While the purpose of technology is multifaceted, at its core, it’s about enhancing human capabilities and improving our quality of life: our efficiency, productivity, connectivity, creativity, and problem-solving.
Not everyone has been able to enjoy these benefits equally.
For many people, various types of IT solutions have been inaccessible, as they didn’t accommodate individual needs or disabilities. Some users could not interact with content or services, preventing them from fully participating in the digital world where much of our society operates. Today, access to technology is crucial for attending school, searching for the right devices for job hunting, booking healthcare appointments, and staying connected with community and family.
Fortunately, there has been and continues to be a positive shift towards technology inclusiveness. Computing companies are making efforts to develop software that is more accessible to individuals of all abilities. Microsoft 365 and Windows users specifically have a wide range of accessibility features to explore. In honour of Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 15th, let’s delve into some of the available adaptive features within the Microsoft portfolio that support a more inclusive digital environment.
Settings to Design a Desktop That Fits Your Accessibility Needs
Browsing Microsoft’s Accessibility hub makes it clear they’ve thoughtfully designed tools and IT solutions that are usable by people with a wide range of disabilities and impairments. The company doesn’t see disability as one-size-fits-all: instead, they recognize and respect that people have a range of challenges and strengths when navigating technology.
For example, if you are a Windows user, you have a host of different options for configuring your desktop’s functionality:
- Features to support vision: Colour filters, colour contrast or text size settings can improve readability, like Narrator to read content aloud and Magnifier to enlarge text and images.
- Features to support hearing: Users can change audio alerts to visual alerts or adjust their display time to improve readability. Live Captions provide real-time subtitles for audio content, making spoken words easier to follow, while converting stereo sound into a single channel helps people with hearing difficulties in one ear catch important details.
- Features that support neurodiversity and mental health: The Start Menu and taskbar can be customized to reduce visual clutter and make navigation more intuitive. Notification settings can be tailored to limit interruptions and support focus.
- Features to support mobility: Navigation features like eye control and on-screen keyboard can support individuals with low or no hand mobility. The Sticky and Filter Keys features make it easier to press keys and move around without the need for perfect coordination.
What’s key here is that individuals can create a personalized environment that works best for them and helps them accomplish tasks and connect with others independently.
Built-In Accessibility Tools for Navigating Digital Content in Microsoft Applications
While people often talk about the robust cybersecurity IT solutions available to Microsoft users, you may not know that they have built a range of accessibility tools into their applications to make it easier to interact with and understand the information displayed on a computer screen—whether you’re presenting, writing, reading, or meeting with others online.
These features are especially helpful for people with disabilities but also improve the experience for anyone who wants more flexibility or support while working.
Here are just a few of the options available:
- PowerPoint: You can add closed captions or subtitles to videos in your slides so that your presentations are more accessible for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing. And if you’re presenting through PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams, participants get even more control. They can adjust the color contrast, use a screen reader, or move through the slides at their own pace—without disrupting the flow of the meeting.
- Word: Word offers various functions to make document creation more accessible, such as keyboard shortcuts that speed up common tasks without needing a mouse and screen reader support to help users who are blind or have low vision navigate menus, read text, and interact with features more efficiently. Voice dictation is another helpful option—allowing users to type their documents using speech, which can be useful for those with mobility or processing challenges.
- Teams: Among the many IT solutions available to make the Teams experience more accessible, a noteworthy function to highlight is the ability for organizers to set up CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captions for meetings. These are live, human-generated captions that make real-time conversation easier to follow for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing. It does take a little setup—it requires connecting to specialized software – but it can make a big difference for participants who rely on accurate transcription. For users who are blind or have low vision, Teams also supports audio descriptions for video content. These narrations fill in the gaps between dialogue, describing what’s happening on screen so people who are blind or have low vision don’t miss important visual details.
When it comes to IT solutions that support reading documents or emails, you can listen to your messages in Outlook, have Word documents read aloud, or even convert text to speech in Excel. The Immersive Reader feature is also available in various applications or your Microsoft Edge web browser. You can customize your reading experience and make changes to factors such as text size, spacing, and line focus. In different contexts, this feature can be great for people with low vision, neurodivergent users, or others who may find traditional layouts overwhelming or inaccessible.
Accessibility Support from Microsoft
Microsoft offers several resources to help individuals and organizations develop digital content that is inclusive and that everyone can easily navigate.
Accessibility Checker
The Accessibility Checker in Microsoft applications (like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook) will scan your content for elements that might make it difficult for people with disabilities to consume.
Once it completes its scan, you’ll receive a detailed breakdown of any issues, and specific recommended actions for improving your document’s accessibility. For example, the tool may tell you:
- The heading format in your Word document or the merged cells you created in Excel are confusing to screen reader technology
- Your PowerPoint presentation uses color combinations in charts or graphics that are inaccessible to people with vision struggles
- You wrote an Outlook email that contains unclear link text like “click here,” which doesn’t explain the destination
Fixing these issues is usually quick and easy—and it means more people can fully engage with what you’ve created.
Microsoft Disability Answer Desk
The Microsoft Disability Answer Desk is a free, dedicated support service designed to assist customers with disabilities in using Microsoft products, services and other IT solutions.
Users have several options to connect with the desk and seek accessibility support: you can chat online with an expert, call their office, or access American Sign Language (ASL) support via video call. They also offer an innovative “Be My Eyes’ application, a 24/7 service for getting instant visual descriptions of your surroundings.
There is also an enterprise version of the Answer Desk that provides organizations with guidance on accessibility features, product compliance, and assistive technologies to support employees with disabilities.
Build A Stronger Digital Workplace with PC Corp
Are you feeling overwhelmed about how your organization can get started in implementing accessible IT solutions in your workplace?
Here’s a quick checklist to get your started:
- Audit your current software for accessibility features
- Consult with your staff and customers about their needs
- Choose vendors who prioritize accessibility
- Provide staff training and accessibility resources
If you need support evaluating your IT infrastructure and implementing these changes, PC Corp’s friendly team is here to help. Our procurement specialists can recommend and source accessible technologies that align with your team’s needs, while our managed IT services can keep these tools properly configured, maintained, and supported over time.
Contact us to discuss how we can help you build a more inclusive and accessible digital environment.
