Real-Time Captioning
The process of displaying text on screen in real time as someone speaks, providing visual access to spoken content for hearing-impaired audiences or multilingual settings.
Understanding Real-Time Captioning
Real-time captioning (also known as live captioning or CART — Communication Access Realtime Translation) displays text on screen as speech occurs. Originally developed for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences, real-time captioning has become essential for accessibility compliance (ADA, Section 508) and is increasingly used for multilingual translation display. When combined with translation, real-time captioning enables multilingual captions — showing translated text in real time as someone speaks in another language.
How Selah Translate Uses Real-Time Captioning
Selah Translate provides real-time captioning as a core feature. The macOS desktop app includes a virtual display option that shows live translated captions on screen, perfect for projecting during events. The web-based Translation Studio also displays real-time translated text. Broadcast viewers see live captioned translations on their own devices via QR code.
Related Terms
Speech-to-Text (STT)
Technology that converts spoken language into written text in real time, also known as automatic speech recognition (ASR).
Closed Captioning
Text display of speech and sound effects that can be toggled on or off by the viewer, typically used for accessibility compliance in broadcast and live events.