Microsoft Teams is getting a major upgrade to its accessibility tools that should make… Video conferencing platform Better for more users.
in Microsoft blog post (Opens in a new tab) Architect Chris Sanno announced the creation of a “best-in-class experience for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) community” on Teams.
Sano, who is deaf himself, has been tasked with making the platform more accessible, and the first version – Sign Language View – is now ready, and he hopes to change how D/HH users engage in Microsoft Teams calls for the best.
Display difference sign language
When needed, up to a video feed of the sign language interpreters is kept at a consistent location so that D/HH meeting participants can dive straight into the call. The video boxes are also designed to be the optimal shape and size, and will automatically stream in the highest possible quality.
As part of its promise to listen to customer feedback, Microsoft has made sign language display preferences “static,” so that no settings need to be reapplied for each call.
According to Sano, you can also “predefine a set of preferred signers that you work with within your organization on a regular basis — for example, interpreters (or for interpreters, your regular clients). There’s an option to turn on captions by default for all your meetings, too.
Sano asks D/HH customers to continue providing feedback through the Help menu from within Teams, or to contact the US Help Desk to communicate directly in sign language.
It is expected to be released in the “coming weeks” that coincide with the company’s entry road map (Opens in a new tab) Indicates general availability in December 2022. Currently, a version of the sign language demo is on file Public preview program (Opens in a new tab) on a per user basis, so you might be able to get it that way too.