Voices - Microsoft Team
Microsoft helped shape conversations that led to EAA. Now you're implementing it. Is the final directive what you hoped for, or did something get lost in translation?
Microsoft was proud to partner with policy makers, industry, and disability advocates to support adoption of the EAA. The act does a good job of setting general expectations for the accessibility of covered products and services, which benefits companies, regulators, and, most important, consumers. As with most laws, there are ambiguities that arise when applying the EAA to complex and novel technologies, some of which did not exist when the EAA was drafted. We look forward to continuing to partner with EU officials and disability advocates to clarify the EAA’s requirements and establish centralized mechanisms that facilitate even better industry-regulator communications.
Windows, Office, Azure – you're infrastructure for the internet. When a developer builds an inaccessible app on your platform, where does your responsibility end?
Microsoft is deeply committed to skilling and training. While it’s important for all creators to take ownership of the accessibility of the software and content they make, we want to empower them to build accessibly on our platforms. That starts with meeting accessibility standards for platforms and authoring tools, like those included in EN 301 549 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. It also includes providing tools like Accessibility Insights and GitHub AI Accessibility Scanner and supporting a range of extensions and plug-ins for Visual Studio Code, all of which makes it easier for developers to identify and correct accessibility issues during the design and development stages. And it includes providing robust training resources that are available to all via our Accessibility Resources and Training website.
How do you use your position to influence partners' accessibility practices without being preachy?
We believe strongly in the power of story, and sharing pieces like
this one highlighting how AI helps neurodivergent professionals showcase their strengths is one of the core tools we use to encourage partners to think more deeply about their own accessibility practices. To help them on their journey, we provide extensive training and skilling resources, like our Accessibility Fundamentals course that has been taken by more than 6,000,000 learners around the world, and resources to help partners avoid causing disability harms when using generative AI. We also ground our work in ongoing co-creation with the disability community and their expertise directly informs how we build and evolve our technologies.
EAA references standards that evolve. How do you design for compliance with standards that haven't been written yet?
Future-proofing new technologies is always a challenge, but a few practices have helped us be as ready as we can be for evolving EAA standards. First, existing standards are a good foundation, and we’ve been focused on standards like EN 301 549 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines for a long time. Even where there are no current standards, like for customer service, Microsoft has been an industry leader in creating accessible experiences, like our Disability Answer Desk, which puts us in a strong position when standards are finalized.
Second, we are active in standards-making activities, which helps standards organizations consider the practical implications of the requirements they create.
Third, the language of the EAA, itself, is a good guide. While the EAA isn’t always as clear as we’d like, it does a good job of setting out guiding principles.
Fourth, and perhaps most important, we listen to our customers. That includes getting input during the design stage and providing robust customer feedback mechanisms.
AI is transforming accessibility but also creating new barriers. What keeps you up at night?
We’re very excited about how AI can eliminate barriers, and we’re already seeing how people with disabilities are using Copilot and other AI tools to make the world more accessible. That said, the rapid pace of AI innovation underscores the need for strong accessibility governance and advancements in how we can utilize AI, itself, to create more accessible products. We also recognize the need for robust responsible AI practices to enable generative AI tools to accurately depict disability, which is why we released
free AI safety tools for creators and why we’ve entered several partnerships to increase the quantity and quality of disability-related data.
If you could mandate one change across the tech industry that would 10x accessibility progress, what would it be?
Generally, the largest members of the tech sector are already deeply invested in accessibility and accessibility innovation. The real leap forward will come when we are able to harness AI tools to make accessible product development faster and more cost effective so that every vibe coder, developer, and tech company can create accessible products despite their resources or know-how.
Interview by Karolina Mendecka
Business Accessibility Forum Director