How Do I Use AccessLoop
This page will provide you with the information that you need to know to ensure a successful accessible virtual event with captions and sign language
How To Guides
Provide the producer with your Streamtext email then you will receive an invite from the producer of your event. Read through the instructions in the body of the email to make sure are ready to work on AccessLOOP and click ‘Join event’.
AccessLOOP has Streamtext built in, so you need to have a Streamtext account to work with AccessLOOP. Set up your writing software as normal for working on Streamtext. Make sure your Streamtext Connector is connected with two green ticks.
Check your default parsing is set up in your profile here.
If this isn’t set up correctly you won’t be able to caption on AccessLOOP.
Download Streamtext Connector:
Open an account:
https://admin.streamtext.net/organizations/start
Set your default parsing format:
https://streamtext.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360027933671-Setting-your-default-parsing-format
Select the Captioning dropdown. Click the toggle. Recommended settings are two lines and large. Click on ‘Invite captioner’ and add their name and their email address which is registered with their StreamText account. You can now choose between ‘closed captions’ and ‘open captions’. We would recommend testing the platform first with a captioner if using closed captions.
Log into portal.accessloop.com
Select ‘Create new project’. Input project details, such as the project title, the start time, the timezone, the duration and the date.
Press the ‘CREATE PROJECT’ button.
Open the project. Under ‘Stream source’ copy your stream key and stream url into your encoder, ie. vMix, OBS, wirecast or alternate streaming service such as Zoom (custom rtmp streaming), StreamYard (RTMP server in new destination) or ReStream.
Go to ‘Stream destinations’ dropdown in AccessLOOP. Add your event streaming details which will be provided from the platform which you are using, eg. YouTube Live or Facebook event, or a platform such as Hopin.
Select the Captioning dropdown. Click the toggle. Recommended settings are two lines and large. Click on ‘Invite captioner’ and add their name and their email address which is registered with their StreamText account. You can now choose between ‘closed captions’ and ‘open captions’. We would recommend testing the platform first with a captioner if using closed captions.
The bottom dropdown is the chat box. This is where you can communicate with you captioners and sign language interpreters and pass them messages throughout the event.
To start streaming to the destination and recieving the feed from the source, press ‘START LOOP’. You are now able to add additional destinations once you have started the loop.
Recommended streaming settings: 720p, 3000kbps.
1080p, 6000kbps
AccessLOOP adds less than 0.5 sec latency into the stream.
Provide the producer with your Streamtext email then you will receive an invite from the producer of your event. Read through the instructions in the body of the email to make sure are ready to work on AccessLOOP and click ‘Join event’.
AccessLOOP has Streamtext built in, so you need to have a Streamtext account to work with AccessLOOP. Set up your writing software as normal for working on Streamtext. Make sure your Streamtext Connector is connected with two green ticks.
Check your default parsing is set up in your profile here.
If this isn’t set up correctly you won’t be able to caption on AccessLOOP.
Download Streamtext Connector:
Open an account:
https://admin.streamtext.net/organizations/start
Set your default parsing format:
https://streamtext.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360027933671-Setting-your-default-parsing-format
Select the Captioning dropdown. Click the toggle. Recommended settings are two lines and large. Click on ‘Invite captioner’ and add their name and their email address which is registered with their StreamText account. You can now choose between ‘closed captions’ and ‘open captions’. We would recommend testing the platform first with a captioner if using closed captions.
TROUBLESHOOTING
Check that the correct details have been added to the encoder.
If necessary, stop and start the encoder again, especially if the encoder was started before AccessLOOP was started.
In StreamYard, this will mean clicking ‘Edit’ in the top right and click on the AccessLOOP destination to remove it. “Save changes” and then click ‘Edit’ again and re-select the AccessLOOP destination and “Save Changes”
Things to check
1. Have you toggled the captions on prior to starting the Loop?
2. Does the writer have a StreamText account? (if not, they can create a free account here https://admin.streamtext.net/organizations/start
3. Has the writer been invited with the email address associated with their StreamText account?
4. Have they set their default parsing format? They can set it on their account from this link https://admin.streamtext.net/profile/edit
5. Is their StreamText connector on, and have they pressed the green ‘Connect and Write’ button.
6. Is the writer booked on any other StreamText events?
For more information on using the StreamText connector, please refer to https://streamtext.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/210923083-Installing-Updating-and-using-the-StreamText-Net-Connector
Things to check
1. Do you have a StreamText account? (if not, you can create a free account here https://admin.streamtext.net/organizations/start
2. Have you been invited with the email address associated with your StreamText account?
3. Have you set your default parsing format? This can be set on your account from this link https://admin.streamtext.net/profile/edit
4. Is your StreamText connector on, and have you pressed the green ‘Connect and Write’ button.
5. Are you booked on any other StreamText events? You can check this on your dashboard at https://admin.streamtext.net/
6. Sometimes disconnecting and reconnecting your StreamText Connector will help to re-establish the connection
For more information on using the StreamText connector, please refer to https://streamtext.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/210923083-Installing-Updating-and-using-the-StreamText-Net-Connector
Sometimes the video will appear to be a bit behind the captions. It is good practice to refresh your browser before the start of the event.
Please select your computer resolution to be a minimum of 1366 x 768 or the other option is to zoom the browser. If using chrome, you can do this by clicking on the 3 dots in the top right of your browser, and find “Zoom”. Click on the ‘-‘ button and this will zoom your screen out so that you can see.
You have a couple of options to rectify this. 1) Zoom in on the browser – in Chrome select the three dots in the top right hand corner of the browser and where it says “Zoom”, press the ‘+’ sign (or ctrl + plus on a PC, command + plus on a Mac) 2) You can open the AccessLOOP event more than once, so open one browser on a separate laptop or monitor and hovering over the player, press the box icon in the bottom left of the player to maximise the player. You can the use the second browser to monitor the chat and manage changeovers. NOTE: Be aware if the browsers are on the same computer, that you will need to mute one of the players.
Hover over the video, and check that you haven’t accidentally paused the main video (this is just your view and won’t have paused the main stream output).
Hover over the video and check that there isn’t a line through the speaker symbol. If there is, press on the speaker symbol to unmute.
Get In Touch
If you can't find the answer you are looking for above, please send a message using the form below and we will aim to get back to you as soon as possible. If you need urgent help please email hello@accessloop.com
