How to add Ava captions to my conference as an organizer?

Personal captions for deaf or hard of hearing attendees and complete transcripts for post production. From small events to large conferences

Updated over a week ago

Ava real-time captions for Michelle Obama's keynote at Dreamforce

With Ava Event, you can caption all your breakout sessions and keynotes with a very easy plug & play solution. The captions will be broadcasted to anyone who wants to view them (mobile, laptop, present, or attending your event online). Even better, we can save the transcripts for your post-production and if desired we can provide content summaries of all your sessions and conference as a whole. 

If you are an attendee (and not in charge of organizing) click here.

Are you looking to take your conference content access and distribution to the next level? Read on and let us know about your needs! 

PART 1: SETTING UP AVA 

If your event is happening at a venue equipped with an audio system (microphones and speakers), it will be very easy to connect Ava with this AV system in order to get the most accurate captions. If there is no Audio System (AV) already in place, please go here to see how Ava will work best for you. 

You'll need (per room):

  • a reliable (bandwidth requirements) Internet connection (Wifi recommended),

  • a smart device (tablet or smartphone) with Ava installed on it, which will be dedicated for the live captioning during the event (Ava host device),

  • an iRig 2.0 to convert the audio from the mixer to the 'Ava host device'. 

  • a TRS-TRS audio cable (1/4'' TRS male to 1/4'' TRS male), or the XLR version (large venues only) to connect the mixer with the iRig 2.0 and the 'Ava host device'.

Want to give it a quick try on your own device (smartphone, tablet):

  • Download Ava: www.ava.me/get or search "Ava accessibility" in the app stores

  • Create your account and start captioning your first conversation with Ava.

  • Make sure the microphone icon is colored blue and speak close to the device.

  • Can you see your words appear on the screen?

Now for your event, we're going to connect Ava with the AV system to get a clear sound from the speaker(s) on stage and have the most accurate captions possible! 

Setting Ava up in connection with the existing audio system (mixing board):

Here is an instructional video to explain how the above setup works exactly. Of course we are more than happy to connect directly with your even production / AV specialists to make sure this is all set up and working well for your event.

PART 2: HELP ATTENDEES ACCESS THEIR PERSONAL CAPTIONS

Once you have Ava setup, you should make it clear and visible to your attendees that you are offering realtime captions and post session transcripts to them for FREE

Below are a few examples of how you can do this at your event. Using posters, table tops, slides, or other forms of signage. You can make your own, or our team can help you create all your materials. The only thing that your attendees will have to do is scan the QR code or go to a specific link associated to the session they are attending. 

How this works for the user is explained in more detail here.

You can use the below templates and customize them if you want.

Here is a video to give you some ideas on how you can communicate Ava to your audience.

When putting together your own materials: 

Here are some suggested paragraphs to talk about Ava.
Here is a folder with some logo files for Ava that you can use.

PART 3: LET'S DO THIS

Depending on your needs, we can provide the full package including on the ground support, signage design, setup and breakdown, post event transcripts and summaries, and much more. Of course you can also decide to do it yourself and all we provide is our captioning software. We're more than happy to help you find the right solution for your event. Feel free to request a quote or schedule a time to talk with us.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Watch setup instructions in video

Watch Ava used in real-life venues

Dreamforce 2017 in San Francisco, CA

Live captioning session at Closing The Gap Conference

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