Monday of Christmas week was the last meeting of 2020 for Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC).
It was a landmark event for a city of Bloomington government meeting.
It was not special because the meeting was held using Zoom’s video-conferencing platform. Video-conferenced public meetings have been standard since the spring. That’s when Indiana governor Eric Holcomb’s emergency health order made remote participation legal for government officials.
What made the RDC meeting special was the automatic closed captioning and live transcription function for the Zoom video-conferencing software, which had been activated for the first time.
The following week, the regular press conference of local leaders about COVID-19 pandemic response also featured Zoom’s automatic closed captioning and transcription.
The improved accessibility of meetings to the Deaf, or people who are hearing impaired, is an obvious benefit.
It’s a benefit for everyone. Continue reading “Opinion: Preserving live closed captions for post-pandemic times should get focus now”