Graduation ceremonies mark one of the most important milestones in a student’s life. For many families, however, the experience can be diminished by distance, crowd noise, accents, or hearing challenges. High-quality human-created live captioning addresses these barriers and helps ensure that every parent, grandparent, and guest can follow the speeches, names, and emotional moments of the day.

At Simply Captions/LNS Captioning, we have provided reliable, accurate captioning services for graduations for more than three decades. Our goal is simple: to deliver clear, real-time text that meets ADA requirements and meets the specific needs of each school.

Accuracy and Compliance

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, colleges and universities must provide effective communication for deaf and hard-of-hearing attendees. Automated captions frequently struggle in large venues with echoes, background noise, and multiple speakers.  If automated captions fail and put out garbled or inaccurate captions, there is no fast way to fix what is going wrong, if you even know what is going wrong and why. Professional human live CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) services consistently achieve 99%+ accuracy, which is essential for important ceremonies like commencements.  If there are technical challenges right before or during the ceremony, you have a skilled person or company that can provide a solution quickly.

Preparation for Best Results

Successful captioning begins with good preparation. We work with each client to determine the best solution for their venue and audience. Captions can be displayed on:

• Stadium or arena screens
• YouTube, Facebook Live, or institutional website streams
• Dedicated links accessed via QR code
• Handheld devices or mobile apps

We offer both indoor and outdoor solutions and can provide foreign language captioning through machine language translation for diverse audiences.

Who Benefits from Captioning?

Captioning supports far more than just the deaf community. Approximately 15% of U.S. adults report some degree of hearing difficulty, and over 50 million Americans have some level of hearing loss — roughly one in seven people. In a typical graduation audience this includes older family members, international guests for whom English is a second language, individuals with auditory processing challenges, and anyone affected by poor acoustics or background noise in large venues. Providing captions demonstrates a commitment to universal design and inclusive practices. Many attendees who could benefit do not formally request accommodation, making proactive captioning especially valuable.

Why Institutions Choose Simply Captions/LNS Captioning

Since 1993, Simply Captions/LNS Captioning has specialized in live event captioning, including hundreds of high school and college graduations each year. Our long experience, combined with a strong focus on client communication, allows us to understand exactly what each institution needs and to deliver tailored, reliable solutions.

If you are planning a commencement for 2026 or beyond, we invite you to contact us. Visit lnscaptioning.com to discuss your event, review options, and receive a customized quote. We are ready to help make your graduation accessible and memorable for all attendees.

(References: ADA.gov guidelines on effective communication; NIDCD and Hearing Loss Association of America statistics.)