Web Conferencing Tools

Towson University offers web-conferencing, lecture capture and a-synchronous collaboration tools. 

Web Conferencing Tools

Webex 

Webex Meetings, Webex (formerly Webex Teams) and your Personal Meeting Room allow you to virtually meet with other people from any location. With a host account, you have access to your virtual conference space or you can schedule a meeting using a unique URL. Other features include messaging, file sharing, white boarding. You can use Meetings on your desktop or across mobile devices (Android and iOS).

Zoom

Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing platform that can be used for video conferencing meetings, audio conferencing, webinars, meeting recordings, and live chat. You can use Zoom on your desktop or across mobile devices (Android and iOS).

Lecture Capture

Panopto

Panopto is TU's easy-to-use and flexible instructional recording package, and can be used from a computer or mobile device. It integrates closely with Blackboard allowing faculty to easily share content online. Panopto also allows for live streaming events, communications, and lectures with the ability to record as it is broadcasting. 

A-Synchronous Collaboration

VoiceThread

VoiceThread is an online collaboration and discussion platform in Blackboard. You can easily comment and respond with audio, video, or text; upload media (images, videos, presentations, etc.) for discussion; and create graded or ungraded assignments. The instructional uses for VoiceThread include student presentation, online discussions, foreign language assignments, and more. 

TU's has conferencing tool options to fit your academic or business needs.

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Add a TU virtual background to Zoom or Webex meetings!

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Live Streaming Accessibility

Listed below are guidelines and resources related to conducting live and accessible virtual meetings or events on platforms such as WebEx/Zoom.

TU recommends requiring registration for your event and to include a field asking if registrants have a need for a disability accommodation. We recommend that the registration period be closed two business days in advance of your event to ensure adequate time for making accommodations.

If registration is not feasible and you anticipate 15 attendees or more, arrange for live captioning/transcription as part of your initial planning. If registration is not feasible and you expect 15 participants or less, you must advertise how to request an accommodation for the event in a prominent place in all messaging and advertising about the event. We suggest including information about when accommodation requests should be made by, such as “captioning/transcription requests should be made two business days in advance.”

The cost for live captioning/transcription is $118 per hour. To arrange for captioning, submit an accommodation request at least two business days in advance of your event.

Our live captioning/transcription approach consists of a separate URL that users may view next to the main meeting window for a real-time transcription feed, by an actual person and not AI. Every live TU event with captioning will have its own unique URL. If you know you will be captioning/transcribing the event in advance and have already initiated captioning services through OTS Accessibility, provide the URL with your initial invitation.

If your event invitation has already gone out, edit any applicable invitations to include the caption/transcription URL. Additionally, you should paste the caption/transcription URL into the meeting chat box upon launch, and then do so again about 10 minutes after you begin so that any late arrivals know how to access the live caption/transcription feed.

If you plan to record your event and provide access on-demand via the web, your video should be closed captioned/transcription. Some departments on campus are equipped to provide captioning/transcription internally and have established captioning/transcription processes; if you are not in one of these departments and need guidance on captioning/transcribing, please request a captioning accommodation.

TU supports numerous virtual event/meeting platforms. Though there is not a one size fits all solution when it comes to accessible technology, OTS Accessibility is available for consultations to determine what platform may be best for your audience. For consultation, please request a captioning accommodation.