Meeting hosts can invite a sign language interpreter to their meeting/webinar to provide support to participants who require the services; the host can set up the meeting choosing from the options described below.
Sign Language Interpreter Feature
Meeting hosts can assign participants as interpreters to provide real-time interpretations of one language into sign language. Each participant can elect to view and change to the offered sign language interpreter languages. The interpreter view opens in a separate window; each participant can select from the available offered languages, and resize or reposition the window.
Important Notes:
- Hosts must join the meeting or webinar through the Zoom desktop client to manage and initiate interpretation. They cannot join with any other clients, such as the Zoom mobile app or web client (no Zoom plugins or downloads are installed).
- The interpreter video window is included in recordings when the host has the feature enabled in Recording settings; the interpreter video can be downloaded as a separate recording file.
- Cannot be used with the Personal Meeting ID (PMI) or instant meetings. Choose to generate the meeting ID automatically when scheduling.
- Zoom desktop client minimum version prerequisite applies to all users in the meeting or webinar, including the host, participants, and sign language interpreters. Learn how to update your Zoom version.
The feature is not available when scheduling through Canvas; use these workarounds to enable Sign Language Interpretation for your Canvas class meeting:
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- Schedule through Canvas; then edit the meeting in the website portal account to include the Sign Language Interpreter feature.
- Or schedule the meeting in the website portal, then import the meeting into Canvas.
Enable the Sign Language Interpretation Setting
- Navigate to Settings > Meeting > In Meeting (Advanced)
- Locate and enable Sign Language Interpretation view.
- (Optional) Check Enable sign language interpretation view by default in scheduler
- (Optional) Click the + to add languages to the list of available sign languages when scheduling,, then click Add.
Schedule a Meeting with an Interpreter Assigned
Pre-assign up to 20 interpreters and selected languages by adding email addresses and selecting the specific sign language in the corresponding fields; additional interpreters and languages can be added or changed in the live session.
Once the event is saved, an email invitation will be sent to the interpreters with the language they will interpret for the event.
Scheduling a Webinar with an Interpreter
When adding an interpreter to the Webinar schedule, by default the interpreter becomes 'Panelist'. Each interpreter (Panelist) will receive an email with a unique link to join the Webinar.
Start Interpretation in Live Session
- Click the Interpretation icon on the toolbar.
- The Sign Language Interpretation window opens to display the pre-assigned interpreters are in the meeting and the signing language. The interpreter and language can be changed as well as adding additional interpreters.
- Click Start to offer the interpretations to participants.
Participants will be notified that interpretation is available and to click to get started.
View Interpretations
Attendees can view the Sign Language Interpretations in the offered languages.
- Click the Interpretation icon.
- Under Watch, choose the channel you want to view. A floating video window will appear of the interpreter you’ve chosen, that you can resize or move as needed.
Review Zoom's article for complete information on how to use the sign language interpretation feature: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/9644962487309-Using-sign-language-interpretation-in-a-meeting-or-webinar
Spotlight/Pin Feature for the Sign Language Interpreter
The Spotlight and Pin features can be used as an alternative to the sign language interpreter feature if the feature prerequisites cannot be met.
With the Spotlight feature, as the host, you can spotlight yourself and the sign language interpreter making both of you primary active speakers for all participants. Your videos will be in view during the entirety of the meeting. More information on using the Spotlight feature:
https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0066300
With the Pin feature, it is the participant that changes their own local view. The participant can pin both the host and the sign language interpreter. This doesn't change the view for others in the meeting. More information on using the Pin feature:
https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0065767
Alternative Approach to Spotlighting/Pinning
Although both features are good options, it is important to remember that when non-spotlighted/pinned participants speak during the meeting, they may or may not be seen by the person needing the sign language interpreter. Variables such as if the person needing the interpreter is using speaker view or gallery view, and whether there is screen share occurring, will affect who is being seen during the meeting.
With this consideration in mind, an alternative approach that was provided by Jeff Pollock at Diablo Valley College, is to not use Spotlight or Pin at all (and if the host cannot use the sign language interpreter feature). Instead, the host would ask all participants to select gallery view, and turn off their videos, leaving only the videos of the host and sign language interpreter on. The person needing the interpreter would then hover over a non-video participant and select 'hide non-video participants'. When a participant wants to speak, they would turn on their camera, and their video would come into view, alongside the host and sign language interpreter.
View Jeff Pollock's tutorial on this approach here: https://youtu.be/6h5DxT-HDcg. His video nicely provides instructions, in-meeting examples, and further suggestions for including the interpreter in recordings and webinars.
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