Explore hearing accessibility features on your Googlebook

You can customize how your Googlebook handles audio and captions with the hearing accessibility features. You can combine audio channels, adjust your sound preferences, and get real-time captions when you play media on your Googlebook.

Use Live Caption

You can turn on Live Caption to provide automatic speech captions on your Googlebook. You can use this on various videos, podcasts, audio messages, and video calls.

Important:

• First use of Live Caption requires Wi-Fi connection to download the default language pack.
• When you play media, Live Caption uses more battery. In battery saver mode, this automatically turns off.
• Captions aren’t supported for some media and calling apps.
• Audio with clear speech and low background noise works best for Live Caption.
• Music content doesn’t have Live Caption available.
• An internet connection isn't used by Live Caption. All audio and captions are processed on your Googlebook and are never stored or sent to Google.

Turn on Live Caption

1. Press the volume button.
2. Under the volume controls, turn on Live Caption .

Tips:

• When Live Caption is on, captions appear for any speech detected in the audio on your Googlebook.
• Captions are processed only on your Googlebook, remain local, and are never saved.

Understand tone & non-speech sounds with Expressive captions

To better understand the audio tone and non-speech sounds, turn on Expressive captions:

1. Open your Googlebook’s Settings app .
2. Select Accessibility Live Caption Expressive captions .
   • By default, Expressive captions is on.
3. Turn Use expressive captions on or off.
   • Or, in the “Live Caption" box, you can select Expressive captions .
4. Modify Expressive captions settings.
   • To emphasize high intensity with capitalized words: Select Add styles to captions.
   • To show detected sounds, like laughter, applause, and music: Select Show sound labels.
   • To show emphasis through word elongation: Turn on Lengthen words.
     • For example, "Amazing!" becomes "Amaaazing!"

Adjust the caption box

• To move the caption box: Select and drag it around the screen.
• To hide captions and turn off Live Caption: Drag the caption box off the bottom of your screen.
• To adjust the caption box size to see more lines: Select the caption box and at the bottom of the box, drag the bar.
  • Or, double-click the caption box to change the size 2 lines at a time up to 9 lines.

Change Live Caption settings

1. Open your Googlebook’s Settings app .
2. Select Accessibility Live Caption .
3. Under Settings, you can find or change these options:
   • For supported languages: Manage choices in “Languages & translation.”
     • To add a language: Select Add a language Download .
     • To select your preferred languages:
       1. Under “Preferred language,” select Translate captions to your preferred language.
       2. Select from:
          • Ask to translate
          • Automatically translate
          • Don’t translate
       3. Select OK.
     • To remove a language: Under “Caption languages,” select Remove .
   • For detected languages: Turn Suggest detected languages on or off.

Tips:

• To translate captions, turn on Live Translate. Control the display of inappropriate language.
• Show or hide sound labels, like laughter and applause.
• Show or hide the Live Caption icon within the volume controls.
• Turn call captioning on or off. Learn how to change caption styles.
• Select the voice utilized for typed responses during calls.

Change caption styles

Important: Your preferences don’t work with media apps that don't support Caption preferences.

You can change the caption’s size, style, and color.

Turn on captions

1. Open your Googlebook’s Settings app .
2. Select Accessibility Caption preferences Show captions.

Change caption size & style

1. Open your Googlebook’s Settings app .
2. Select Accessibility Caption preferences Caption size and style.
3. To change caption size, select Caption size the text size you prefer.
4. To change the style and color for caption text and background, select Caption style the style you prefer.

Adjust audio

To change balance or combine audio channels when you play an audio, use Audio adjustment features in your Accessibility settings.

1. Open your Googlebook’s Settings app .
2. Select Accessibility Audio adjustment.
3. To combine audio channels, turn on Mono audio.
4. To change balance between left and right speakers, move the Audio balance slider.

Get more help

For more Accessibility help, contact the Disability Support team.