Zoom training Video Closed Caption Option

Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!

Exuberant foliage
Pink and White Blossoms

(It's the season, more than average, of practicing gratitudes! As in past years, RantWoman is going to solicit help from her unruly pots of Quaker plant exchange Christmas Cactuses. It is the season of more and more blossoms every day. The blossoms usually do not last until Christmas, but they fill RantWoman with such joy that several posts are likely to have Christmas Cactus motifs)

Now, back to today's spurt of unsolicited technical assistance. 

Look Ma, look what RantWoman found while poking around after upgrading her personal Zoom account to Zoom Pro, the most basic paid version! Look! An awesome training video about how to do Close captioning with Zoom. Simple directions, steps that can be followed by anyone paid or volunteer. 

Enjoy the video. RantWoman will opine further below.

Often people hire a trained transcriptionist to provide close captioning, but precedent around RantWoman's meeting experience is that one thing, hiring ASL interpreters, happens for deaf people who use ASL. But for someone who loses hearing late in life and never learns ASL, precedent has been, say in Meeting for worship, a Friend sits next to the person and transcribes messages. RantWoman does not think her native scribble font would ever be useful for such efforts. In any case, nowadays in the age of pandemic, the fashion is worship via Zoom or if people are feeling really bold, hybrid worship with both in-person and Zoom. it makes sense to rely on CART or close captioning. And RantWoman is excited to discover that it could be done by a volunteer.

RantWoman knows that at least one person would benefit and be willing to try. RantWoman knows this because in connection with virtual annual session--she did an informal survey of several people she knows with hearing issues. One person spoke of watching television all the time with the captioning on. RantWoman knows that the quality of captioning varies greatly, but nimble-fingered Friend volunteers should be able to do at least as well as TV captioning! RantWoman wishes someone had had the capacity and inclination to research Zoom capabilities in time for Annual Session; RantWoman understands the point of wanting to avoid expense and Friends might also be reluctant to ask for what they really need.

RantWoman hopes this moment of eldering, oops unsolicited technical assistance will inspire say Friends with hearing issues, the Ad Hoc Disability Committee--with or without RantWoman-- and Worship and Ministry committee to have conversations about what might be possible.

RantWoman is going to stop here for the sake of digestibility. 

In light and Faithfulness