Ten minutes into a family video call is a hard time to discover that Grandma sees six faces but none of the captions the host says are on. Before the next gathering, send a practice link to the person who wants captions. Ask them to join from the phone, tablet or computer they plan to use that day.
When both of you are on the call, say a short sentence and ask what appeared on their screen. That small rehearsal checks the two things that matter most. Can they find the captions, and can they read them comfortably while looking at everyone's faces?
Try the caption control on the guest's device
Google Meet on a computer. During the meeting, open the caption controls and turn on live captions. If the text is difficult to read, open caption settings to adjust its size or appearance. Google provides separate instructions for different devices, so a host's computer instructions may look different on a relative's tablet. Google Meet caption instructions
Zoom. Look for the caption control in the meeting toolbar. Its availability depends on meeting settings. If the option requires the host's permission, ask the host to enable it while everyone has time to try it. Check the selected spoken language if the captions appear in unexpected words. Zoom caption settings and host controls
If two languages are spoken at home, ask the person joining what they want to read. Captions in the spoken language and translation into another language are separate features. Verify the language and the account's available options on the practice call.
Give the practice call a real job
Try planning the meal. Have one person say when dinner starts and another say what they are bringing. Ask your guest which name or detail was hardest to catch. If they can read the words but lose track of the speaker, have the next person say their name before they start. If an unfamiliar name is transcribed poorly, type it once in the meeting chat.
A host can make this easier without putting anyone on the spot. Put the date and time in the invitation. Let everyone know the chat is a good place for addresses, names and links. On the call, give one person time to finish before inviting the next person in. Background noise and overlapping voices can affect how well automated captions follow a conversation. Zoom's guidance on automated captions
Make a plan for the next call
Afterward, ask one private question. “What should we keep or change next time?” Save the answer with the link you usually send. Perhaps the captions worked well and the hardest part was finding the meeting. Perhaps the family would rather move the laptop away from the television. The person who used the setup can tell you which change was worthwhile.
For a call made through ordinary telephone service, the controls described here belong to a different kind of call. Our captioned phone guide explains options for telephone conversations. If you would like to discuss how you hear voices during calls, bring your usual device and a specific example to a hearing care visit. Request an appointment with The Hearing Guy