Despite some very questionable tactics, Microsoft's free Windows 10 upgrade offer caught the attention of many users. However, many were unaware of its end date on 29th of July, and have been exploiting various workarounds.
One of those is the company's assistive technology offer, which lets users upgrade to Windows 10 with no verification. The idea is to give those with accessibility issues a grace period while software is updated and Microsoft hones its OS.
“If you use assistive technologies, you can upgrade to Windows 10 at no cost as Microsoft continues our efforts to improve the Windows 10 experience for people who use these technologies,” says the webpage.
“Please take advantage of this offer before it expires on December 31, 2017.”
Windows 10 Accessibility Features
Thankfully, it seems Microsoft has made good on its promise, and many of the assistive technology features are now present. Narrator works not just with regular browsing but UWP apps, audio descriptions are present in media players, and magnifier is still available.
However, Windows 10 also brings several big improvements. One of the biggest is voice recognition. Thanks to Cortana, Microsoft has made several breakthroughs in this area, and the results show.
Users can dictate documents, emails, or surf the web with voice, all with surprising accuracy and no network requirements. Of course, you can also ask Cortana to set reminders, open apps, send texts, and more.
The final piece comes with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. A beta lets users read in braille on the OS in more than 40 languages by attaching a USB display.
Microsoft can now say it has more accessibility features than Windows 8, and that makes it a perfect time to sunset its offer. Those looking for a workaround, however, will need to look elsewhere.