Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications

    Microsoft Makes Year-End Improvements to Office 365 Accessibility

    By
    Pedro Hernandez
    -
    December 21, 2016
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      Office 365 Accessibility 2

      Microsoft is closing out the year with new updates that make Office 365 documents easier to read for individuals with less than perfect eyesight, among other conditions.

      Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Office group, took to his company’s official blog to announce the new content creation features in Office 365 aimed at making documents and other content produced by the productivity suite accessible to practically every person who wants them. Among those features is an Accessibility Checker function that’s easier for users to find.

      “The Accessibility Checker is now easily discoverable in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook and Visio, helping you ensure your content can be consumed without barriers by people with varying levels of vision, hearing, cognition and mobility,” Koenigsbauer wrote. “The Accessibility Checker analyzes your material and provides recommendations alongside your document, helping you understand how to fix errors and create more accessible content over time.”

      In Word and other Office applications, the Check Accessibility option can be found under the Review tab. The feature is available now in the Windows desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook and Visio, as well as Office Online and Office for Mac.

      Outlook on the Web now allows commercial customers to promote a more inclusive environment for coworkers with disabilities.

      Users can now enable Outlook MailTips requesting accessible content, Koenigsbauer announced. This will remind users to run Accessibility Checker before sending an email to a specific address, encouraging them to fix issues that make it tough for their colleagues to get the message as intended. The feature is also in the works for Outlook on Windows PCs, he added.

      PowerPoint and Word will soon get an intelligent descriptive text feature for images based on the software’s new Designer functionality that assists users in creating professional-grade presentations.

      The feature automatically generates suggested alternative text descriptions for images that appear in PowerPoint presentations and Word documents. The feature employs Microsoft’s Computer Vision Cognitive Service, an image analysis technology that uses machine learning to identify visual content and label it.

      As more users put the automatic alternative text creation feature through its paces, Microsoft hopes to include it in more of its applications and platforms, Koenigsbauer said.

      Finally, Microsoft wants people who use screen readers to easily determine what shared files and websites have in store before they click on a link. Instead of attaching long, cryptic URLs, Microsoft will soon enable a feature that generates meaningful, more user-friendly display names.

      “Now when you click to insert a hyperlink, a Recent Items list similar to the one in Outlook will show your recently used files on SharePoint, OneDrive and OneDrive for Business, as well as webpages already copied to your clipboard,” Koenigsbauer explained.

      After selecting a link, the display text automatically defaults to the file or web page name, instead of a URL. Alternately, users can add their own display text, he wrote.

      Pedro Hernandez
      Pedro Hernandez is a contributor to eWEEK and the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Previously, he served as a managing editor for the Internet.com network of IT-related websites and as the Green IT curator for GigaOM Pro.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×