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Inclusive Tech Lab

We are committed to practicing inclusive design and strive to demonstrate what is possible when you intentionally include people with disabilities.
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Solomon Romney in the Inclusive Tech Lab

Inside the Inclusive Tech Lab

Join us for a quick tour through the Inclusive Tech Lab at Microsoft. In it we highlight the intentionally inclusive features of the facility.
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Our vision and philosophy

Live, work, play, learn

The Inclusive Tech Lab is a Microsoft space dedicated to inclusive modern life and education, accessible productivity, and gaming for people with disabilities. Our facility is for people with disabilities, not about people with disabilities. Crafted to be an expression of Microsoft’s commitment to the disability community.
A man listening to music on his headphones while working on his tablet.
A smiling man sitting in his wheelchair outside the Inclusive Tech Lab

Our progress

We've hosted over 8,000 visitors and introduced them to our Microsoft Inclusive Design methods via informative tours, collaborative workshops, and inclusive design sprints. We strive to encourage designers and engineers to intentionally include people with disabilities in the products, services, and games they create.

Timeline

Two workstations at the Inclusive Tech Lab with game console, computers, and assistive technology.

2017 | Launch

The Xbox Devices team launched the first Inclusive Tech Lab to demonstrate inclusive gaming, educate colleagues, and learn from the disability community.

An Xbox Adaptive Controller surrounded by its complimentary peripherals.

2018 | Xbox Adaptive Controller launch

The Xbox Adaptive Controller launched providing a much-needed, simple and affordable solution for gamers with limited mobility.

Seven people posing for a picture at the original Inclusive Design Lab, four of them are men who are tetraplegics in wheelchairs.

2019 | Over 8,000 visitors

We hosted over 8,000 visitors from all walks of life, introducing them to unintentional exclusions and intentional inclusion through inclusive design.

A group of people sitting together under many multicolored lights, and collaborating in the original Inclusive Tech Lab.

2019 | Workshops & design sprints

We conducted many workshops and inclusive design sprints, bringing in the disabled to work with our colleagues, to inspire them to intentionally include people with disabilities.

A group of people working in different areas at the original Inclusive Tech Lab.

2020 – 2021 | Construction and remote work

Construction starts on the new Inclusive Tech Lab, expanding our vision beyond gaming to include how people with disabilities live, work, play, and learn. Due to a global pandemic we moved to remote tours to continue our mission.

The outside entrance to the new Inclusive Tech Lab facility. There is a illustrated mural and a bright yellow awning.

2022 | New expanded facility

With a new expanded facility, program, and charter we are excited to invite people to join us to learn about our customers with disabilities and Microsoft’s Inclusive Design methods.

Inside the Inclusive Tech Lab

In a colorful cascade of fiber optic lights, a man holds his daughter, a small for her age 4-year-old disabled girl with craniofacial differences. She uses a hearing-aid and breathes using a ventilator.

Designing accessibility

The facility is crafted so people with disabilities can explore assistive and adaptive technologies, inclusively designed products, and sensory experiences.
Two young women work at a Surface Hub on math problems the woman in the foreground is pointing at a multiplication problem with her limb different hand.

Learn

The Inclusive Tech Lab is a space that is dedicated to fostering a learning environment that supports the spectrum of human diversity.

A black woman with short hair, slight beard, and a wonderful smile sits on a brightly colored couch, in a pink tracksuit, holding a brightly colored Xbox controller and an Xbox Adaptive Controller on her lap.

Play

When Everybody plays, We All Win.  From our roots in inclusive gaming we continue to seek out ways to empower disabled gamers.

An Asian man with thick glasses sits at a desk in front of a Surface Pro mounted on a stand at eye level he's talking to an assistive robot used for telecommuting.

Work

Accessible technology facilitates the ability to participate, decreases the disability divide, and allows people with disabilities to thrive in today's world.

Partnerships

We rely on and value our partners as we strive to live up to the ideal of, “nothing about us, without us.”
A group of people collaborating at the Inclusive Tech Lab.

Craig Hospital

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Makers Making Change

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Able Gamers

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Special Effect

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Cerebral Palsy Foundation

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Warfighter Engaged

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Additional Resources

Two people at a desk creating an adaptive device.

Microsoft Adaptive Accessories

Explore the highly adaptable ecosystem that lets you 3D print through Shapeways, and customize your own mouse, keyboard inputs, and shortcuts.

3D printing from Shapeways Details on our accessible accessories
Business person using On Air Share to present a PowerPoint presentation on their Acer Porsche RS.

Windows 11

Windows 11 was inclusively designed to support productivity, creativity, and ease of use for people with disabilities. With a robust set of built-in and third-party accessibility features, Windows adapts to you.

Accessibility features on Windows 11
Surface Adaptive Kit 3-dimensional bump labels in many distinct shapes.

Designing for adaptability

Surface products are built to help people be creative, productive, and connected. Surface Adaptive Kit, created in partnership with people with disabilities, makes it easier to adapt, use, and navigate your compatible Surface PC and accessories.

Get the Surface Adaptive Kit
Simple line drawn characters and objects in a mosaic depicting human diversity

Inclusive Design

Inclusive Design is a methodology, borne out of digital environments, that enables and draws on the full range of human diversity. Most importantly, this means including and learning from people with a range of perspectives.

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