Maximise Microsoft’s Accessibility Features in Teams and Microsoft 365

Six months ago, we discussed Microsoft’s Accessibility training which aims to improve the overall tech accessibility within organisations. From emails and Word documents to PowerPoints and websites, the training is a great first-step for companies looking to make their content more inclusive.

As time goes on, technology continues to make people’s lives better – especially those at a disadvantage due to disabilities. Apps such as Be My Eyes can help people with visual impairments carry out day to day activities, there are multiple apps available to help people with colour-blindness identify colours, and there are even apps to help non-verbal people communicate using pictures.

More recently, Nash Squared’s 2022 Digital Leadership Report named “improving customer experience
and accessibility” as one of the top three aims technology must address. With accessibility pushed higher up the list of priorities, what is Microsoft providing technology-wise to help, aside from the awareness training?

Well, Microsoft is doing so much more than educating organisations. It has begun to create products that make using computers easier for people with disabilities, as well as adapting their existing product line with innovative adjustments that can even the technological playing field.

Microsoft’s adaptive accessories enable users to switch up the way they use their computer, to make the experience easier and more comfortable for them. Custom-made keyboards and the adaptive mouse help frequent PC users to find what works best for them, and the adaptive Xbox controller keeps things comfortable during down-time too.

Having a good PC set-up is all well and good, but it’s often software that causes the biggest accessibility issues as they’re harder for users to overcome on their own – it’s up to the developers to step in and make apps more inclusive. Microsoft has been making significant changes across Teams and Microsoft 365 in a bid to improve the accessibility of some of its most popular apps.

Accessibility on Microsoft Teams

Inclusive Collaboration is a key focus on Microsoft Teams. Organisations and education providers have realised that remote working and learning is possible following the coronavirus lockdowns, and so people are more likely to be using Microsoft Teams as their primary communication method. For people with hearing impairments, closed captions are vital in order to fully participate in conversations. This coupled with audio descriptions for videos shared via Teams helps them to maintain collaboration.

For neurodiverse users, the ability to reduce distractions can transform their productivity. From background blurring on videos, to the ‘Do not disturb’ notification status, Teams has the ability to block out unwanted distractions to improve focus. Another great feature that is useful for those who struggle to read emotions through text is the ‘live reaction’ meeting feature, where meeting attendees can react with an emoji to show their emotion, rather than just the comment box. Tip – this is also great for those who feel anxious to come off camera or unmute themselves, but still want to feel involved!

As the world becomes even more connected through technology, cross-country meetings are growing in popularity – bringing their own unique problems. Microsoft has broken the language barrier by adding real-time translation to it’s closed captions, automatically translating meeting transcripts, and introducing inline translations in the chat function.
Finally, Teams is further promoting inclusive collaboration with updates to its presenter mode. Users can now alter the colour contrast on PowerPoints when presented through Teams, so those with vision impairments have a better experience, plus, individual navigation allows attendees to flick through the presentation slides without affecting anyone else’s view, so they can look back on previous slides if they’re not quite finished with them.

Accessibility on Microsoft 365

While Teams continues to grow in popularity, other existing apps within the Microsoft 365 suite (previously known as Office 365) have remained popular since the rise of computers. These popular apps may be classics, but that doesn’t mean that Microsoft has forgotten them when it comes in inclusivity.

Microsoft has recently released a bunch of new features that aim to improve accessibility. One feature is ‘Tell Me’, where the user can use voice commands on apps instead of using their keyboard or mouse controls. Other features include the Accessibility Checker on Outlook that ensures emails that are sent are accessible, Office Lens to scan paper and read the text aloud, and integration with screen readers to aid those with visibility impairments.

To improve productivity and concentration on Microsoft 365 apps, users can enable ‘Immersive Reader’ to reduce distractions, use ‘Editor’ to assist spelling and writing quality, and ‘Dictate’ to use voice to type instead of a keyboard. MyAnalytics is another feature that shows productivity statistics to improve work/life balance and review weekly progress, which also offers the ability to automatically schedule focus sessions in Outlook calendars to ensure you have a period of the day without meetings or distractions.

Finally, light/dark modes can be used across all Microsoft 365 to reduce eye strain and sensitivity. Colourblind colour filters are also available across apps to improve the experience for colour blind users, and flash notifications can be enabled for those with hearing impairments.

If you’ve already got Microsoft apps within your company, why not make the most of the accessibility features available? Some people may not be aware of the features available to them that could transform the way the work with technology.

Want to find out what else you could be missing out on in the Microsoft world? Watch our series of Ask the Experts sessions which offer tips and tricks within the Microsoft stack.