Today, we kick off the 13th annual Microsoft Ability Summit, a day devoted to the conversations that may advance the way forward for accessibility and incapacity inclusion. This yr, Microsoft senior leaders together with CEO Satya Nadella, and coverage leaders comparable to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, will be part of us on the summit, together with 20,000 attendees from 100 international locations and the assistance of over 70 presenters, to think about and start the following steps in direction of the way forward for accessible inclusion. And there’s so much to speak about this yr!
What’s new at this yr’s summit?
Let’s begin with expertise. Accessibility at Microsoft spans each side of our product portfolio from software program to {hardware} and providers like AI and is a part of our firm tradition. This yr, we’ve a spread of recent and thrilling accessible applied sciences to speak about, together with:
- New adaptive equipment: Today, we’re asserting we’re extending the customizable 3D printed attachments at present out there for the Microsoft Business Pen and Microsoft Classroom Pen 2 to our current Surface Pen later this yr. The 3D-printed grips are printed by means of Shapeways and supply new methods for customers with restricted mobility to grip and use the pens and help their creativity and productiveness on their Surface units.
- ‘Accessibility Assistant’ in M365: As simple as checking spelling and grammar, immediately we’re asserting new Microsoft 365 “Accessibility Assistant” to assist creators produce extra accessible content material. These assistants supply higher defaults, real-time remediation and clear steering to forestall and proper accessibility points. With the latest addition of accessibility checker in Visual Studio, creating inclusively is now simpler for each creators and builders.
- Microsoft Translator: New languages! Microsoft Translator has immediately launched 13 new African languages, together with Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo. Microsoft Translator now helps speech-to-text capabilities in 125 languages and lets customers have real-time multi-language conversations, translate menus and road indicators, web sites, paperwork and extra, making expertise extra inclusive for individuals who are deaf or exhausting of listening to all over the world.
- New Inclusive Design for Cognition Guidebook: Launched a brand new Inclusive Design for Cognition Guidebook to assist construct merchandise for folks with numerous cognitive talents.
- Azure developments: Two bulletins leveraging the Azure platform:
- Seeing AI: Microsoft’s Seeing AI app makes use of the facility of Azure and AI to empower blind and low imaginative and prescient to navigate the world round them. We launched a brand new Seeing AI collaboration with Haleon and added over 1500 merchandise to the Seeing AI code library. In addition, Seeing AI launched a brand new Indoor Navigation function, permitting somebody who’s blind or has low imaginative and prescient to independently navigate by means of a constructing by following spatial audio cues.
- LinkedIn: Today, greater than 40% of LinkedIn posts embrace not less than one picture. LinkedIn is including computerized alt-text descriptions and captioning to their platform leveraging Azure Cognitive Services for imaginative and prescient.
- Windows 11: We just lately shared improvements to Windows 11‘s built-in display reader, Narrator, to help extra Braille shows, together with three new Surface shows from HumanWare. Narrator can now work together seamlessly with accessible equipment and the voice entry performance is out of preview, enabling speech navigation entry with Microsoft apps all through Windows 11.
Accessibility and AI
AI has been an enormous subject this yr as we discover ourselves at a historic intersection of alternative and accountability to the world round us. AI has the potential to reinforce human cognitive talents in considering, reasoning, studying and communication, however the evolution of AI additionally comes with nice accountability and should incorporate and deal with a broad vary of numerous human wants, limitations, capabilities and experiences.
Microsoft is specializing in Responsible AI, with core ideas of improvement particularly targeted on accessibility and incapacity inclusion – construct accessibly, embrace incapacity consultant knowledge and innovate. These ideas and Responsible AI work in live performance to speed up accessibility.
Increasing consultant knowledge can be essential to this course of. Last yr, Microsoft introduced the Speech Accessibility Project, a cross-industry partnership with the University of Illinois, Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft to create the various speech knowledge wanted to make voice recognition expertise extra inclusive and helpful for folks with a spread of numerous speech patterns.
At Ability Summit, we might be speaking concerning the prospects with the new AI-powered Microsoft Bing. From planning an accessible journey to creating writing accessible code simpler, we’re simply initially of the probabilities of what AI can supply and we’re listening and studying as we transfer ahead. Please share your experiences as you play!
Microsoft’s dedication to accessibility
Accessible expertise is a elementary constructing block that may unlock alternatives in each a part of society and empower folks throughout the spectrum of incapacity. But it’s not nearly expertise. We are dedicated to tackling the incapacity divide and studying by means of our expertise led technique with three extra pillars, People, Partnership and Policy.
At the summit, we’ll discover every of those pillars together with outcomes of our accessibility partnerships with Shell and Haleon, how we are able to progress inclusive hiring and our work with Mentra, and the way forward for transportation coverage within the United States with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Brad Smith. These are just some examples of how, by working collectively throughout these pillars, we are able to improve consciousness and utilization of accessible expertise, broaden skilling and hiring alternatives, and advocate for insurance policies that advance accessibility as a elementary proper.
I look ahead to the vital conversations we’ll have at this yr’s summit and hope all of you’ll be part of us. Keep your concepts and suggestions coming, and in case you want any technical help, keep in mind that Disability Answer Desk is right here to help you.