Accessibility innovation

Grant applications are reviewed by Microsoft employees who are directly involved in the grant selection process for the sole purpose of proposal review and determining the grant level to be provided. Projects should be developed with or by people with disabilities.

Applications are evaluated on the following criteria:

• Relevance: AI and/or other forms of technology (as indicated in the request for proposals) are core to the project success.
• Impact: Your project clearly elevates education, employment, community, or home outcomes for someone with a disability.
• Data: Your team is open to sharing privacy compliant data for future innovation.
• Feasible: The project is achievable within a one-year timeframe. This could be phase 1 of your project, but there should be tangible deliverables completed each quarter that are wrapped up in 12 months.
• Capable: Your team should have the knowledge and skill to deliver the idea, or you should have a plan to partner with someone who can fill in any gaps.
• Sustainable: The project has room to grow beyond the first year of funding.
• Showcase-able: We want to talk about whatever you deliver!

To estimate the monetary value of Azure computing resources you need, use the Azure calculator.

For example, if your plan requires 100,000 Cognitive Services Computer Vision transactions, you will need $100 per month for 12 months, totaling $1,200 in Azure credits for the one-year grant period.

After each application deadline, applicants typically receive a decision by email within 90 days.

Select projects are invited to pitch their ideas to a selection committee who will score their projects based on the evaluation criteria.

Once projects are selected, part of the award process is to align on project objectives, key results, and scope which are tracked and reported throughout the 12-months grant period. The project work starts with the official Kickoff Meeting with the Microsoft Accessibility Innovation team.

There are no official restrictions for indirect costs.  However, we do our best to ensure that we maximize the amount of cash that goes directly towards engineering, research, or data collection costs.

For most universities, this means the cash is a gift to the university, but we also sign a collaboration agreement to ensure we are all on the same page with expectations and deliverables.