Recently, Microsoft took the approach to release its number of employees with a self-reported disabilities, which stood at 6.1% (Forbes). This was the first time Microsoft disclosed those numbers and were one of the few companies to do so. The mantra for the movement for people with disabilities is “nothing about us, without us”. So, while product designers may have accessibility in-mind, they really can’t develop inclusive products without including people from the movement. This announcement from Microsoft was a key step in demonstrating its focus on inclusive design.
Design for one–expand to many
It’s vital to think about accessibility and inclusion from both the perspective of users and innovation. The Research & Insights (R&I) team at Microsoft aims to make their surveys accessible for people with disabilities—such as, ensuring that surveys are optimized for screen readers.
From an innovation standpoint, the R&I team partners with the Product Marketing team to develop tools to assist a particular disability, but inevitably make everyone’s life easier.
- Accessibility describes the degree to which an environment, service, or product allows access by as many people as possible, particularly people with disabilities. This is commonly abbreviated A11Y as there are 11 characters between the A and the Y in word accessibility.
- Disability inclusion is understanding the relationship between the way people function and how they participate in society and making sure everybody has the same opportunities to participate in every aspect of life, including research, to the best of their abilities and desires.
If we can’t measure it, we can’t improve it.
The CVT Program
One such program designed for inclusivity is the Modern Life Concept Value Testing (CVT), which is used to develop and test forward-looking product concepts. Assistive technology empowers people with disabilities but also adds product value by delivering ease of use. All humans are growing, changing, and adapting to the world around them every day; our technology should reflect that diversity.
Inclusive design can extend to what are intended to be accessibility features to users with permanent, temporary, and situational constraints. For example, voice assistants on our phones or computers started out as a dictation accessibility tool. The ability to speak to your phone was a huge breakthrough for people who are blind or low vision and for those who have limited mobility and don’t have the use of a keyboard. However, now it has much broader applicability and created a more equitable, easier, and more efficient experience for everyone.
When designing products, Microsoft thinks about how “solving for one can extend to many.”
The CVT Program
R&I interviews people with disabilities so they can learn firsthand about current accessibility needs and how innovate something new . They work to measure the representation and opinions of respondents with disabilities in both qualitative and quantitative research.
The Accessibility User Research Collective (AURC) is a program to ensure Microsoft is getting feedback from the disability community. AURC is a partnership with the Shepherd Center Research Hospital in Atlanta, GA to help test and develop accessibility technology. This program not only pays people with disabilities to help us understand how to create more accessible, usable technology but also a partnership with the community. It is one way that Microsoft brings inclusivity into the way we create technology. . The AURC helps Microsoft design more inclusive products and helps inform other research, like the quantitative phase of CVT. Additionally, it can have a direct impact on how Microsoft markets or develops products.
For the quantitative phase, CMR runs a large-scale study in both the US and Germany. After they interview respondents in the qualitative study they look to see if those same insights match what people report in the qualitative portion. Sometimes, differences will arise in the quantitative portion that wasn’t communicated as strongly in the qualitative, so they then go back to those people in the first group to learn more.
“To truly design for everyone, we need the unique perspectives of those with disabilities. They are experienced innovators and creative problem solvers that can help us see new opportunities” – Kathy Dixon, Microsoft 365 Consumer Accessibility PMM
Looking ahead
There is always more work to be done. Today, there are already a broad range of “accessibility features” available in the Microsoft 365 subscription, designed to benefit people with disabilities.
Some areas where Microsoft looks to improve are:
- Discovery – Microsoft is looking to do more to simplify, drive consistency, and improve discovery and awareness of the accessibility features they already have in market.
- Innovation –Microsoft sees an opportunity to do more to lean into accessibility to drive innovation and expand feature relevance.
- Inclusion – there is always an opportunity to be more mindful of disability inclusion throughout all of Microsoft’s research, marketing, and human design centered processes.
Moving forward, Microsoft will continue to pursue best practices in accessibility by working to make surveys inclusive and work to capture insights from people across the spectrum of disabilities. They will also look for opportunities to go deeper on specific topics. They recently held a lunch-and-learn, focused on how they can make their own research and presentations more inclusive, as well as how they can conduct more insightful research among people with disabilities. And this includes expanding it to partners and vendors outside of Microsoft, so they are truly walking the talk.
Nothing about us, without us.
“Regardless of our job role the one question we need to constantly ask ourselves is “who am I inadvertently excluding?” It’s only when we know the answer to this question can we create products, services and programs that are truly representative of the customers we serve and the mission that drives us all.” – Ben Tamblyn, Director of Inclusive Design, CELA (Corporate, External, andLegal Affairs)
