Automatic Live Transcription Feature Now Available For All Zoom Accounts

The Live Transcription feature makes it easy for Zoom users from people with disabilities. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - After promising to add automatic text to its application for a long time, Zoom has finally officially introduced the Live Transcription feature. This feature is also present for paid Zoom Meetings and Zoom Video Webinar accounts.

Zoom says that the feature aims to make people with disabilities feel comfortable when attending online meetings using the app.

"Without the right accessibility tools, people with disabilities face tremendous barriers when using video communication solutions. That's why we're focused on building platforms that are accessible to everyone, and features like auto-generated captions are an important part of that mission." Zoom in its official blog, Tuesday, October 26.

The Live Transcription feature generates auto-generated captions, subtitles speakers at Zoom video meetings or webinars. Unfortunately, this feature is only available in English, but Zoom says it plans to expand to other languages in the future.

Zoom previously offered AI-powered live transcription only for paid accounts, which drew criticism from accessibility advocates, where Zoom calls during the pandemic left deaf users with limited options.

Without automatic captions, Zoom meeting organizers would have to use a third-party text service or add their own captions manually.

The company has added more accessibility options over the past year, including support for screen readers and multiple videos being viewed at the same time, allowing the sign interpreter to be visible at all times, even when the other user on the call is talking.

To enable the Live Transcription feature in a Zoom meeting, the account owner or user with aka admin privileges can log in to the Zoom web portal, then find account management in the navigation menu. Select account settings, then click the meeting tab. Under In a meeting, toggle the closed captioning option to enable it.