The current version of Powerpoint* includes a great accessibility feature: it will automatically transcribe your spoken remarks in real time, displayed as subtitles, while you give your presentation. If you give slide presentations, this is a great function for making your lectures more accessible– for the hearing-impaired, but also for non-native English-speaking students.

Here’s a short demonstration. (Remember, these subtitles were machine-generated in real-time, as I spoke.)

The live subtitling function can also do language translations. You can choose the language that the speaker will be using: Chinese, American, Canadian or British English, French, German, Italian, Latvian, or Spanish. You can then choose the language in which your subtitles will appear, from a list of more than 60 languages.

Here’s the same demonstration, but with French chosen as the subtitle language:

* Real-time subtitling is available only with the Powerpoint component of the desktop version of Microsoft 365. It is not available in Microsoft Office (the predecessor of Microsoft 365) and it is not available in the web-based version of Microsoft 365. Please contact the Vassar Service Desk if you need help installing Microsoft 365 on your device.