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The battle to be the best video conferencing platform in the game has never been more fierce, and as more companies adopt hybrid work policies, companies like Microsoft are regularly updating their offerings to appeal to more users.
Accessibility is paramount in the latest Microsoft Teams update, which will soon include improved support for sign language communication.
A listing on the company page road map (opens in new tab)where it announces upcoming features it reads “Sign language display and always-on captions in meetings”.
Sign Language in Teams
According to the description, users can “prioritize videos of up to two other sign language participants in meetings so that they remain visible even when content is shared, and set captions to remain on during all meetings.”
Since the supported platforms are desktop and Mac, the new feature is unlikely to reach mobile devices this time around. This may be due to the limitations of the smaller screen size, but we can’t rule this out for a future addition as the company realizes its importance.
The rollout of extended support for sign language and always-on captioning will begin in December 2022.
This is far from the only update coming to Teams this side of Christmas, with a whole handful of additions and refinements in the pipeline.
In November, Microsoft will expand its emoji responses in Teams instant messages to more than 800 emojis. Also slated for a November release is a new scheduling tool that will prevent eager employees and night owls from disturbing coworkers by sending messages outside of work hours. Messages are available to desktop users and may soon be scheduled to be sent at a specific time.
Some forms of sign language interpretation are already available for: Zoom users who can see an additional pop-up window for up to 20 designated interpreters.