Microsoft Remains Committed To More Inclusive And Accessible Technology
The company has redesigned the now called Microsoft Inclusive Tech Lab with the aim of turning it into an incubator for inclusive design innovation
With the commitment to make its technology more inclusive and accessible, Microsoft has announced several new features during the 12th Edition of Microsoft Ability Summit, a virtual event where people with disabilities and industry professionals have gathered to define the future of inclusion and accessibility.
To begin with, Microsoft has redesigned the famous Microsoft Tech Lab, renaming it Microsoft Inclusive Tech Lab, an inclusive technology lab located on the Seattle campus that, in recent years, has been transformed into a larger, more modular and better equipped place.
The renovated facility makes collaborative work easier and demonstrates that it is possible to intentionally include people with disabilities in the process of creating and building products.
Microsoft has also developed adaptive accessories such as the Adaptive Mouse, the central hub with wireless buttons and Windows 11. Microsoft Edge is also the result of a commitment to making the web more accessible and inclusive. Microsoft’s search engine offers automatic image descriptions, text prediction and automatically generated alternative text.
On the other hand, the commitment also falls on video games and, therefore, has announced Xbox Accessibility Insiders League, a community of more than 158,000 gamers with disabilities. In this regard, there is also the Microsoft Game Accessibility Testing Service, where Xbox and PC game developers and publishers submit products for testing by gamers with disabilities.
