At the moment we kick off the 14th Microsoft Skill Summit, an annual occasion to carry collectively thought leaders to debate how we speed up accessibility to assist bridge the Incapacity Divide.
There are three key themes to this yr’s summit: Construct, Think about, and Embody. “Construct” invitations us to discover easy methods to construct accessibly and inclusively by leaning on the insights of disabled expertise. “Think about” dives into finest practices for architecting accessible buildings, occasions, content material and merchandise. And “Embody” highlights the problems and alternatives AI presents for creators, builders and engineers.
Katy Jo Wright and Dave McCarthy focus on Katy Jo’s journey dwelling with the advanced incapacity, Power Lyme Illness. Get insights from deaf creator and performer Leila Hanaumi; worldwide accessibility leaders Sara Minkara, U.S. Particular Advisor on Worldwide Incapacity Rights, U.S. Division of State; and Stephanie Cadieux, Chief Accessibility Officer, Authorities of Canada. And we’ll be digging into psychological well being with singer, actor and psychological well being advocate, Michelle Williams.
We’ll even be launching a number of issues alongside the best way.
Advancing accessible know-how
Accessible know-how is essential to empowering the 1.3 billion-plus individuals with disabilities globally. With this new chapter of AI, the probabilities are rising, as is the duty to get it proper. We’re studying the place AI could be impactful, from the potential to shorten the hole between ideas and motion, to creating it simpler to code and create. However there’s extra to do, and we’ll proceed to leverage each software within the know-how toolbox to advance accessibility.
At the moment we’ll be highlighting the most recent know-how and instruments from Microsoft to assist obtain this aim together with:
- Copilot for Home windows, making accessibility simpler. Starting late March 2024, new accessibility abilities are being enabled in Home windows. Ask Copilot for Home windows to launch Dwell Captions, Narrator and different accessibility options. Extra: Home windows Weblog
- M365 empowering creators to construct accessible content material. Together with Accessibility Assistant, a set of instruments to assist creators produce accessible content material out there right now in Insider preview for Phrase and sharing that Outlook and PowerPoint are coming quickly! Ales Holecek can even be sharing some examples and early analysis on neurodiversity and M365 Copilot which reduces time to create content material and shortens the hole between ideas and motion.
- Azure AI for Accessibility, right now sharing six new examples together with:
- Seeing AI is now out there in a further 14 languages (whole 33) and will likely be rolling out the most recent generative AI fashions, together with richer descriptions of photographs and chat functionality for pictures and paperwork.
- Azure AI Audio Description answer accelerator, new upcoming answer accelerator that makes use of Azure GPT-4 Turbo with Imaginative and prescient to explain movies for people who find themselves blind or low imaginative and prescient. WPP will likely be demonstrating how this works, and the answer accelerator is now open for sign-ups.
Expertise may assist sort out lengthy enduring challenges, like discovering a remedy for ALS (Motor Neuron Illness). With Azure, we’re proudly supporting ALS Remedy Improvement Institute (TDI) and Reply ALS to nearly double the scientific and genomic information out there for analysis. In 2021, Reply ALS offered open entry to its analysis by an Azure Knowledge Portal, Neuromine. This information has since enabled over 300 impartial analysis tasks all over the world. The addition of ALS TDI’s information from the continuing ALS Analysis Collaborative (ARC) research will enable researchers to speed up the journey to discover a remedy.
We can even be previewing a few of our ongoing work to make use of Customized Neural Voice to empower individuals with ALS and different speech disabilities to have their voice. Now we have been working with the neighborhood together with Workforce Gleason for a while and are dedicated to creating certain this know-how is used for good and plan to launch later within the yr.
Accessibility as a basic proper
To construct inclusively in an more and more digital world, we have to defend basic rights and will likely be sharing partnerships advancing this throughout the neighborhood all through the day.
This consists of:
- A dialogue with Ilene Arenberg and Tanya Harris on entry to aggressive built-in employment and financial fairness, speaking in regards to the office and honest compensation.
- The British Affiliation for Supported Employment (BASE) will share their work to assist disabled, neurodivergent and deprived individuals within the U.Ok. to search out and preserve careers. They’ve been rising digital abilities utilizing Microsoft Groups and neighborhood coaching to modernize the supported employment sector.
- The Starvation Venture will speak in regards to the significance of connectivity as a basis to accessibility. It’s working with neighborhood companions in Malawi and all over the world to supply entry to connectivity and assist for accessible areas, coaching supplies and digital accessibility.
- Rijksmuseum will focus on their partnership with the blind and low imaginative and prescient neighborhood to carry detailed textual content descriptions to over 1 million items of artwork utilizing Azure AI Laptop Imaginative and prescient and Azure OpenAI. This video brings the expertise to life.
Subsequent steps, accelerating your accessibility journey
All by the Skill Summit, trade leaders will likely be sharing their learnings and finest practices. At the moment we’re posting 4 new Microsoft playbooks, sharing our learnings from engaged on our bodily, occasion and digital setting. This features a new Psychological Well being toolkit, with ideas for product makers to construct experiences that assist psychological well being situations, created in partnership with Psychological Well being America. And “Constructing Accessible Campus,” with finest practices from our World Office Companies group, answerable for our international constructing footprint together with the brand new Redmond headquarters campus.
Please be a part of us to look at content material on demand by way of www.aka.ms/AbilitySummit. Technical assist is all the time out there by way of Microsoft’s Incapacity Reply Desk. Thanks in your partnership and dedication to construct a extra accessible future for individuals with disabilities all over the world.
