Easily caption videos in PowerPoint for the web

(Originally published on May 15, 2024 by Peter Wu)

Hi, Microsoft 365 insiders! My name is Peter Wu, and I’m a Principal Engineer on the PowerPoint team. I'm excited to share that you can now quickly and easily generate accurate captions for your videos right from within PowerPoint for the web. Try this feature here.

Easily caption videos in PowerPoint for the web

We are on a journey to make it easier for everyone to create accessible content. Captions in videos are an essential part of the long-term vision and a key accessibility feature that ensures your PowerPoint videos can be enjoyed by all. Not only are captions vital for people who are deaf and hard of hearing, studies show that most people prefer watching videos with captions. One poll found that 86% of people who use video captions are not deaf or hard of hearing. This is a classic example of the inclusive design principle of "design for one, extend to many."

In recognition of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, I’d like to show you how you can use AI and PowerPoint for the web to easily add captions to videos that you share with others.

How it works

1. Generate captions for your videos using state-of-the-art speech recognition AI. The caption generation is done in seconds for most videos. For example, you can caption a two-hour video in 3 minutes! Also note that 63 languages are supported. Generating captions using speech recognition in PowerPoint for the web

    

2. To review your captions for accuracy, click the Edit Captions button and make any necessary adjustments in the Captions pane. NOTE: As you edit each text cue, the associated video segment plays automatically, so you can compare it for accuracy.Captions Editor in PowerPoint for the web

Tips and Tricks

• You can add speaker names and descriptions of important sounds to help your audience understand the video.
• Automatic speech recognition isn’t perfect, so be sure to review your captions for accuracy!
• You have the option to translate your captions into additional languages right in PowerPoint. Be sure to review the translation for accuracy.Translate captions automatically in PowerPoint for the web
• Captioning your videos makes a world of difference! The improved accuracy and synchronization make it much easier for audiences to understand than live captions.  
• You can also create captions in other apps and services and then insert them into PowerPoint for the web in WebVTT format. Learn how

Availability  

This feature will start to rollout to PowerPoint for the web. Try this feature here.

Feedback

We want to hear from you! Please click Help > Feedback in PowerPoint to submit your thoughts about this feature. 

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