Zoom, the well-known video conferencing app, is introducing a new accessibility feature for all their users, called Live Transcription. The feature, otherwise known as automatic closed captioning, will be released broadly to everyone in the fall of 2021.
Zoom already offers many accessibility features such as manual closed captioning, keyboard accessibility, screen reader support, and more. Live Transcription takes this a step further, and automatically captions the incoming audio and displays it on screen.
The feature is quite useful for users with hearing disabilities, allowing them to be present in meetings even with the audio turned off. The feature is also great for those who wish to attend meetings with the audio turned off and still be active in it.
Zoom will be rolling out the feature broadly to everyone later in year, and until then, they will provide the feature to free account holders if they need it as soon as possible. To sign up for it, account holders will need to fill up a form, which can be accessed here.