Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day, and I am so proud of Microsoft’s Over 1 billion people live with some form of disability, and most people will experience temporary or permanent disability at some point.
It is inspiring how many advancements in accessibility we’ve made – starting with Windows 11, which is built with accessibility at its core. I am excited about the new features announced at the Ability Summit 2022, such as a more immersive Focus experience, system-wide live captions, and more natural voices for Narrator. I love how Microsoft is working with its device partners and the opportunities we have together to help improve the customer experience.
Accessibility empowers innovation for everyone. Solutions built to be inclusive by design improve the experience, productivity, and engagement of all users. Customers value accessible experiences and companies that embrace inclusion often outperform their competitors.
I’m heartened by the opportunity with our Microsoft partner ecosystem to innovate, build, and deliver accessible technology at scale for customers, together.
Cultivate a culture of changemaking
Cultivating a Microsoft #BuildFor2030 Initiative accelerates innovation, changemaking, and collective impact with our partner ecosystem, helping to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a set of 17 initiatives adopted by member states in 2015 that focus on impacting the world for good by 2030.
Bosch Global Software Technologies, winner at the recent #BuildFor2030 Hackathon digital inclusion and accessibility theme, piloted a virtual reality therapy to help youths with autism become more confident, enabling them to use public transportation independently, often for the first time.
Find more #BuildFor2030 featured accessibility solutions.
Microsoft partners are driving inclusion in our workplaces and communities
Partners are empowering customers to foster more inclusive workplaces and enabling greater employee engagement with our productivity and collaboration tools. They are innovating creative solutions that empower greater disability inclusion within communities, including supporting the mental health and wellness needs of employees and their families.
- 1uur.nu’s fikaTime is a mental health tool for Microsoft Teams that uses small but regular interactions like random coffee pairings to help break down silos and create a socially-connected team that supports building a culture of inclusion.
Progress on your learning journey and enable disability inclusion
To support disability inclusion, organizations can start by skilling up, developing disability talent, and supporting disability-owned businesses in your tech procurement:
- Cognizant drove an internal accessibility awareness campaign and skilled up 6,400+ employees globally with attestations and certifications from Microsoft partners.
Empowering an inclusive and accessible world
I encourage each of you to be an ally and grow your awareness on accessibility; it can lead to impactful mindset shifts in how you build your team and business. I am inspired by those around me and their ability to learn and grow in their understanding and skills and help empower a more inclusive and accessible world.