Windows

How to add live captions for online videos

Published on

Microsoft discreetly included support for live captioning for all internet videos to Microsoft Edge Stable. The preview version of the new functionality is available at the time of writing.

Available in Microsoft Edge 102 Stable and later, functionality for live captions provides subtitles to videos that play in the web browser. Simply play a video with Edge, and the browser will handle the rest. Edge releases a tiny overlay that shows the captions on the screen.

You may move it independently, even outside the Microsoft Edge window’s limits. Live Captions support must be enabled prior to its availability.

How to add live captions for online videos in Microsoft Edge

This is how it is accomplished:

  1. Enter edge:/settings/accessibility in the Microsoft Edge address bar, or select Menu > Settings > Accessibility from the main menu.
  2. To activate the functionality, locate the Captions group and toggle “Live captions (Preview).” Edge downloads around 100 MB of data necessary for operation.

The browser does not need to be restarted for the Live Captions feature to take effect. The Captions group allows you to modify the look of captions. Select “adjust caption look” to obtain a preview and customize it in the settings program.

Because of the setup choices in the Windows Settings program, it is probable that this capability is exclusive to Edge on Windows.

Change the style of the captions from “white on black” to “small capitals,” “big text,” or “yellow on blue,” or build your own unique style. These newly-created styles offer text, background, and window customization.

Live Captions in Microsoft Edge are often effective. The preview tag implies that users may experience bugs or other problems. In addition to lacking choices to disable the function for a specific surfing session, the only option available is to disable it in the Settings, it lacks compatibility for non-English languages. Captions are presented when non-English videos are viewed, but Edge shows English words instead of the native language’s words. It is unquestionably a flaw, particularly for those who view movies in different languages.

Edge’s support for Live Captions is a useful enhancement. Even if some video sites have subtitles or captions, Edge’s capability may be handy on certain sites. Edge captions give enhanced customisation choices and are freely movable on-screen. The Edge captions may also be of higher quality than the site’s captions, although testing is required to determine this.

Microsoft is attempting to add support for global captions to Windows.

Exit mobile version