By Emma Da Silva, Vice President of Marketing and Operations – Microsoft Canada
According to Statistics Canada, one in five (22%) of the Canadian population aged 15 and over has one or more disabilities. And at some point most of us will be faced with some type of disability that is temporary, situational, or permanent.
Today with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we remember that the pandemic has affected everyone. It has changed the way we think, act and function in our daily life. But for the 6.2 million Canadians or billions of people around the world who live with disabilities, the effects of the pandemic are even more severe. In many circumstances, people with disabilities had higher risks of transmitting COVID, while others faced challenges due to closures and regulations that took them away from their communities and needed support systems.
People who are deaf or hard of hearing, who depend on visual cues, are faced with a new world of masked faces, people who are blind or have low vision have had to adapt to the spatial reconstruction of known environments due to social distancing and people with pain. mental health problems require more support services because of overwhelming feelings of prolonged stress, fear and anxiety.
As a technology company, Microsoft recognizes the power of digital tools and solutions to reach and support people with disabilities. We partner with organizations around the world to create policies and programs that promote digital inclusion and provide everyone with better access to education, jobs and public services. Today, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), I want to reflect on the tremendous progress that has been made by our team, our partners and the dedicated individuals and companies with whom we are pleased to work.
Accessibility starts at home
Microsoft works to promote an inclusive culture across the business. Our global teams work tirelessly to put in place processes that create and maintain a diverse and inclusive culture. This program involves attracting and recruiting people with disabilities through our Inclusive hiring program global, training managers to understand the needs of people with visible and non-visible disabilities, assessing people for more flexible roles so that people with disabilities have the best opportunity to show their skills, adapting workplaces to include sign language interpreters and ensuring that all staff have access to disability awareness training.
One of these programs is Ability Hack, an annual week-long hackathon that brings together employees from across the company to find solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. The Ability Hack focuses on programs that enable people with disabilities to use technology. We also have accessibility roles in a variety of disciplines. Our career site for inclusive hiring provides details on open positions, upcoming events, employee testimonials and frequently asked questions for applicants with disabilities, as well as a disability hiring toolkit for recruiters, information on the Microsoft’s hiring program for people with autism and other resources.
Use technology to ensure global independence.
As the Microsoft Executive Sponsor for People with Disabilities in Canada, I believe that accessibility to the right technology is a powerful force for inclusion, and at Microsoft we have a mission of empowerment and empowerment for all. people with disabilities in Canada and around the world. Through the efforts of its engineers and accessibility experts, Microsoft strives to meet or exceed new accessibility requirements. By leveraging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), which we see as a catalyst for inclusion, Microsoft is taking innovations that can help a small group of society and expanding them.
AI enables tech companies like Microsoft to develop products and services that can perceive, learn, reason, and help users around the world, including people with disabilities. This is why Microsoft is integrating AI into its products. Features like AutoComplete, which may seem mundane to most of us, help make the world a better place for someone for whom the most mundane thing is complex. Text prediction relies on machine learning, which is the basis of artificial intelligence. The more we type, the better the AI is able to predict what we’re going to write next. Real-time speech-to-text transcription, visual recognition services and predictive text functionality enable people with impaired vision, hearing, cognitive learning and mental disabilities to thrive .
Our initiative AI for Accessibility aims to amplify human capacities through grants, technological investments and expertise. We want to invest in ideas that are developed by or with people with disabilities. If you are passionate and have such ideas, apply for our AI scholarship for accessibility here.
Recently, Microsoft announced the availability of the Adaptive Kit for Surface. Created within our Inclusive Tech Lab, the Adaptive Surface Kit is the result of a design in partnership with people with disabilities. This kit is designed to make devices more accessible without compromising form or function. Key labels, shape labels, port labels, and even media openings make it easier than ever to find, open and use devices. Easier for everyone.
Windows 11 accessibility features, like magnifying glass, high contrast and braille, help the blind and visually impaired community. We’ve also added the input learning mode in Narrator to give users the ability to send commands from a keyboard, touchscreen, or braille, and receive feedback on what they’re doing. the command without invoking it. Narrator has been enhanced to include smart image descriptions, allowing it to use AI to generate image descriptions without alt text on demand.
Games for everyone
At Xbox, we’re proud of the work we’ve done to make more accessible games for the roughly 400 million disabled gamers around the world. If the pandemic has taught me anything over the past couple of years, it’s the power games have to maintain and bond, the importance of play, and the meaning of inclusion. On the path to accessibility, we know that in order to achieve our goal of making gaming a place where everyone can have fun, we need to keep innovating and bringing new accessibility features like the magnifying glass, which is expanding part or all of the screen, so that users can better see words and pictures, or function Xbox Adaptive Controller, which allows players with reduced mobility to access our platform and our games. It’s about empowering our players to play the way that works best for them. Watch this video of blind gamer Steve Saylor conquering the gaming world with the power of technology.
Celebrate the JIPH to promote inclusion
Accessibility, accountability and inclusion are integral to Microsoft’s DNA and are reflected in the products and services it designs for people of all abilities. On the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I leave you with an inspiring conversation with Microsoft’s Director of Accessibility, Dave Dame. When she was born in 1971, Dame was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Listen to him, he will explain to you how you can play a role in promoting inclusion.
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