Microsoft Teams thinks hard of hearing with new features

With the sign language display, the hard of hearing people can always see the sign language interpreter. They also don’t always have to turn on subtitles.

Attending virtual meetings is not easy for the hard of hearing. Fortunately, video conferencing platforms don’t let them down. In the product roadmap Microsoft 365 is rolling out a new feature called Sign Language View, which will be rolling out to Windows and Mac users starting in November.

The sign language display ensures that hearing-impaired people who bring a sign language interpreter can always see it during meetings. The feature allows you to prioritize up to two participants so that their photo box remains distinct throughout the meeting, even when another participant is sharing their screen. The feature is actually blatantly copied from Zoom, that is end of september Already launched.

Turn on live translation

Next, Microsoft Teams also wants to make it easy to run live captions during a meeting. This has been possible for some time, but until now you have to turn it on manually at the start of the meeting.

From November this will be enabled via settings and subtitles will already be turned on by default for each meeting. Translations are also available to and from Dutch.

Microsoft has been adding new features to its communications platform in recent weeks. Have you lost the overview? In this article We’ll put it together for you.