Enterprises are increasingly open to hiring people with visual and hearing disabilities. That means digital communications with staff, partners and even customers should be able to have features to deal with those with these and other impairments.
Cloud video conferencing provider Blue Jeans Network said Monday it has added capabilities to enhance its service to make it more accessible to customers with disabilities such as visual and hearing impairment. Its Web application, iOS App, and Android App have all the ability to help be accessible for those with blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, learning disabilities, cognitive limitations, limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity and combinations of these.
“Enhancing accessibility is paramount to our mission to make it possible for anyone to collaborate more effectively anytime, anywhere, and from practically any device,” Stu Aaron, the company’s chief commercial officer, said in a release. “As businesses and educational institutions of all sizes and shapes around the world are deploying Blue Jeans we believe that our enhanced accessibility will ensure that no one is left out. We are taking a proactive step to be more inclusive to all of our customers and intend to continue to lead the industry with accessibility features.”
The enhancements are based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s 21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act requirements. The services are compatible with standard screen readers such as VoiceOver on iOS and OSX platforms, TalkBack on Android devices and NVDA (Non Visual Desktop Access) for Windows platform.
One vertical that Blue Jeans believes could take advantage of the new capabilities is education, where institutions are trying to deliver courses to a wide audience.