In conjunction with the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Microsoft announced that both Skype and PowerPoint will be getting live captions and subtitles so that the applications can accommodate for the deaf and hard of hearing individuals.
Users can already experience the new feature on the latest version of Skype where the live captions and subtitles work for both one-on-one calls and also group calls. Skype users are also given the option to turn on the feature for just one call or for all the calls. When Skype users communicate with each other, there will be captions and subtitles on the bottom of the screen which will be auto-scrolled, but Microsoft promises that there will be additional viewing options in the future.
Image credit: Microsoft
In addition to that, Microsoft will also be adding translations for over 20 languages and dialects which will be rolling out in the coming weeks. This is so that they can offer better services for more users, and help Skype users understand each other even when they speak different languages. This translation feature can also be switched on or off in the settings, and users can actually set the language they usually speak and the subtitle language to be different.
Apart from that, PowerPoint will also be getting live captions and subtitles, and according to Microsoft, this feature is powered by AI so that the live captions and subtitles can be done in real-time, meaning that while the presenter is presenting his/her content, the AI will in translating or processing the words so that it will result in perfect captions/subtitles or translations. The captions and subtitles can also be presented in different languages so that other individuals who are unfamiliar with the presenter’s language can understand what he/she is presenting. When the new feature is launch, Microsoft promises that it will support 12 spoken languages and more than 60 languages of on-screen captions or subtitles.
While the live captions and subtitles are already available in Skype, it will only roll out in late January 2019 for PowerPoint and it will be made available for all Office 265 subscribers for PowerPoint on Windows 10 and Mac, and also PowerPoint Online.