Azerbaijani live captions and productivity tool for meetings

Approximately 31,000 deaf people are officially registered in Azerbaijan, though the actual prevalence of hearing loss across all severities is significantly higher given the absence of a comprehensive national hearing screening programme. Like many countries in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan lacks population-level audiological surveillance, meaning mild-to-moderate hearing loss frequently goes undiagnosed and unaccommodated in workplace settings — particularly in the energy, construction, and manufacturing sectors that expose large numbers of workers to hazardous noise without adequate hearing protection infrastructure.

Azerbaijani Sign Language (AzSL) has received official recognition, marking a significant milestone for the deaf community in Azerbaijan. However, recognition of a sign language and provision of working sign language interpreters are different achievements. The AzSL interpreter workforce remains small relative to the deaf population, leaving most deaf professionals without access to interpretation during formal business meetings, contract negotiations, or training sessions — a structural disadvantage in a competitive professional labour market.

Azerbaijan's rapid economic development — particularly in the energy, technology, and logistics sectors — has generated substantial corporate employment growth, but diversity and accessibility standards in professional environments remain nascent. International companies operating in Baku increasingly hold meetings in hybrid formats (in-person and video), yet captioning and accessibility provisions are rarely built into these formats. The intersection of a growing formal economy and an underdeveloped accessibility infrastructure creates a specific and acute gap for deaf and hard of hearing professionals in meeting-heavy roles.