How to magnify screens for sign language interpreters during Zoom video conferencing

When you are video conferencing with someone on Zoom who is deaf or hard of hearing, you’ll want to have a sign language interpreter available to translate your spoken words into sign language. Alternatively, if you’re the one who is deaf or hard of hearing, then you may need the sign language interpreter to translate the spoken words of the conference host for you into sign language.

Video conferencing is widely used especially in this pandemic for webinars, online classes, counseling sessions, web conferences, online meetings and virtual events.

Zoom is a convenient video conferencing software that makes online sign language communication possible because each participant can see a separate video feed of the other participants. You will obviously need to see the other people in the conference call if sign language communication is required. The hand interpretation of the sign language interpreter must be clearly visible to the deaf and hard of hearing on the video. Otherwise, it would be difficult to understand them as they sign.

Fortunately, Zoom gives users the option to magnify their screen so that they can see the other person more clearly. If you’re trying to see the signing of someone in Zoom, then you’ll first want to hide the user boxes of the non-video participants. These boxes take up too much space and make the other boxes smaller.

 

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to magnify screens for sign language interpreters during Zoom video conferencing

1.  Remove unnecessary screens first.  

Hover over any non-video user’s box and click this 3-dot button […]

Then click Hide Non-Video Participants

To start this process, click on the 3-dot button in the upper right corner of any non-video participant’s user box. Choose the option that reads “Hide Non-Video Participants.” Now all of the non-video participant boxes should have gone away.

2.  “Side-by-side mode.”

After the host starts screen sharing, participants can hover over the top of the screen, choose the “View Options” tab. On the drop-down menu, select “Side-by-side mode.”  This option is shown to the participants but not shown to the host. 

3.  Drag the divider toward the left.

You might see the user boxes stacked on the right side of the screen. Next to the boxes is a small divider icon that looks like two tiny parallel lines. Click on the divider icon and hold down your mouse button. As you drag the divider toward the left, it will magnify the size of the user boxes. That means you will be able to see the participants more clearly because they will appear bigger on the screen. 

The presentation area is on the left side. If you want to switch to full-screen mode at any point during the video conferencing, double-click on the left side. But if you’re trying to read sign language from a person’s video, then you must make their user boxes as big as possible. By switching to the side-by-side mode and dragging the divider to the left, you can make their user boxes as big as possible.

On a side note, you should invest in a large computer monitor if you conduct Zoom video conferencing regularly. A wide monitor would give you more room to see the video feed of each user box without any hassle. Then you will never struggle to read the sign language on a video conferencing ever again.

If you like to use laptops, then try to find a laptop with a 17-inch screen. It is one of the largest screens you can have for a laptop. Other than that, you could always invest in a video projection device so that you can see a full video projection of the video conferencing on a wall in your home or office. This would be a more extreme thing to do, but it might work wonderfully for anyone with trouble seeing things up close. 

It is very important to have experienced certified interpreters do simultaneous interpreting for your online video conferencing.  Check out Languagers.com to schedule experienced and certified sign language interpreters in your specific industry at affordable prices.