A user’s guide to accessible video conferencing apps

This resource is part of our Disability Essentials range. You can find here the other free resources that are included in this range.

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Introduction

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, video conferencing apps have remained in widespread use for remote and hybrid meetings. As such, it is vital that employers and users understand the accessibility features of the platform(s) they use.

Read our in-depth analysis of each platform.

What makes a video conferencing app accessible?

How accessible or usable any app is depends on the person using it, their disability, and the requirements of their work and employer.

Most video apps offer similar features, such as a screen-sharing option to let other callers see what’s on your computer, a mute button and instant messaging. But they differ in the access services they provide, like live closed captions. It is worth noting that although artificial intelligence (AI) has improved tremendously in recent years, AI generated closed captions are still not as good as captions provided by a human being. Some platforms allow users to add captions created by a human transcriber.

However, accessibility is not just about the application itself, but also about the content and information that users populate it with. An app will only be accessible if it is used in an accessible way. For example, you may be presenting a document which is not accessible, does not have the right colour contrast, and the font is too small. Our guide on this in our Inclusive Communication Toolkit has further guidance.

Disclaimer

Apps are regularly updated, with new features added all the time. As such, this list may not reflect the most recent developments.

If you are a developer or user or if you know of an update or change that needs to be added to the list, please let us know. We have also tried to include a link to the suppliers’ websites, so please also check these for any updated information on the accessibility features. Similarly, if there is an app that’s missing that should be in the list again let us know and we will add it.

Read our in-depth analysis of each platform.

We are enormously grateful to our colleagues at Scope for their research on video conferencing apps which formed the basis of the original version of this page in 2020.