With more than a billion people with disabilities in the world, Microsoft, on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, said it believes that accessibility is essential to delivering on its mission to “empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more.”
Here is how the tech giant hopes to make an inclusive world:
Accessibility features
Accessible technology facilitates the ability to participate and thrive in today's digital world for everyone. Microsoft offers accessibility tools and features that help people lead a safe, independent and dignified life at home, school, and work.
Activating ability
The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is typically twice that of people without. And disability — whether temporary, situational, or permanent — can affect any of us at any time. Accessibility is an opportunity and responsibility for businesses to bridge the employment gap between the disability community and organisations.
Making education inclusive
Nearly 240 million children — that is one in every 10 children — live with disabilities and are also less likely to be included or heard on almost every measure. Which makes it a responsibility for education authorities and institutions to improve learning for all students by integrating accessible technologies into their policies and practices.
How Microsoft empowers all its employees
When accessibility is not an afterthought, but a value, disability does not become a challenge. Building an accessible workplace begins with intent, meaning and greater representation for all. “Microsoft believes that designing with and for people with disabilities will lead to greater innovations for everyone. However, it doesn’t begin and end with the products that it creates or the services that are offered. It extends to the culture of Microsoft’s workplace by weaving accessibility into the fabric — from hiring people with disabilities to creating inclusive marketing and awarding the Accessibility in Action digital badge,” the company said in a statement.
The intent is crucial for unlocking opportunity and potential, which is why accessibility is a responsibility and an opportunity. Microsoft said that it continues to be committed to bridging the disability divide and creating a more accessible and equitable world.
