After hearing out suggestions from users on its Accessibility Feedback Platform, Microsoft has rolled out its plans to ensure their products are more accessible to people with disabilities.
Microsoft has high hopes that improving accessibility can dramatically improve the computing experience of individuals living with disabilities as Microsoft Chief Accessibility Officer Jenny Lay-Flurrie outlines on the Microsoft Blog.
“Our initial task was to establish guiding principles and we landed on three. The first principle is transparency, specifically, committing to share our plans to ensure our products are accessible. The second is accountability, which means we will prioritize inclusive design and accessibility in the development of all products and services going forward. The last is to be inclusive, to think about all of our customers and all of the ways we can empower them with technology.”
Microsoft appears to be one of the very few companies who gives utmost priority to users living with disabilities. The company has even set up a dedicated Disability Answer Desk to ensure that users with disabilities are taken care of properly.
The company also pays close attention to suggestions being dropped by users through its Microsoft Accessibility Feedback platform.
Windows 10 Improvements: Assistive Technology
Although Microsoft’s Windows 10 was built from the ground up with accessibility in mind, the company hopes to improve this even more by adding assistive technology features.
– Improve commonly used features and do a great job with showcase Windows experiences. We are working to ensure that everyone can easily access and use the Start menu, the lock screen, and settings as well as Cortana, Store, Music, Videos and more.
– We’re also working hard on our new browser, Microsoft Edge. By the end of 2016, the browser will have improved browsing and reading experiences not just for those using our built-in assistive technologies, such as Narrator and Magnifier, but also for people who use other commercial assistive technology. On Feb. 3, we shared our priorities for 2016, including additional detail about the key areas that we think will have the biggest impact.
– Windows 10 Mail will have improved screen-reader support for common email scenarios – already, we’ve made progress against these goals on Mail for PCs.
– Work continues to improve our built-in assistive technology by increasing performance, reliability, compatibility and usability. These improvements translate to a faster Narrator, improved compatibility while using apps like Windows 10 Mail and Microsoft Word, better mapping of keyboard commands to user expectations and an increase in the number of supported languages.
Office 365: Accessibility Enhancements
Microsoft hopes to apply its plans across all products, and the Office 365 is no exception.
– Making it easier to author accessible content from any device. In 2016, we will be extending the Accessibility Checker (already available in Office for PCs) to Office for Mac and improving the experience with alt-text in Office Online.
– Making it easier to use Office 365 with screen readers and keyboards on any device. Last year, we added support for VoiceOver for Office for Mac and this year, we will be adding full accessibility support for all our Windows 10 store apps.
– Enhancing the experience with our apps in High Contrast Mode. For example, we will make it easy to read commands and navigate through controls in Office for PC.
– Introducing new reading and writing tools that are particularly beneficial for people with dyslexia. In January, we introduced a preview of Learning Tools in OneNote for PC that will be generally available in 2016. We are also working on improving spelling checker in Word 2016 and Outlook 2016 to offer suggestions for phonetic and other less commons misspellings.
– Enabling everyone to use our applications in more intuitive ways. We introduced “Tell Me what you want to do…” in Office Online and Office 2016 for PCs to help people get things done quickly or get help by entering intuitive commands. We will be extending this capability to Office on iOS and Android in 2016.
SOURCE: Microsoft via Windows Central
