Captioning Service in MICE & Hotel RFPs (Plain English Definition + Examples)
Definition
Captioning service is the real-time transcription of spoken content into on-screen text — displayed below the speaker or on attendee devices — used for hearing-impaired attendees, non-native speakers, and accessibility compliance.
In day-to-day European event sourcing, captioning service sits inside a broader workflow that includes the brief, the longlist, the shortlist, the contract negotiation, and the post-event reconciliation. Understanding it in isolation is not enough — what matters is how it interacts with the other levers a planner can pull. The definition above is the textbook version; the sections below explain how it actually behaves in real RFPs.
Why Captioning Service matters
Captioning shifts from 'nice to have' to 'required' under EU and UK accessibility regulations for public-sector and many corporate events. Beyond compliance, captions raise comprehension for the 18-30% of corporate audiences who are non-native English speakers. Cost: €500-900 per session-day for human captioning, €60-180 per session-day for AI captioning (with 92-97% accuracy on clear audio).
Example
A 180-attendee technical training in English with 35 non-native speakers adds AI captioning at €120/session × 8 sessions = €960. Post-event comprehension score (test-based) for non-native speakers rises from 58% (baseline) to 81% — a 23-point lift on a €960 investment.
Where Captioning Service appears in contracts
Captioning is in the AV addendum or contracted separately. Always confirm: caption display position (sub-screen vs side-screen vs attendee app), human vs AI provider, multi-language output, recording inclusion, accuracy guarantee.
When reviewing a hotel proposal or contract draft, scan for captioning service early — it is often easier to negotiate before the supplier has anchored on their preferred position. Easy RFP surfaces these terms in every comparison view so planners can spot deviations from market-standard ranges at a glance, rather than reading 14-page proposals line by line.