Google Meet adds support for Non-English live captions on the web

Non-English captions are initially available on the web to APAC and EMEA countries with rollout to North America and Latin America coming in early 2021. The new Live captions language support in Google Meet will also expand to iOS and Android mobile apps in early 2021.

Google Meet live captions which were previously available only in English are now expanding to four additional languages including French, German, Portuguese and Spanish (Spain and Latin America).

Meet users can turn captions on to view subtitles during a video call. Live captions allow deaf and hard of hearing users, users with different primary languages and users in noisy environments to participate more fully in meetings.

During a Meet call, each video call participant will have the option to select the meeting's spoken language when enabling captions. If caption settings are turned on or off during a meeting, they will be saved, along with the chosen language, for future meetings, Google explained in a blog post.

Non-English captions are initially available on the web to APAC and EMEA countries with rollout to North America and Latin America coming in early 2021. The new Live captions language support in Google Meet will also expand to iOS and Android mobile apps in early 2021.

The new language support is rolling out to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains and will be available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers. Also available to users with personal Google Accounts.

"And as many of us learn to embrace remote tools and virtual communication for the first time, it's incredibly important to have inclusive, accessible and fair virtual meetings, whether you're planning a return to the office, going fully remote or using a hybrid model, with some people together in person and some remote," Google said in a blog post.

"By expanding live captions to more languages, we can help more students feel empowered to participate and help more teachers share a space that is both accessible and inclusive."