{"id":95085,"date":"2019-06-14T16:23:36","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T16:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/?p=433372"},"modified":"2019-06-14T16:23:36","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T16:23:36","slug":"for-help-using-microsofts-assistive-technology-dad-has-the-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/06\/14\/for-help-using-microsofts-assistive-technology-dad-has-the-answers\/","title":{"rendered":"For help using Microsoft\u2019s assistive technology, DAD has the answers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Globally<\/span>, more than <\/span>1<\/span> billion people <\/span>are living <\/span>with<\/span> a <\/span>disabilit<\/span>y<\/span>, yet <\/span>just<\/span> <\/span>one in 10 people has access to assistive technology<\/span>,<\/span> <\/span>according to the <\/span>World Health Organization<\/span><\/a>. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\"aOver<\/span> the years, Microsoft has been<\/span> <\/span>building inclusi<\/span>on<\/span> into its products and services<\/span><\/a>. And to help everyone <\/span>get the most from accessibility resources, the company <\/span>has<\/span> the <\/span>Disability Answer Desk<\/span>,<\/span><\/a> <\/span>or DAD<\/span>.<\/span> It is <\/span>free<\/span>,<\/span> 24\/7 technical support from Microsoft experts <\/span>train<\/span>ed<\/span> i<\/span>n<\/span> assistive technologies.  <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to make the Disability Answer Desk a best-in-class support team for customers with disabilities and to use feedback to drive greater accessibility across our engineering teams,\u201d says Sean <\/span>Marihugh<\/span>, <\/span>an a<\/span>ccessibility <\/span>e<\/span>scalation <\/span>e<\/span>ngineer at Microsoft.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Technology has the power to strengthen opportunities for <\/span>everyone<\/span>, but it must be intuitive to have an impact. DAD<\/span> gives<\/span> customers the technical support they need while gathering critical feedback to improve the assistive features in products. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

[Subscribe to <\/span><\/i>Microsoft on the Issues<\/span><\/i><\/a> for more on the topics that matter most.]<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\"aEach year, DAD experts field about 150,000 inquiries, assisting customers with products <\/span>such as<\/span> Office 365, Xbox, Windows and Skype, as well as third-party assistive technologies, <\/span>such as<\/span> <\/span>screen readers, screen magnifiers<\/span>,<\/span> and speech recognition software.  <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Microsoft has<\/span> also<\/span> established an <\/span>Enterprise Disability Answer Desk<\/span><\/a>, or<\/span> <\/span>e<\/span>DAD<\/span>,<\/span> that supports enterprise customers. Available globally as a free service in English, eDAD also reports customer feedback to specific product teams so they can quickly resolve <\/span>issues.  <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith eDAD, we have the potential to empower people with disabilities to achieve more at work and school<\/span>\u2014<\/span>and enable organizations to provide more accessible experiences to their employees and customers,\u201d says <\/span>Crystal Jones,<\/span> also<\/span> <\/span>an a<\/span>ccessibility <\/span>e<\/span>scalation <\/span>e<\/span>ngineer at Microsoft. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Since introducing DAD in 2012, Microsoft has extended the service to customers in 11 English-speaking countries: the <\/span>US, UK, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, Australia<\/span>,<\/span> and India. The service has been rolled out to French<\/span>\u2013<\/span> and Spanish-speaking countries<\/span>,<\/span> including <\/span>France, Belgium, Canada, Mexico<\/span>,<\/span> and Spain<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

With eDAD, we have the potential to empower people with disabilities to achieve more at work and school<\/span>\u2014and<\/span> enable organizations to provide more accessible experiences to their employees and customers.
\u2014Crystal Jones<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

DAD <\/span>also has<\/span> <\/span>American Sign Language support<\/span> <\/span>through<\/span> videophone<\/span>. P<\/span>eople who are blind or have low vision <\/span>can use<\/span> <\/span>Be My Eyes<\/span><\/a>, a free app that connects customers<\/span> <\/span>through<\/span> <\/span>live <\/span>video call<\/span>s<\/span>. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

DAD is among a growing number of <\/span>efforts by Microsoft to empower people with disabilities<\/span><\/a> and create a more inclusive work environment. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

For more on these innovations and accessibility initiatives at <\/span><\/i>Microsoft,<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>visit<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>microsoft.com\/<\/span><\/i>en<\/span><\/i>-us\/accessibility<\/span><\/i>. <\/span><\/i>A<\/span><\/i>nd <\/span><\/i>follow @<\/span><\/i>MSFTIssues<\/span><\/i><\/a> <\/span><\/i>on Twitter.<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Globally, more than 1 billion people are living with a disability, yet just one in 10 people has access to assistive technology, according to the World Health Organization.   Over the years, Microsoft has been building inclusion into its products and services. And to help everyone get the most from accessibility resources, the company has the Disability Answer Desk, or DAD. It is free, 24\/7 technical support from Microsoft experts trained in assistive technologies.    \u201cOur goal is to make the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[63,50],"class_list":["post-95085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-accessibility","tag-recent-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Over the years, Microsoft has gradually expanded the channels <\/span>for<\/span> access<\/span>ing<\/span> the service. <\/span>DAD is available through <\/span>24\/7 chat service<\/a> <\/span>and on<\/span> <\/span>Twitter<\/span> <\/span>by sending a direct message to<\/span> @<\/span>MSFTEnable<\/span><\/a>. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n