Importance of accessibility

- [Narrator] Hector stands in a white room with bookshelves and a fireplace. - Accessibility is both a responsibility and, as we have learned at Microsoft, accessibility is an opportunity. Now, at its core, accessibility is all about creating better experiences for everyone. Most people I meet have a good sense of what accessibility means in the physical world. We see it, right? Ramps up to buildings, hearing loops installed, railings around stairways, tactile buttons in elevators. It's a given that modern building codes include people with disabilities. These are all what we might call accommodations built into the design of products. What you may or may not realize is that these accommodations also exist in today's digital technology. In fact, many of them have been there for awhile, but perhaps they're less well-known, hidden, or perhaps you're using them without even knowing it. Take word prediction. - [Narrator] As a hand types on a phone keyboard, predictions are generated on the screen. - This started as a technology for people with speech disabilities, looking for a way to speed up and stay in the conversation, with text to speech devices or talking computers. - [Narrator] On a computer screen, predictions are generated over a on-screen keyboard. - As it turned out, this became highly discoverable on touchscreen devices, and we all love it. Around the same time word prediction became popular, Microsoft was adding one-handed typing to Windows. You really should try it. - [Narrator] A diagram of a keyboard labeled Sticky Keys appears against a white background. - If you're on any kind of PC right now, if you press your right Shift key five times, you can turn on what we call sticky keys. - [Narrator] The Shift key at the bottom right of the keyboard is highlighted. - You just have to press one key at a time. No hands gymnastics required to print, or three fingers at once, Control Alt Delete. - [Narrator] The Control, Alt, and Delete keys remain highlighted as they're pressed one after the other. - The keys become sticky so you don't have to hold them down. Think of it this way. You're pressing Control then P instead of Control and P at the same time. I know about this feature and have used it once or twice when I find myself carrying my kids or in turbulence on a flight, holding my coffee while typing. But in reality, the audience for this feature is smaller, so it hasn't reached a mainstream audience. But if you're someone who has had a limb amputated, had a hemiplegic stroke, or broken your arm, this feature is extremely important to you. And that's the importance of accessibility right there. The tools you need in the circumstance you find yourself in. The social model of disability suggests that it's our situation that disables us, focusing less on a medical model of diagnosis. All of us find ourselves disabled at some time, and we need our tech to work for us. This is why organizations like Microsoft are investing so heavily in inclusive accessibility solutions.