Many people who are hard of hearing find themselves in a difficult "middle ground" regarding accessibility. They may not use sign language or identify as part of the fully Deaf community, yet they struggle to follow spoken sermons—especially in echoey church buildings or when background noise interferes.
This creates a significant barrier to worship, often leading to feelings of isolation in a place designed for community. This is where Breeze steps in as a solution for accessibility.
We are excited to share that Breeze Translate is fully equipped to serve as a live captioning tool for the hard of hearing.
Because our English-to-English transcription is currently our second biggest use case, we are officially supporting this as a primary feature. It allows anyone in your congregation to view live, accurate captions of the service directly on their own smartphone or tablet.
Why this works for Accessibility:
There is no need to sit in a specific "loop" area or wear special hardware. Users simply scan a QR code and read along on their own device.
Seeing the words live helps fill in the gaps that hearing aids might miss, ensuring the congregation can catch every prayer and teaching point.
Churches don't need expensive new equipment; older smartphones or tablets can easily be used to display captions. The system requires very low data usage (about 20MB per hour), so it works even without strong Wi-Fi.
Our friends at Open Ears remind us that accessibility is about belonging. As we discussed with their team, our goal is the same: to ensure that no one is prevented from hearing the Good News or participating in Kingdom work due to physical barriers.
We are honored to have their support as we refine our tools to better serve the hard-of-hearing community. You can learn more about their incredible work and resources for churches at OpenEars.org.uk.