{"id":7414,"date":"2021-10-13T08:00:02","date_gmt":"2021-10-13T15:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=7414"},"modified":"2026-04-06T07:26:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T14:26:32","slug":"prioritizing-accessibility-at-microsoft-with-feedback-from-people-with-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/prioritizing-accessibility-at-microsoft-with-feedback-from-people-with-disabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Prioritizing accessibility at Microsoft with feedback from people with disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MicrosoftWe periodically update our stories, but we can\u2019t verify that they represent the full picture of our current situation at Microsoft. We leave them on the site so you can see what our thinking and experience was at the time.<\/em><\/p>\n

Prioritizing accessibility at Microsoft is helping the company create products and services that are inclusive and accessible for everyone.<\/p>\n

Being successful at this important work hinges on getting feedback from people with disabilities ranging from mobility and cognitive disabilities to temporary disabilities due to an injury or short-term condition.<\/p>\n

Joanna Briggs, a senior technical program manager in Microsoft Digital, says that creating inclusive experiences starts with creating products and services for Microsoft employees, who are often the first and best customers at the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re trying to innovate and provide our employees and customers with the best user experiences,\u201d says Briggs, who works with partner teams in Microsoft Digital, the organization that powers, protects, and transforms the company, to ensure that internal applications and services meet accessibility standards and guidelines. \u201cTo do that, we have to take into account the lived experiences of every employee, regardless of ability.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Briggs
Joanna Briggs, a senior technical program manager on the Studio Accessibility team at Microsoft, is prioritizing accessibility at Microsoft by running inclusive usability studies with people with disabilities.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was the approach that Briggs, Faris Mango (a software engineering manager in Microsoft Digital), and their teams used to improve the portal that Microsoft guests can use to register their devices and connect to the internet when they visit one of the company\u2019s buildings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn’t want to just guess what certain employees would want or face,\u201d Mango says. \u201cInstead, we wanted to have our employees use the portal so we could get feedback straight from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is why Briggs set up inclusive usability studies to get feedback from people with disabilities, where she would observe them going through a series of tasks using the portal. To do this, she worked with employees who volunteered to share their lived experience and test out the portal. Their lived experience and feedback were vital to building out this technology<\/a> and ensuring that it is usable for employees and customers with a range of lived experiences.<\/p>\n

In the research findings, Briggs summarized that some participants wanted more consistency around the semantics of the color palette in the user interface and simpler language that wasn\u2019t specific to software engineers. Others advocated for a version of the user guide video with American Sign Language (ASL).<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the feedback made sense to me,\u201d Mango says, explaining Microsoft Digital\u2019s accessibility team made it easy for him to find and hire an ASL interpreter. \u201cWe were able to quickly record a version of the video with an ASL interpreter, and that made a huge impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ensure that you’re getting feedback from customers outside of your own team, discipline, or organization. Bring in a diverse user base from the beginning, and really listen to what they need.<\/p>\n

\u2014Joanna Briggs, senior technical program manager, Microsoft Digital<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\"Mango
Faris Mango is a software engineering manager in Microsoft Digital.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Conducting the inclusive usability studies with people with disabilities has also reinforced the importance of creating intuitive user experiences. What\u2019s more important is that these learnings have shifted the mindset of his team. Mango also worked with Briggs to apply principles of Microsoft\u2019s inclusive design methodology<\/a> to the technology and tools they\u2019re developing. One of the core principles is \u201csolve for one, extend to many.\u201d In other words, technology created with people with disabilities in mind, like video captions or a push bar on a door, can benefit people in a range of situations and ability levels.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re taking the lessons we learned in the inclusive usability studies, applying them when developing new products and services, and prioritizing accessibility at Microsoft,\u201d Mango says.<\/p>\n

For teams that want to take a page out of Mango and Briggs\u2019 book by prioritizing accessibility, it\u2019s important to think about inclusion from the beginning of the product-making process.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnsure that you’re getting feedback from customers outside of your own team, discipline, or organization,\u201d Briggs says. \u201cBring in a diverse user base from the beginning, and really listen to what they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can even leverage free tools, like a plug-in for accessibility insights that can be added to any webpage<\/a>, or do your own research.<\/p>\n

This conversation is especially important as companies continue to embrace remote and hybrid work, and ensure that every employee is invited to participate regardless of where they\u2019re working or what technology they\u2019re using.<\/p>\n

\u201cPut yourself in customers\u2019 shoes and get feedback from them directly about what they need,\u201d Mango says. \u201cThis gives you a better sense of what to invest in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Key<\/p>\n