Closed Captioning in Airmeet

In Sessions

Airmeet has built-in support for closed captioning in sessions. To turn it on:

1. Join a session;
2. Click the CC button at the bottom of the screen; and
3. Sit back and read!

For more information on captioning, see the Airmeet help page.

Known issues with Airmeet-provided captions:

Airmeet does not support captions anywhere except within Sessions;

• Captions do not work on the mobile apps;
• Hosts do not have the ability to view captions;
• Captions may be time-delayed for speakers with low bandwidth connections; and
• When a viewer has captions turned on, their screen will no longer display multiple people—they can only see the window of the current speaker.

In the Lounge and the Arena

If you need closed captioning in the Lounge or the Arena, or if you are having difficulties with how captions display in Sessions, the Google Chrome web browser supports live captioning as of March 2021. Instructions on how to enable it may be found here: Google Chrome for Desktop Gains Live Captions Feature for Audio and Video

Known Issues

• These caption settings are only supported on the Google Chrome desktop application, version 89 or later
• Captions do not appear to be supported in the Chrome mobile app
• After enabling the Live Caption feature in your browser settings, you must quit and relaunch Chrome for them to display
• If you close the captioning window, you must reload the webpage for them to reappear
• For further assistance with this feature, see Google Chrome Help

Adding Captions to Your Own Video Feed

You can use third-party video editing software to inject captions into your own video feed. We have had reports that using a combination of Web Captioner (free!) and Open Broadcaster Software (also free!) is one of the more user-friendly(ish) ways to do this.

If you want to try this, here’s how. (Please note: This info is provided for informational purposes only. Norwescon does not endorse either company, and does not officially support this solution, so if you have technical issues, we must refer you back to the help resources of Web Captioner or OBS.)

Before logging into Airmeet:

1. Download and install OBS. We recommend optimizing it for virtual camera.
2. Navigate to Web Captioner in your web browser and click Start Captioning. (For greater accessibility, we recommend adjusting your settings to use the OpenDyslexic font.)
3. Launch OBS.
4. Click Studio Mode (lower right) to display Preview and Program windows.
5. Go to the Scenes window (lower left) and click the + to create a new scene.
6. In the Sources window (lower, second from left), click the + to add sources.
7. Add a Video Capture Device (your camera).
8. Add a Window Capture (your web browser’s Web Captioner window).
9. Adjust your windows.
10. The Preview frame (upper left) allows you to move and resize your sources
11. The Program window (upper right) lets you verify how your output will appear
12. Use the slider bar in the Transitions window (upper middle) to display any updates to the Preview.
13. Click the Start Virtual Camera button (lower right) to start sending OBS output to your camera.

• 

  OBS Screen shot

Now, when you launch Airmeet, you should be able to select OBS Virtual Camera as one of your options.

OBS and Web Captioner Tips & Tricks:

• If you are asked to allow OBS to use your camera, allow it.
• You may need to restart OBS and your web browser after changing some settings.
• If Airmeet cuts off part of your window, you can use the Preview window in OBS to rearrange your camera and captions at any time. Just use the Transition slider to update your appearance.
• You may wish to launch Web Captioner in a new web browser window with no other tabs—your captions will disappear if you minimize its window or click to another tab.
• More info on OBS features can be found on the OBS Wiki.
• Help for Web Captioner can be found on the Web Captioner help page.