How this app is making Zoom meetings inclusive for deaf workers

Can companies say they are truly inclusive if they don't provide the proper tools for disabled employees? One product manager, who knows firsthand what it means to be deaf in the workplace, is on a mission to make it easy for employers to accommodate their deaf or hard-of-hearing workers.

Christina Call is the product manager at Sorenson, a communication tech provider for the deaf community. While Sorenson already provides free captioned call services and on-site sign language interpreting, it was clear to Call and her team that deaf remote workers needed more — so they designed "Sorenson for Zoom," an app that enables users to invite a Sorenson interpreter directly into their Zoom call at a moment's notice. 

"When a lot of meetings used to be in person, you would have advanced notice," says Call, who is communicating through a Sorenson American Sign Language interpreter. "But now if the boss wants to call an impromptu remote meeting, there may be no interpreter for the individual and captioning doesn't always provide full access."

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Historically, when a deaf person wants to join a last-minute meeting, they either depend on captioning through the Zoom meeting itself or via their own captioning service, or they video-call an interpreter on a separate device so the interpreter can listen in and translate. But neither method empowers the deaf worker to comfortably contribute to the meeting, underlines Call. 

"If you have to look at the interpreter on a separate device, you miss a lot of content that's being shared," she says. "And for the interpreter, they can't always see who's talking. It's just a phone connection at that point."

That lack of accessibility professionally limits the deaf community — a community where an estimated 43% are not participating in the labor force, according to the National Deaf Center. Call notes that current tech can equalize deaf and hearing people's participation in the workforce more than ever before; employers just need to be willing to take advantage of it. 

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"I can now have an interpreter available to interpret on the spot," says Call. "Before, that technology didn't really exist. This is a great resource for accessibility and offers opportunities for deaf individuals to be employed."

Call imagines that it will not only be easier for deaf employees to collaborate with their hearing colleagues in the office, but it will be easier for companies to interview deaf talent as well. The candidate would be able to go into the interview knowing an interpreter is at their fingertips. Additionally, the candidate would be able to communicate in the language they are likely the best versed in and better express themselves, explains Call.

"The Deaf community has a different perspective on life and their values are so unique," she says. "They can help a company become much more diverse through their thought leadership."

Call is confident Sorenson is up to the challenge of empowering deaf workers to share their stories and ideas without hassle.

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"We've been around for 20 years, which means our network of interpreters is extensive," says Call. "We have thousands and thousands of interpreters that man our cue and are ready to support at a moment's notice."

Regardless of whether companies choose to integrate Soreson's app into their Zoom meetings, Call advises employers to at least be conscious of whether their deaf or hard-of-hearing employee will need an interpreter before scheduling a meeting or interview, and provide accordingly. For a company to do anything less, they are excluding an entire community from their workforce.

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This kind of technology can even go beyond the workplace, to schools and universities, offering deaf students a better education and a better shot at the career they want. Call remembers how in college she felt she couldn't engage in school activities beyond her assignments due to a limited number of interpreters on campus. This meant she couldn't contribute to clubs, volunteer opportunities or make friends. She believes this technology would have transformed her experience.

"I look forward to future generations being able to harvest this kind of technology," says Call. "Now even in a last-minute meeting setting, my voice can be heard, and I can participate on equal footing with my hearing peers."