Live Streaming With Multilingual Audio and Captions

 

For high-profile broadcasts like concerts and conventions, event producers are often required to comply with regulations by providing caption and audio selections in more than one language. Live event streaming with multilingual captions and audio can also help expand viewership by improving accessibility.

For example, an English-language presentation might be supplemented with additional live tracks in German and French. This would allow users to listen to the audio in their primary language. What’s more, the inclusion of multilingual closed captions would let users consume the video with German audio and French captions, depending on their needs.

Because video streaming allows you to reach end users across the world, real-time captioning and language selections help convey your message to a larger pool of viewers. Multilingual functionality also lets end-users consume the broadcast in the language most comfortable to them. And captions increasing inclusion for the hard of hearing.

Luckily, Wowza’s technology can be engineered to synchronize multiple live audio and caption options into one player so that diverse users can access the broadcast from the same website. In this demo, Sales Engineer Tim Dougherty demonstrates how to set this up in Wowza Streaming Engine.

 

Case Study: Freeman

Live event leader Freeman partnered with Wowza to architect unique configurations for multilingual event capabilities, which are now being built into the Wowza Streaming Cloud service.

“We engaged with Wowza’s Professional Services group to support low-latency streaming to thousands of attendees with in-player language selection for eleven simultaneous translations and multiple live stenographer captioning options,” explains Felipe Giannazzo, Freeman’s media solutions designer.

“With no comparable existing service, we collaborated with Wowza to deliver an interactive experience to union delegates across the country, allowing users to conduct their business virtually during the height of the pandemic using a new custom-built web platform. Almost a full year later, Freeman continues to offer services to many of the largest unions in the United States utilizing our Online Parliamentary Tool.”