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The workplace leaves little room for missed deadlines, unclear project objectives, or gaps in foundational training. Corporate environments need new hires and existing employees to have the information they need to execute on projects well. Yet, barriers arise every day in internal communication, whether it’s a boardroom with multiple speakers or trying to keep up with ongoing conversations while taking notes during a meeting. Providing tools like live captions supports the whole team by providing instantaneous access as well as a transcript to make synthesized meeting notes later.  At Caption Pros, we know that investing in accurate, real-time captions can support employee success and foster a more inclusive workplace. 

In this guide, we’ll cover: 

  • Why Captions Matter in the Workplace 
  • Accessible Training Material Starts with Captioning
  • Best Practices for Captioning Corporate Meetings 
  • How Caption Pros Partners with Company Leadership 
  • Frequently Asked Questions

Why Captions Matter in the Workplace

More than 48 million Americans across all age groups experience some degree of hearing loss. Creating a workplace that accommodates individual needs and communication preferences provides employees with the support they need to succeed. The workplace, whether in-office or remote, can present challenges such as:

  • Multiple people speaking at once
  • Unreliable auto-captions on digital meeting platforms
  • Poor connection and muffled audio
  • Fast-paced discussions and information overload
  • Disruptive background noise
  • Divided attention across multiple communication channels 
  • Language barriers, such as English as a second language or accents 
  • Undocumented training guides

These realities don’t just affect those with hearing loss. Individuals with ADHD, individuals for whom English is their second language, and employees navigating brain fog or other cognitive challenges may also struggle to keep up with fast-paced communication. A recent study found that 71% of students without hearing difficulties use captions at least some of the time, and 52% say captions improve their comprehension. Captions give employees another way to absorb information and create a deeper understanding of the content. 

How Captions Benefit Your Organization

  • Keeps conversations with coworkers and clients clear 
  • Gives employees a written reference during presentations
  • Creates post-event records or meeting notes
  • Helps employees maintain focus in distracting environments 
  • Makes information easier to process and retain
  • Reduces miscommunication 
  • Helps individuals keep up in fast-paced and jargon-heavy environments 
  • Demonstrates the company’s commitment to accessibility 
  • Gives new hires another way to process information in onboarding and training sessions
  • Supports compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act

Everyone has different preferences and ways of processing information. When the human resources organization takes the time to understand and accommodate those differences, employees feel empowered to ask for support. Implementing inclusive systems, such as captioning, fosters a culture of mutual investment and creates workflows that accommodate everyone. When companies integrate true accessibility into onboarding, training, and internal communication channels, they open the door to opportunities for organizational success.

Accessible Training Material Starts With Captioning

The first week at a new job is often a firehose of information about company policies, training sessions, and meetings. It can often feel challenging to retain important information and keep up with who is who. By making training materials and announcements accessible with captions and transcripts, you can make the first couple of days at a company much more productive. Here are a few ways to optimize your onboarding process for accessibility:

  • Use captioning, transcription, and written communications to ensure important information is available in text form. This can include employee handbooks and announcements as well as Zoom meetings, webinars, and training sessions. This creates a library of foundational resources to assist current and future new hires. 
  • Many workflow systems include chat features that support quick, ongoing communication among employees. Utilize these features to provide timely support for trainees’ questions throughout onboarding. 
  • Add captions or subtitle files (.SRT, .VTT) to any pre-recorded onboarding videos, so new hires can rewatch training modules with captions whenever they need a refresher.
  • Ask how you can best accommodate them and inquire about their preferred assistive technology, overall workspace, and how they want to communicate and contribute in meetings. Understanding their preferences early on will help create a more efficient training process. 
  • Opt for human-generated captions over less accurate automated captions. Human captioners can preserve speaker intent, capture nuances, and account for industry-specific terminology, providing employees with a more accurate record of information. This is especially valuable during onboarding, when employees are building the foundation they need to succeed in their roles.

Best Practices For Captioning Corporate Meetings 

Meetings can take different forms in the corporate setting, ranging from company-wide presentations to one-on-one check-ins. It can be easy to skip live captions in quick meetings, like weekly reviews or brainstorming sessions, but these settings often benefit from an extra chance to catch all the details in the midst of a busy workday. Adding accurate captions to all internal meetings and company events, no matter the size, ensures big-picture strategy and the day-to-day details are all covered. 

Here are a few best practices for captioning during meetings:

  • If the meeting is in person, ensure the room layout and lighting provide good visibility to screens, speakers, and visual aids. 
  • Make the presentation slides and the meeting audio and video available for replay with captions or transcripts. Captions should be displayed in accordance with WCAG best practices for clear legibility. 
  • Establish meeting protocols in advance, especially for virtual meetings. Be mindful of employees with hearing loss, encourage participation, check platform compatibility, and ensure one person speaks at a time for clarity.
  • Hire a captioner to provide CART captioning services onsite or remotely.
  • Utilize other captioning services such as the captioning files and post-production captioning for videos. These resources can benefit employees with and without hearing loss and be used in the future.
  • Remember off-site, contracted, and virtual events, too. Even if you have contracted with an outside vendor to host trainings as an employer, you are still responsible for providing necessary accommodations.
  • If using ASR captions, accuracy will need to be verified. 

How Caption Pros Partners With Company Leadership

At Caption Pros, we partner with HR professionals and managers to understand where captioning can provide the most value in their organization and deliver custom captioning solutions. Our partnership extends to ongoing accessibility consulting and technical support. Our team is experienced in high-stakes corporate environments and can troubleshoot audio on the fly, use accurate captioning terminology, and bridge language barriers. We’ve supported individual employees with private captioning for recurring internal meetings as well as large-scale presentations involving stakeholders around the world. 

Here are recommended captioning services that work well in the workplace:

  • CART Captions: real-time captions that can be viewed on mobile devices, laptops, or tablets. Captions are synchronized with speakers and provide communication access to in-person and remote individuals. CART workflows support internal meetings, high-stakes Q&As, larger company events, and external client meetings. 
  • Instant Transcription: We deliver a fully edited transcription immediately following your event. This accurate, timely record gives your team a reliable reference for reviewing key discussion points and action items. Company conferences, high-profile meetings, and training sessions are just a few examples where organizations can leverage instant transcription to help with next steps. 
  • Event Captions (onsite or remote): Our team can display captions on a screen in the venue or integrate them with your digital platform with a video. 
  • Web Streaming: Compatible captioning workflows and technical support for live-streamed events or meetings across multiple platforms, such as OBS or YouTube. 

Interested in one of these services or want to learn more about how we can integrate into your organization’s environment? Connect with our team today. Share your company’s goals, whether they include increasing productivity, improving communication, or creating more accessible workflows. Our captioners can consult on platform compatibility, best-fit captioning services, and the technical requirements needed to provide real-time, 99.5% accurate captions for your employees. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Should I provide American Sign Language (ASL) or captions for employees with hearing loss?

A: Providing appropriate accommodations for people with hearing loss is required under the law for government agencies, public institutions, businesses, and nonprofits that serve the public. American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters are often hired for meetings and events, but that doesn’t always enhance accessibility or fulfill their duty under the Americans with Disabilities Act. When providing accommodations, do not assume the consumer needs a sign language interpreter. Not everyone with hearing loss knows ASL. You must ask what the appropriate accommodation is for each consumer.  

Q: Do I need captions for internal events to meet compliance standards? 

A: Compliance requirements vary depending on your organization and setting. Section 508 applies to government-funded organizations regardless of whether they are public. ADA compliance covers internal workplace events and employee content. If you have questions about compliance, it’s best to consult your organization’s guidelines. Our team is also happy to provide recommendations based on your setting. 

Q: Are there grants that can help pay for captioning services?

A: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Rehabilitation Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the cost of the service is to be covered by the entity that is putting on the event where CART is being provided, unless they can show that the expense of providing the service would be an undue burden. ADA regulations apply to any public facility, with some exceptions. Sponsorships are always a great consideration to help offset costs.

Q: How does Caption Pros ensure captioning accuracy?

A: Our certified captioners are trained across industries and platforms, providing expertise, flexibility, and technical support in real time. We adapt to your content, internal platforms, and meeting preferences to deliver captions that are precise, timely, and fully accessible.

Q: Who can benefit from captions in the workplace?

A: Captions support not only employees with hearing loss but the entire workforce. Employees may use captions to better focus and absorb information in fast-paced or complex meetings and presentations. Providing captions gives your team another way to access important information.

Q: When should my company use live captioning?


A:  Real-time captioning can be helpful anywhere important information is being shared verbally. Common examples include team meetings, employee training, presentations, conferences, webinars, and company-wide events such as town halls. If employees need to hear and understand the information being shared, captions are a great additional tool to support team members. 

Q: Are automatic captions enough for workplace meetings?


 A: Automatic captions can be a helpful starting place, but they aren’t always reliable when accuracy matters. ASR models struggle to distinguish among speakers and don’t perform well in dynamic environments. Best practice is to hire a human captioner for your internal meetings or, if you choose to use automated captions, ensure they are reviewed for accuracy. 

 Q: Can ASR be combined with human captioning?

A: Yes. Many organizations use ASR as a starting point but for higher-stakes meetings with specific terminology, they use CART captioners.

Q: Can Caption Pros provide captioning for remote employees?


 A: Caption Pros offers captioning solutions for virtual meetings and other online communications such as livestreams. Whether your team is fully remote, hybrid, or in-office, we can help you find a captioning solution that fits your workflow.

Q: How can my company know where captioning would be most helpful?


 A: Start by looking at where communication barriers are most likely to occur. This might include large meetings, employee training, company-wide presentations, or situations where employees are receiving a lot of information quickly. Caption Pros can work with your team to identify opportunities where captioning can make the greatest impact.