{"id":8092,"date":"2022-05-19T08:00:10","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T15:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=8092"},"modified":"2023-06-13T15:19:17","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T22:19:17","slug":"how-accessibility-fosters-inclusion-five-lessons-learned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/how-accessibility-fosters-inclusion-five-lessons-learned\/","title":{"rendered":"How accessibility fosters inclusion: Five lessons learned"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This content has been archived, and while it was correct at time of publication, it may no longer be accurate or reflect the current situation at Microsoft.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"MicrosoftHybrid work has inspired many changes at Microsoft, including how we support employees with accessibility needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all working differently now because of hybrid work,\u201d says Dawn Lee, a principal program manager on the Digital Studio team in Employee Experience. \u201cWe needed to make sure we didn\u2019t lose any ground when it comes to enabling all employees, including people with disabilities, to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

We had an opportunity to get this right from the start. We find we\u2019re way more effective with accessibility when we think about it before we start building something, and here we were launching a new way of working. This was the perfect opportunity to make sure our experiences and behaviors were as inclusive as possible.<\/p>\n

\u2014Joanna Briggs, senior program manager, Digital Studio team, Microsoft Digital Employee Experience<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To support different work styles, that meant new norms would need to be established, and that work would need to be done to make sure that those changes in behavior were inclusive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an opportunity to get this right from the start,\u201d says Joanna Briggs, a senior program manager on the Digital Studio team in Employee Experience who also identifies as having disabilities. \u201cWe find we\u2019re way more effective with accessibility when we think about it before we start building something, and here we were launching a new way of working. This was the perfect opportunity to make sure our experiences and behaviors were as inclusive as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are five things we\u2019ve learned about building experiences and creating work environments that are inclusive of everyone.<\/p>\n

[Find out how Microsoft\u2019s fresh approach to accessibility powered by inclusive design.<\/a> Learn how Microsoft is using insights from employees with disabilities to build accessible employee experiences<\/a>. Check out how Microsoft is having inclusive and effective meetings with Microsoft Teams.<\/a> Read Microsoft\u2019s tips for staying productive in an evolving hybrid world<\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Key<\/p>\n

Tip one: Make sure your meetings are inclusive<\/h2>\n

Microsoft employees are now spending much more time in Microsoft Teams meetings. Even when people return to the office and join meetings from conference rooms, they are often still using Teams. The Digital Studio team learned that one of the best ways to increase inclusion in hybrid meetings is to designate a moderator.<\/p>\n

A moderator can keep track of who uses the \u201craise your hand\u201d feature in what order, and they can make sure that contributions provided in the chat window aren\u2019t lost. A moderator can pick the best time to share questions and contributions from the larger group. \u201cThis makes the experience more accessible for everyone,\u201d Lee says. \u201cYes, this helps people with disabilities, but it also helps everyone, for example, those who have background noise who can\u2019t come off mute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accessibility Checker will let you know what you need to do. You can have it running while you work so that it flags issues as you go, helping you learn how to create more accessible content as a natural way of working. This also saves time rather than waiting until you\u2019re done with a really great slide and then realize there are many accessibility issues to resolve.<\/p>\n

\u2014Dawn Lee, principal program manager, Digital Studio team, Microsoft Digital Employee Experience<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There are core features in Microsoft Teams that also help, including live closed captioning, live translation, background noise reduction, dedicated chats for each meeting, and the ability to record meetings so people can listen later at their own pace.<\/p>\n

Tip two: Ensure that your content is accessible<\/h2>\n

Ensure your content, whether it be the PowerPoint decks and videos you share in your meetings, or emails, SharePoint posts, or other communications, is accessible to people with disabilities. You can run Accessibility Checker<\/a> on much of this content.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccessibility Checker will let you know what you need to do,\u201d Lee says. \u201cYou can have it running while you work so that it flags issues as you go, helping you learn how to create more accessible content as a natural way of working. This also saves time rather than waiting until you\u2019re done with a really great slide and then realize there are many accessibility issues to resolve.\u201d<\/p>\n

For content that doesn\u2019t have Accessibility Checker, you can quickly get the hang of manually adding alternative text to anything that a screen reader can\u2019t see and translate.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, there was a reorg email that went out,\u201d Lee says. \u201cAll of the information was included in a PowerPoint deck that didn\u2019t go through the Accessibility Checker. People who use screen readers didn\u2019t have a full understanding of what the re-org meant for them or the organization at large because there wasn\u2019t alt text on the images and the reading order wasn\u2019t correct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another important tip is to have speakers introduce themselves in captioned videos, something that often gets overlooked as well, Briggs says. \u201cPeople are less likely to understand what someone is trying to say when the presentation switches over to a video if they don\u2019t understand who the people are and what their roles are,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Finally, sending content before you share it in a meeting is highly recommended as well as it benefits many situations\u2014including people who want more time to process and think about what\u2019s going to be discussed.<\/p>\n

Tip three: Make chat welcoming for all<\/h2>\n

Shifting to hybrid has significantly reduced the amount of time we spend with each other in person, which has limited our ability to bond and have fun with teammates. One of the ways we\u2019ve replaced conversations in the hall, over lunch, and at morale events is by chatting in Microsoft Teams.<\/p>\n

During casual interactions in this virtual environment, new kinds of cultural references can come up and create situations where some people, including those with disabilities, might feel left out. One way this can play out is when people share animated GIFs that don\u2019t come with a label explaining what they mean.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow our team writes out what a GIF means,\u201d says Briggs, who says this\u2014like all accessible-friendly actions\u2014can benefit everyone. \u201cMyself and others didn\u2019t grow up with Star Wars, so posting a baby Yoda dancing meme could go over our heads without an explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tip four: Understand the value of diverse perspectives and experiences<\/h2>\n

One of the most important things we\u2019ve learned along the way is that to create solutions, we need to have an advisory community made up of people from the disability community and accessibility experts. We are better at building tools and services that empower our employees to do their jobs effectively when we do it together with input from everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s critical to have the perspective and influence of people who understand what is needed for an application to be truly helpful and inclusive, because of their own lived experiences,\u201d Briggs says. \u201cIt was really important for us to build a lasting and healthy relationship with the accessibility community at Microsoft.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Digital Studio team has also been focused on getting teams across Microsoft Digital Employee Experience to consider accessibility before they get started on new tools and experiences.<\/p>\n

Encouraging teams to shift left was in place before the pandemic, which has helped the org stay focused even as pressures to adapt and change to support new ways of working including hybrid has increased, Lee says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage individuals to think about accessibility in the context of their engineering discipline\u2014how can you incorporate accessibility into your engineering practices,\u201d she says. \u201cAs with any issues, identifying problems earlier in the process will reduce your cost in terms of time and effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tip five: Make training your foundation<\/h2>\n

The most foundational thing that we do is to make sure everyone in our organization has access to accessibility learning resources tailored to their role, which builds upon the company-wide accessibility training that our Corporate External and Legal Affairs (CELA) team creates.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne way we do that is with training that all new Employee Experience employees attend,\u201d Briggs says. \u201cDuring this training, accessibility has been elevated to the same level as other key topics such as security.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Digital Studio team champions additional accessibility training within the Employee Experience organization that is role-specific and amplifies opportunities that are offered by other teams across Microsoft or externally. One way the team incorporates learning about accessibility into the culture is the inclusion of an Accessibility Minute at quarterly all hands. This provides a forum for sharing quick tips or highlighting ways to learn and grow on a regular basis with the entire Employee Experience organization.<\/p>\n

\"Briggs
Joanna Briggs (left) and Dawn Lee reflect on the work the Microsoft Digital Employee Experience team is doing to make the experiences and services that the team builds for company employees more inclusive and accessible. Briggs is a senior program manager and Lee is a principal program manager. (Photos by Joanna Briggs and Dawn Lee)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tying it all together<\/h2>\n

At the end of the day, the most important thing we\u2019ve learned is that getting accessibility right is a journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to make mistakes,\u201d Lee says. \u201cThe important thing is to be curious, to learn about accessibility, and to continue to explore how you can do things differently. It\u2019s really an example of our growth mindset in action.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Related<\/p>\n