Subtitles and transcription are great for creating accessible meetings. The written word provides another way for people to reach the information contained in a meeting without relying on sound.
Oftentimes, it’s those who most need to access information who struggle the most to do so.
Reaching a wider audience
1 in 6 of the UK population has some degree of hearing impairment [1]. That’s 17% of people who could struggle to hear what’s said in a meeting. With the new subtitling and transcription feature in Connect, we can be sure that these viewers don’t miss out. Viewers can now watch archived meetings with overlaid subtitles or they can read the transcript as a text file. All Connect clients can access this feature for free in the secure admin area.
Of course, it’s not just people with hearing impairment who benefit from transcription and subtitles. People with learning disabilities or sensory processing difficulties may also find it useful to access spoken information in a different way.
The same is true of people who speak English as an additional language and it can especially difficult for non-native speakers to follow some regional dialects. That’s 7.7% of people across the UK as a whole, and 22.1% in London [2]. Our software is intelligent; it learns as it goes. This means that as time goes on, the software will become more familiar with accents and colloquialisms.
Watch it on the move
And finally, we’re in an age where people access content in non-traditional ways and places. Facebook tells us that the vast majority of videos watched on their platform are watched with the sound off. Subtitles allow people to view meetings wherever they are – even if they can’t use sound. (Incidentally, our subtitled archive videos are easily shareable across social media platforms).
By creating accessible meetings, we give viewers more ways to get involved. It leads to a wider reach, more transparency and deeper engagement.
If you’d like to know more about this development, please read more or get in touch