effective communication while wearing them. Learn more abo... ut common struggles and tips: https://www.nationaldeafcenter.org/.../communicating-face-mas...

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[image description. Two people look at each other sit at a table next to each other. They are wearing masks while working on a laptop and notebook.]

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Face masks can be a serious communication barrier for deaf people but there are ways to help increase effective communication while wearing them. Learn more abo... ut common struggles and tips: https://www.nationaldeafcenter.org/.../communicating-face-mas... . . . [image description. Two people look at each other sit at a table next to each other.

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This noise cancelling headset works great for listening at home to school and work.

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This noise cancelling headset works great for listening at home to school and work.