Live captions help to create an inclusive environment when giving a presentation both in-person and online. Not only do they help to ensure that individuals with hearing impairments can fully engage with the content, but it also helps those whose first language is not English, and it helps support the retention of information for everyone.
Set up captions and subtitles in PowerPoint:
- On the Slide Show ribbon tab, select Subtitle Settings
- Use Spoken Language to see the voice languages that PowerPoint can recognize and select the one you want
- Use Subtitle Language to see which languages PowerPoint can display on-screen as captions or subtitles and select the one you want
- In the Subtitle Settings menu, set the desired position of the captions or subtitles. The default and recommended setting is Below Slide.
Turn the feature on or off while presenting
If you’re in the middle of giving a presentation and want to turn the feature on or off, click the Toggle Subtitles button from Slide Show View or Presenter View, on the toolbar below the main slide:
To have subtitles always start up when a Slide Show presentation starts, from the ribbon you can navigate to Slide Show > Always Use Subtitles to turn this feature on for all presentations. (By default, it’s off.)
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act: All Minnesota State employee electronic documents and course materials must adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standards by April 24, 2026. These guidelines provide a comprehensive framework to ensure that content is perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for all users.
