Microsoft presents its new Accessibility Assistant for Microsoft 365 that provides corrections in real time

March 10 (Portaltic/EP) –

Microsoft has presented his new accessibility assistant for working software Microsoft 365which is based on a tool kitsuch as the color picker, which provide options for users to fix accessibility issues in real time.

The technology company has developed this function with the aim of help users produce “more accessible with less effort” content thanks checking and troubleshooting accessibility.

As indicated by Microsoft in a statement from your websitethe Accessibility Assistant works similar to the spelling and grammar check, which they flag problems as they occur and offer solutions on the spot.

While the user is creating content, be it a Word document, email, or Power Point slide, the Wizard will show options to improve defaults and “avoid trouble before they happen.”

In this sense, Microsoft will show a icon in the form of a silhouette of a person which will appear when the Assistant registers a potential accessibility issue while the user is developing content. This icon will be placed on the left margin of the document at the height of the problem.

One of the functions of the Accessibility Wizard is advise the text color to usesince it is the accessibility problem that Microsoft identifies as “most frequent” in Word documents. In case of using a color that is not readable and pose a problem for some people, the icon will appear to offer other solutions.

To the click on said iconHE displays a menu with an explanation of the error and with options to solve it. To do this, Microsoft has highlighted that the Wizard includes a new color picker which takes into account both “creative license” and the need for sufficient contrast between the text and its background.

With the new color picker you can offer two new functions in it toolbar color menu. On the one hand, it add information to guide the user toward colors that have sufficient contrast. Thus, when positioned on a color, an example of how the text would look is shown and notifications about whether it is a combination with high contrast or low contrast.

On the other hand, the color picker also includes a new button which, once activated, will only display high contrast colorseliminating those that do not meet the contrast requirements.

Another of the recommendations that the Assistant can make is to warn the user that they must review the description of an image powered by Artificial Intelligence (IA), which has been generated by the document itself. In this case, the icon will appear next to the image.

He accessibility assistant will begin to implement “in the coming weeks” in Microsoft Insiders, so that users belonging to the community can test it and “tune the experience”. Similarly, looking to the future, the company intends to expand the range of themes and smart features for the Assistant.

ACCESSIBILITY ASSISTANT PANEL

Microsoft has also introduced a new Accessibility Assistant panel to be implemented “later in 2023”. This panel provides a “clean and efficient” interface that details all accessibility issues that have been identified in the document, organizing them by categories.

So, clicking on one of the problems on the panelHE sample directly the part of the document where is it located and HE recommend a solution. This tool, which is displayed by clicking on one of the options that appears in the Assistant’s recommendations menu, is designed for those users who like fix all the problems at the endaccording to the company.