By acting as a link between French users with disabilities and the teams responsible for adapting the products, based in the United States, Philippe Trotin contributes to the development of Microsoft’s digital accessibility.
When and why did Microsoft decide to take digital accessibility into account?
Since its creation, Microsoft has integrated accessibility features into its products. In the United States, large companies have started to worry about it under pressure from legal actions taken by users. Microsoft has long incorporated accessibility features into its products. And Satya Nadella, president of the company since 2014, has increased the focus on this topic. The fact that he had a child with a disability undoubtedly contributed to this shift. It took us three years to make our internal environments, websites and applications accessible. More broadly, since the arrival of Satya, the subjects of diversity and inclusion as a whole have been taken into greater consideration in the company.
You are dysorthographic and your mother is blind. To what extent does digital accessibility make your life at work, and life in general for your mother, easier?
Previously, my mother used braille and a dictaphone. Today, whether for visually impaired or “dys” people, it is possible to dictate documents or emails and do research using your voice, which was unimaginable a few years ago. In addition, listening to your computer has become pleasant, with more natural voices, compared to a time when they were robotic and difficult to understand.
Can you give examples of features that compensate for a disability in Microsoft products?
Windows integrates many accessibility features, grouped in the settings, which can be found at any time by pressing the Windows + U keys. They make it possible to compensate for vision, hearing and interaction difficulties. It is thus possible to have a magnifying glass, adapt your mouse, activate a color filter (for people with color blindness), increase contrasts or activate an audio narrator for blind people. . However, we must remain humble and people with disabilities allow us to progress every day.
Is artificial intelligence helping you improve these features?
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