Live auto-transcription globally enabled in Zoom

June 23, 2021

The following is a guest post from Wake Forest Information Systems (IS).

Back in February 2021, we communicated that live transcription was available in Zoom, providing on-screen machine-generated subtitles/captions and an associated transcript during Zoom meetings. The setting we instructed users to enable within Zoom to begin using this feature has been globally enabled. All meeting hosts will now see a Live Transcript button in their host toolbar during meetings.

Hosts must select the Live Transcript button and Enable Live Transcription during a meeting to make the transcription available to attendees. We highly recommend hosts do this at the beginning of each meeting for the best attendee experience. As we develop the habit of enabling this useful accessibility feature, we encourage attendees to request for meeting hosts to enable live transcription, if not yet enabled, to preemptively accommodate attendees’ needs. Attendees can do this by selecting the Live Transcript button in their toolbar menu.

Make sure to update the Zoom application on your computer regularly to ensure access to the most current features. Manually check for updates and run updates through the menu on the Zoom client. For further instructions on updating, check out this Zoom help article.

An AskDeac article has been added with information and screenshots to help users understand how to enable live-transcription during Zoom meetings. 

Zoom’s Live Transcription enhances accessibility in virtual spaces, but machine transcription is not fully accurate and is not a substitute for human captioning. Requests for accommodations should be discussed with the Learning Assistance Center-Disability Services (for students) or Human Resources (for faculty and staff), as appropriate.

For more conversation on technology accessibility in general and features to add accessibility to your role at Wake Forest, reach out to the Technology Accessibility Program at tap@wfu.edu. If you have questions concerning this message or need assistance, please contact the Information Systems Service Desk at help.wfu.edu, help@wfu.edu or 336.758.4357 (HELP).