Office of Inclusive Design

Remote Access Streaming Platforms

Finding the streaming platform that best works for your entity and constituents is crucial to providing asynchronous access to student events. There are a variety of streaming platforms available at varying price points that may meet your requirements. Keep in mind that using platforms without user paywalls provides access to most people as possible. 

Zoom (Recommended for Hosting) 

  • Zoom/Webinar is the most widely used platform for hosting virtual and hybrid events at the University of Washington. 
  • As of the 2021-2022 academic school year, the University of Washington provides all students, faculty and staff access to a free Zoom Licensed account. This Zoom license allows users to host meetings with up to 300 meeting participants for an unlimited duration and allows you to save meeting recordings to the Zoom cloud or your personal computer to allow for asynchronous access.
  • Not only does Zoom provide automatic captions, but it also allows for professional CART captioning to provide accurate captioning in real time as well as the ability to pin ASL interpreters along with meeting speakers. 
  • Note: In order to access the Zoom License capabilities, you may need to login using your personal credentials. Sponsored NET-ID logins may only allow access to UW Zoom basic which limits video conferences to 40 minutes when more than two participants are present. For example, your ASUW email may not allow you access to the Zoom Licensed Account capabilities.  

Webinar option!

When hosting public events using Zoom Webinar is highly recommended. Webinar is great for allowing panelists to share video, audio and screen will attendees are view-only participants. Attendees can interact using Q&A, Chat and polling question and can request camera and mic access throughout the event. As of the 2021-2022 academic year, the UW Zoom License allocated to students, faculty and staff does not provide access to Zoom Webinar. Reach out to your department or organization to inquire on access to Zoom Webinar.

YouTube (Recommended for Uploading Event and Meeting Recordings) 

  • Live-streaming capabilities 
  • No time limit, but recordings will be saved in 12 hr increments. 
  • Automated captions in English, see guide on editing Youtube captions for accuracy and syncing to audio.
  • Option for Professional Captioning.
  • YouTube Premium allows users to download videos while free YouTube accounts do not. Alternatively, to avoid pay wall, if downloadable video recording is requested, if possible, you could share the file.