Here’s how AI is helping make Zoom meetings more inclusive and accessible

Whether you’re joining from a quiet home office or a bustling workplace, accessibility in meetings isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s essential. Virtual collaboration should be easy, inclusive, and barrier-free for everyone attending. AI technologies are paving the way to make communication more seamless, especially for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, part of multilingual teams, or even those navigating inconsistent internet connections.

With the latest updates to captioning features in Zoom meetings, you can now experience more accurate, flexible, and customizable captions in real time. Some of these innovations were developed in collaboration with researchers at the University of Washington, based on their analysis of currently available caption options. Thanks to powerful advancements in speech and translation AI, it’s now easier for you to follow conversations, participate fully, and tailor captions to meet your needs, wherever you’re joining from and in more languages than ever.

Here are some ways our new AI enhancements are making meetings more accessible.

Accurate captions start with smart transcription. Zoom’s refined Speech AI uses advanced modeling to provide more accurate real-time captions during meetings. Whether speakers are using complex terminology or speaking in noisy environments, the updated AI delivers more consistent and reliable transcription performance.

This creates an even better meeting environment for people who rely on captions to follow the conversation. A clearer, more accurate transcript is the basis of most Zoom AI Companion features, including meeting summaries, in-meeting questions, and action items.

People need captions for all kinds of reasons — whether they’re in a loud environment, have different hearing abilities, or simply process written information more easily. And just like participants' needs vary, so do their preferences for how captions should look.

That’s why Zoom lets you personalize caption appearance. You can now adjust the font size, text and background color, opacity, and on-screen placement to suit your individual needs.

This flexibility supports a broad range of accessibility needs and empowers participants to engage in meetings with greater ease and autonomy. It also helps meeting hosts create a more inclusive experience for everyone attending.

Language should never be a barrier to collaboration. Zoom now supports real-time translated captions in over 36 languages, made possible by ongoing improvements to its Speech and Machine Translation AI. This includes widely spoken languages like English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and French, as well as others less commonly supported by real-time communication platforms. Translated captions for meetings and webinars are included with Zoom Workplace Enterprise plans and as an add-on for paid Zoom Workplace plans.

When you join a meeting with translated captions turned on, Zoom detects the language being spoken and shows captions in the language you’ve set as your preferred language. This means you can follow conversations more easily, even if they’re happening in a language you don’t speak.

Whether you’re collaborating with international teammates, teaching in a global classroom, or hosting a multilingual event, this expanded language support helps everyone feel included and stay focused. It’s all about making communication feel natural for everyone in the meeting.

Learn more about viewing captions in another language.

If your meetings include people who speak more than one language, Zoom’s improved speech AI has you covered. It can detect when speakers switch between supported languages — like jumping from English to German — and output captions in the right language.

That means you can follow along easily, even if a speaker responds in their native language or switches mid-sentence. With smoother transitions and more accurate language detection, you get captions that are clearer, more consistent, and easier to understand.

Captions shouldn’t disappear when your internet connection falters. That’s why Zoom now offers on-device captions, based on your device specifications. This means your audio can be processed locally on your device, which is designed to support caption availability even in low-bandwidth situations or when network conditions are unstable.

With on-device captions, you’ll experience fast and reliable captions, even if your internet connection is spotty. This feature is especially helpful if you’re traveling or working in places where connectivity can be unpredictable. If your device supports on-device captions and you’ve enabled the setting, it’ll automatically work without a complex setup process.

To turn on on-device processing, go to your Zoom settings. Click Settings, then Meeting, and then turn on Automated captions on device.

These enhanced features are designed to help you connect, understand, and participate more fully in your Zoom meetings.

If you’re using the latest version of Zoom (6.5.0 as of this writing), you’ll start to see these upgrades automatically. Many of the enhancements, like customizable captions and on-device support, are available to all eligible paid accounts. Translation features may depend on your plan.

Whether you’re reading captions in your preferred language, customizing how they appear on screen, or relying on on-device processing for smoother access, our new tools make meetings easier and more inclusive.

To learn more about how Zoom’s multilingual captions can support accessibility in diverse communication settings, read the full research paper from the researchers at the University of Washington.