Stanford
Office of Accessible Education
An individual engages in an virtual meeting on their desktop.

How To: Assign a Captioner in Zoom

Captioning helps make classroom learning accessible in real time. Through OAE, faculty can request trained captioners so students can engage with lectures and conversations as they happen. Learn how the assignment process ensures your courses stay inclusive and accessible.

Decorative Cardinal Red accent line.

Return to Captioning in the Classroom

Directions

Check your Zoom Settings - this only needs to be done once

Step 1. Go to zoom.stanford.edu

Once you authenticate via SUNet, click on “Settings” in the lefthand menu bar and navigate to the “Meeting” tab at the top of the page.

Screenshot of Zoom web portal Settings with the Meeting tab selected; the General section shows options for Enable auto-calling and Merge Meetings and Calendar tabs.

Step 2. Select the “In Meeting (Advanced)” tab 

Select the “In Meeting (Advanced)” tab from the dropdown list. 

Screenshot of Zoom web portal Settings on the In Meeting (Advanced) page.

Step 3. Turn on the “Manual Captions” settings 

Scroll within the “In Meeting (Advanced)” tab to find the “Manual Captions” options. Make sure that Manual Captions are turned on, and that “Allow host to type or assign a participant to type” and “Allow use of caption API token to integrate with 3rd-party Closed Captioning Service” options are also turned on.

Screenshot of Zoom Settings under In Meeting (Advanced) showing Manual captions enabled (toggle on) with both options checked: allowing the host to type/assign a participant to type captions and allowing use of a caption API token for third-party closed captioning services.

Step 4. Turn on the “Save Captions” setting

Navigate to the “Save Captions” option within the “In Meeting (Advanced)” tab, and turn it on.

Screenshot of Zoom Settings under In Meeting (Advanced) showing the Save Captions enabled option (toggle on).

Assign a Captioner in Zoom at the Start of Each Session

Step 1: Click the CC button and select Host Tools for Captions

After starting your Zoom session, click on the Closed Caption [CC] icon located in the menu bar. Then select “Host tools for captions”.

Zoom meeting toolbar with a message reading “Closed caption is turned on,” the CC button selected, and the More menu open showing options including caption language (English), view full transcript, caption settings, host tools for captions, and remove from toolbar.

 

Step 2: Select Enable manual captioner

Clicking “Host tools for captions” will cause a pop-up window as seen in the screenshot below. Check the box to “Enable manual captioner”

Zoom Captions settings panel showing Allow closed captioning for this meeting enabled (toggle on), and Lock caption language for this meeting and Enable manual captioner setting options.

Step 3: Click Assign someone to type

After “Enable manual captioner” is toggled on, the field will expand to show the options “Assign a participant to type”, “I will type”, and “Use a third-party CC service”. To assign the zoom participant who will be captioning, select “Assign a participant to type”. 

Zoom Captions settings panel with Allow closed captioning for this meeting and Enable manual captioner toggled on, Lock caption language for this meeting toggled off,

Step 4: Click More and then Assign to Type Closed Captions

This will open the Participants tab. Click “More” and then “Assign to type closed captions” under the participant who will be captioning.

The captioner can now caption the Zoom session in real-time, integrating with the Zoom video screen. This makes the session accessible for the OAE-registered student, and live captioning will be available for any participant who clicks on Closed Captions [CC].

Zoom meeting Participants panel showing the host and participant; the participant’s More menu is open with options including chat, ask to start video, make host/co-host, assign to type closed captions, allow to record to computer, put in waiting room, remove, and report.

 

Additional Resources