[NFBP-Talk] Fwd: [tech-vi Announce List] From The Microsoft Blog: Doubling down on accessibility: Microsoft’s next steps to expand accessibility in technology, the workforce and workplace

[Jan Lattuca]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Goldfield <david.goldfield at outlook.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2021 21:18:28 +0000
Subject: [tech-vi Announce List] From The Microsoft Blog: Doubling
down on accessibility: Microsoft’s next steps to expand accessibility
in technology, the workforce and workplace
To: "tech-vi at groups.io" <tech-vi at groups.io>

Original Source<https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2021/04/28/doubling-down-on-accessibility-microsofts-next-steps-to-expand-accessibility-in-technology-the-workforce-and-workplace/>


Doubling down on accessibility: Microsoft’s next steps to expand
accessibility in technology, the workforce and workplace

Apr 28, 2021   |   Brad Smith -
President<https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/author/bsmith2/>

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More than 1 billion<https://www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/sensory-functions-disability-and-rehabilitation/world-report-on-disability>
people around the world live with a disability, and at some point,
most of us likely will face some type of temporary, situational or
permanent disability. The practical impacts are huge. Employment and
education rates are lower and poverty rates are higher for people with
disabilities. And unfortunately, societal inclusion for this critical
community has been flat for 30 years. Yet if there is one thing we
have learned from 25 years of work on accessibility at Microsoft, it’s
this: People with disabilities represent one of the world’s largest
untapped talent pools, but we all need to act with bolder ambition to
empower disabled talent to achieve more.

Fortunately, there is cause for optimism in closing what the World
Bank rightly calls a disability divide. Digital technology can play a
critical role in bridging barriers to communication, interaction and
information. That’s why today we’re announcing the next phase of our
accessibility journey, a new technology-led five-year commitment to
create and open doors to bigger opportunities for people with
disabilities. This new initiative will bring together every corner of
Microsoft’s business with a focus on three priorities: Spurring the
development of more accessible technology across our industry and the
economy; using this technology to create opportunities for more people
with disabilities to enter the workforce; and building a workplace
that is more inclusive for people with disabilities.

All of this work is interrelated. We can’t create the next generation
of accessible technology unless we attract more people with
disabilities to play a bigger role in helping to develop it. And we
need to create an inclusive workplace that nurtures this talent. This
stronger foundation will allow us to implement an “accessibility by
design” philosophy not only for Microsoft’s products, but for our
tools and services that support software developers and suppliers
everywhere.

This ambition builds on our broad and lengthy work to empower people
with disabilities. From Sticky Keys, a simple way to create shortcuts
in Windows created in the early 1990s, to Seeing AI and the Xbox
Adaptive Controller, digital accessibility is now a part of
Microsoft’s engineering DNA. Over the past five years, under the
leadership of Chief Accessibility Officer Jenny Lay-Flurrie, we have
accelerated our culture of accessibility – creating innovative
technology solutions, changing hiring practices with our Autism Hiring
Program, growing the employee community and partnering with others to
help create new opportunities for the many talented people with
disabilities.

Technology

We believe that accessible technology is a fundamental building block
that can unlock opportunities in every part of society. Our work
starts by ensuring that Microsoft’s own products are accessible by
design, so that as we advance our features and functionality, we can
help everyone across the spectrum of disability be more productive. We
will then expand our reach with new tools and data resources to
support software development across our industry and by other
organizations that create software services for their customers or
employees. Finally, we will support this with a broad technology
initiative with new support for basic research and new data science
capabilities to advance innovation on an ongoing basis.

Accessibility by design

Today, we are announcing a variety of new “accessible by design”
features and advances in Microsoft 365, enabling more than 200 million
people to build, edit and share documents. Using artificial
intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies, we aim to make more
content accessible and as simple and automatic as spell check is
today. For example:

  *   A new background accessibility checker will provide a prompt to
fix accessibility issues in content across the core Office apps and
Outlook will nudge users to correct accessibility issues.
  *   AI in Microsoft Word will detect and convert to heading styles
crucial for blind and low-vision readers.
  *   A new Excel navigation pane designed for screen readers will
help people easily discover and navigate objects in a spreadsheet.
  *   We’re expanding Immersive Reader, used by 35 million people
every month, to help with the comprehension of PowerPoint slides and
notes.
  *   In Teams, high-contrast mode can be used to access shared
content using PowerPoint Live
<https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/introducing-powerpoint-live-in-microsoft-teams/ba-p/2140980>
 which will reduce eye strain and accommodate light sensitivity with
Dark Mode in Word<https://insider.office.com/en-us/blog/try-dark-mode-in-word>.
  *   New LinkedIn features that include auto-captioning for LinkedIn
Live broadcasts, captions for enterprise content and dark mode later
this year.

We will also empower software developers by embedding accessibility
tools, prompts and AI-driven automation so that accessibility is
included at the start of the development cycle. One way we’re doing
this is with Accessibility
Insights<https://accessibilityinsights.io/>, our developer tool for UI
accessibility testing and remediation, to help improve accessibility
of websites and apps. Today, it catches up to 40 percent of
accessibility bugs, and through more automated testing and the
expanded use of AI, in the future it will catch even more. We soon
will include Insights in more of our products to assist in developing
technology that’s more accessible.

GitHub, our software collaboration platform that is the world’s
largest home for developers, is introducing new themes designed to
make its features more accessible to people with visual impairments.
The first is a dark dimmed
theme<https://github.blog/changelog/2021-04-14-dark-and-dimmed-themes-are-now-generally-available/>
bringing less contrast to the user interface for users with light
sensitivity. In the coming months, GitHub will release additional
themes, including high-contrast themes for users with low vision and
themes for users who experience color blindness. Additional features
will be added in the months to come.

Research and data

Microsoft Research has one of the few dedicated accessibility research
teams in the industry geared toward user-focused research advancing
human-computer interaction. This made innovations like Eye Control in
Windows 10 possible, enabling eye control communication for people
with ALS. Since 2014, more than 6,500 Microsoft employees have
participated in the Ability
Hack<https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2018/07/23/the-ability-hacks-the-story-of-two-hackathon-teams-embracing-the-transformative-power-of-technology/>,
creating 1,000 projects like
MirrorHR<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/garage/blog/2021/01/hackathon-project-mirrors-courage-accelerates-progress-in-the-microsoft-garage-residency/>,
which identifies potential triggers of seizures in children with
epilepsy and advances clinical trial research.

We also work with the best accessibility researchers around the world.
We have a new partnership with the University of Washington on
CREATE<https://create.uw.edu/>, an interdisciplinary center working to
build research technology and innovation models that will ultimately
drive more accessible technology and inclusive communities. In the
United Kingdom, we’re partnering with the nonprofit SeeAbility to
research the importance of accessible technologies needed for assisted
living environments and provide first-line care workers with the
digital skills to use them.

Data fuels improvements in digital technologies. Today there is a gap
in datasets that include people with disabilities, known as the data
desert. To be more inclusive and avoid biases that skew
decision-making in artificial intelligence and machine learning
systems, we aim to increase the representation of people with
disabilities in datasets. Our AI for Accessibility
Program<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/ai-for-accessibility>
invests in projects around the world seeking to address this lack of
disability data. But this lack of data cannot be solved by Microsoft
alone, so we are partnering across the disability and accessibility
community to advance this work. Look for more in the coming year.

Increasing access and affordability

For many people, assistive technology is out of reach due to cost or
lack of connectivity. We are addressing this in two ways. First, we
are creating a new Low-Cost Assistive Technology Fund, as part of the
AI for Accessibility program, to spark innovation aimed at driving
down the cost of assistive digital technology and increasing access to
it. This will launch this fall. Second, in the U.S., we are working
with internet providers, city governments and community organizations
to offer affordable broadband, hardware, software and digital skills
resources to people with disabilities, with a current focus in Los
Angeles and New York. And third, Microsoft Stores is today announcing
ASL video call capability<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/b/asl-shopping-support>
to enable deaf customers to explore Microsoft products with a member
of our deaf support staff.

Workforce

 We recognize that accessible technology by itself will be
insufficient to create the opportunities that people with disabilities
deserve. We also know firsthand that the development of accessible
technology requires more talented individuals with disabilities. We’re
therefore building a second strong pillar that will intensify our
focus on building a workforce that better represents people with
disabilities. As we’ve learned, it’s both the right thing to do and
it’s good for our business. Studies show that companies that hire,
support and promote talent with disabilities financially
outperform<https://www.accenture.com/t20181108t081959z__w__/us-en/_acnmedia/pdf-89/accenture-disability-inclusion-research-report.pdf>
their peers.

Increasing skills and education

Building this workforce will require a concerted effort to provide
people with disabilities with the same access as everyone else to
education and job opportunities. We believe technology can play an
important role in unlocking this access through skills development,
education and by better connecting people with disabilities to job
opportunities.

The digital era is creating a new generation of technology that will
require everyone to learn new skills, including people with
disabilities. That is why our new initiative is founded in part on
work to train more people about accessibility needs and accessible
design. We are building on our work with Teach
Access<https://teachaccess.org/>, an industry collaboration to address
the critical need to enhance students’ understanding of digital
accessibility, to support a cultural shift across the tech sector that
will help create new technologies with the needs of people with
disabilities in mind.

We recognize that the role of any single company will always be
limited. But we’re excited about what we believe we can do. We’ve
gathered new insights through Microsoft’s global skills initiative
into the practical obstacles that people confront and new ways to
overcome them. We are committed to putting these learnings to work
through our skilling resources from across Microsoft, including from
LinkedIn, Microsoft Learn and GitHub. We will increase accessibility
certifications and Microsoft accessibility curriculum, while expanding
the accessibility of our skills curriculum and offering new curriculum
across Microsoft Learn and LinkedIn Learning.

We will also use digital technology to improve the accessibility of
classrooms through a new Accessibility University Initiative. Based on
a pilot at the University of Illinois, we’re expanding our work to
additional colleges and universities to increase graduation rates of
students with disabilities in science, technology, engineering and
math (STEM) education, reaching universities such as the University of
Texas Austin, Georgia Tech and Florida A&M. We are working together to
create best-in-class Universal Design Learning (UDL) environments in
STEM education. This work will also grow much-needed academic research
on the impact of accessible technology on students and provide insight
into how to grow workforce-ready disability talent.

Finally, today we’re announcing a way to help students better master
social and emotional skills. Reflect in Microsoft Teams for education
will support social and emotional learning (SEL) to help students to
learn emotional vocabulary and enhance empathy with peers.

Connecting skilled workers with jobs

Once people with disabilities have the right skills and education to
enter the workforce, the next critical step is to connect them with
job opportunities. Today LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky and I are
announcing that we’re doing just that through LinkedIn’s new
accessibility resources and features to support the growth of a more
inclusive, skills-based labor market through accessible learning paths
designed to connect learners with jobs. This program includes a new
LinkedIn Learning course focusing on accessibility in the modern
workplace.

For higher-education students, our new Career
Coach<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Z2XYmgb1g> app in Microsoft
Teams, powered by LinkedIn, will also help grow accessibility skills.
Later this year, we will be holding LinkedIn Coaches events geared
toward job seekers with disabilities to help identify new employment
opportunities. Our plan is to learn from the LinkedIn Coaches
experience and use this learning to develop future strategies.
Building on the work of Microsoft’s Disability Answer Desk, LinkedIn
is also partnering with Be My Eyes to make LinkedIn staff available
for visual assistance through video.

We also will expand our longstanding work with industry partners,
nonprofits, the public sector and the disability community to address
barriers to hiring people with disabilities. We have a clear and
measurable goal, aimed at reducing the unemployment rate for people
with disabilities. First, we will grow our work with other companies
to make it easier for people with disabilities to seek employment. The
Autism Employer Hiring
Coalition<https://disabilityin.org/what-we-do/committees/autism-at-work-roundtable/>,
a program that includes companies such as Dell, EY and JPMorgan Chase,
with support from
Inclusively<https://inclusively.com/microsoft-roundtable>, is
expanding to better enable companies to consider autistic job seekers.
We are also expanding our work with workforce development
organizations, empowering them with digital tools and trainings
focused on digital accessibility, including a pilot with the U.K.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to train 26,000 work coaches on
modern accessibility tools to assist job seekers with disabilities.
Partnerships like these are core to our strategy and we will have more
partnerships and our plans to scale this work in the future.

Workplace

Workforce development needs to be coupled with broader and more
effective work to foster a welcoming and inclusive culture for people
with disabilities. This needs to include more effective work to
attract employees with disabilities, accessible digital and physical
work environments, building an accessible supply chain, and helping
partners with their accessibility journeys.

Even after 25 years of work, we find that we have a lot more to learn
and much more innovation ahead to nurture a sustainable culture of
accessibility. In October, we published our first Disability
Representation<https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE4H2f8>
report, disclosing that 6.1% of U.S. employees have self-identified as
having a disability. We will now expand the
survey<https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/10/21/disability-representation-statistics-diversity-inclusion/>
to 45 additional countries, reaching 90% of our employees. As our
workforce grows, we have expanded the global centralized accommodation
processes to ensure that every employee has what they need to be
successful.

Inclusive hiring

We will broaden our inclusive hiring programs, including our Supported
Employment Program<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/procurement/diversity-sep.aspx?activetab=pivot%3aprimaryr5>
from one to 12 countries, and we will expand our Autism Hiring
program<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/diversity/inside-microsoft/cross-disability/hiring.aspx>
to include neurodiversity, such as ADD/ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia,
as well as learning disabilities. We are also expanding this program
geographically to include Asia and Europe over the next 12 to 18
months.

Accessible and inclusive tools and spaces

We recognize that we need to extend inclusion beyond our four walls.
We’re doing this by helping our 20,000 Microsoft suppliers create a
culture of accessibility that we hope will have a ripple effect
throughout our industry and across the business community. Since 2015
we have expressly included accessibility in our procurement processes,
and it’s now a requirement for working with us. This may be a
challenge for some of our suppliers, so we are committed to helping
them through our Supplier
Toolkit<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/supplier-toolkit-resources>.
It includes accessibility fundamentals trainings; resources that
introduce accessibility concepts for anyone who manages, designs,
creates or edits digital assets; and technical training resources on
implementing accessibility in product design, development, and
testing. Microsoft has committed to paying our equitable wages to our
employees and requires suppliers to pay their employees at least the
minimum wage. We also work with
Disablity:IN<https://disabilityin.org/>, a leading nonprofit, to share
and learn supply chain best practices with other companies.

Employees

All our work in accessibility is informed by feedback from our
employees. Microsoft’s Disability Employee Resource Group now includes
more than 22 disability communities, with regional and divisional
chapters. We have also created a new Employee Experience Accessibility
team that focuses on improving accessibility of our internal tools,
training and content, physical environment and partnerships with our
suppliers. This will advance our efforts to build an inclusive
workplace culture that empowers employees with disabilities to achieve
their career aspirations and scale our culture of accessibility.

Empowering customers and partners on their accessibility journey

We believe that Microsoft’s most important contribution to
accessibility will come not from our own work, but from helping our
customers and partners use technology to meet their accessibility
commitments. Last year we published the Microsoft Accessibility
Evolution Model<https://blogs.microsoft.com/accessibility/accessibility-evolution-model/>,
an operational “how to” to help our customers develop their own
accessibility road maps and business plans. The model provides
function-by-function guidance and resources that help an organization
develop accessible behaviors, practices and processes. We continually
incorporate new learnings and are deepening our engagement with our
top enterprise customers, nonprofits and Microsoft partners, helping
them to use digital technology to become more accessible.

 ***

Our accessibility team reminds us to do “nothing about us, without
us.” It’s a motto that we take to heart every single day as we work to
create a more inclusive future. We’ll highlight all this work at our
11th annual Ability Summit on May 5 and 6, 2021. Microsoft senior
leaders, including CEO Satya Nadella, industry leaders, people with
disabilities, allies and accessibility professionals come together to
imagine, build and empower the future of disability inclusion and
accessibility.

To learn more about our commitment, visit
https://news.microsoft.com/accessibility-commitment

Tags: accessibility<https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/tag/accessibility/>,
AI for Accessibility<https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/tag/ai-for-accessibility/>,
Brad Smith<https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/tag/brad-smith/>,
developers<https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/tag/developers/>,
GitHub<https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/tag/github/>,
LinkedIn<https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/tag/linkedin/>, Microsoft
365<https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/tag/microsoft-365/>, Microsoft
Teams<https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/tag/microsoft-teams/>







David Goldfield,

Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist

JAWS Certified, 2019

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