{"id":14257,"date":"2023-04-20T13:53:27","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T19:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/es.sorenson.com\/?p=14257"},"modified":"2024-01-16T12:28:28","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T19:28:28","slug":"zoom-for-deaf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/es.sorenson.com\/en\/blog\/vrs\/zoom-for-deaf\/","title":{"rendered":"Make Meetings on Zoom for Deaf Attendees More Deaf-Inclusive\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

How to Easily Make Zoom Meetings Deaf-Inclusive <\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
Olivia Alvarez<\/a><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The COVID-19 pandemic fueled a rapid rise in the use of tech in daily communication. And with a 55% share of the videoconferencing software market, Zoom \u2014 from Zoom Video Communications, Inc.<\/a><\/span>\u00a0\u2014 is the go-to for many businesses having virtual meetings. But using video relay service (VRS) to make Zoom usable for Deaf participants has lagged behind Zoom\u2019s popularity\u2014until now.<\/span><\/p>

The History of Zoom for Deaf Participants<\/h2>

Zoom has a history of making accessibility a priority for users.\u00a0<\/p>

2013: The Zoom application became publicly available.\u00a0<\/p>

2020: Zoom added features for Deaf individuals who use American Sign Language (ASL) to more conveniently take part in Zoom meetings with non-ASL-fluent participants: the ability to pin more than one person\u2019s video to the screen and rearranging attendees on the screen to give Deaf participants better visibility of an interpreter.\u00a0<\/p>

2021: Auto-generated Zoom captions for Deaf and hearing participants became available to any Zoom user. Captions had previously been limited to paid accounts and required the host to add on and pay for a third-party artificial intelligence (AI)-powered transcription service.\u00a0<\/p>

2022: Zoom added a Sign Language Interpretation view for paid accounts<\/a> using the desktop client.\u00a0<\/p>

In the past few years, Zoom has made great strides in making meetings more Deaf-inclusive, but newer features and updates have\u00a0 restrictions and added steps for those wishing to use an ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter on Zoom.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Using VRS with Zoom for Sign Language Interpretation<\/h2>

In most cases, Zoom meetings with Deaf and hearing participants haven\u2019t had interpreters present. Instead, many Deaf individuals have used video relay service (VRS) to get interpreting for those calls.\u00a0<\/p>

VRS is a no-cost interpreting service for Deaf people who use American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate through video calls on videophones, smart phones, tablets, or computers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

In Zoom meetings without an interpreter, Deaf participants have used VRS as a workaround. They call the meeting\u2019s dial-in number on their VRS videophone or app, so the interpreter can connect to only the audio of the Zoom meeting.\u00a0<\/p>

Deaf individuals have used their VRS accounts this way for years for Zoom, but it\u2019s not user- or Deaf-friendly: \u00a0<\/p>