Microsoft 365 Harnesses AI for Accessibility in the Workplace

Microsoft is already using machine learning and other artificial intelligence technologies to help enterprises ward off cyber-security threats, break language barriersand give harried workers more control over their Outlook calendars. Now, in observance of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, May 17, the Redmond, Wash., software maker is turning its attention to Microsoft 365 users in the workplace. Microsoft 365 is a software and cloud services bundle that includes the Windows 10 operating system, the Office 365 productivity suite and Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS), a cloud-based mobile device and application management toolkit for businesses. On May 16, the company announced that it is building on its Microsoft's intelligent, accessibility-enhancing capabilities with three new features that are scheduled to roll out over the next couple of months. Accessibility Checker, a tool that scans for accessibility issues in content authored on the Office applications for Mac and Windows, will soon be a little more proactive about alerting its users, according to Jeff Teper, corporate vice president of OneDrive, SharePoint and Office at Microsoft. Rather than invoking the tool, it will continually run in the background, notifying users when they make styling choices like using low-contrast text or other behaviors that may hamper their colleagues' ability to read a Word file, for example.