Microsoft 365 Accessibility Assistant

Microsoft yesterday announced the new Accessibility Assistant in Microsoft 365 that will allow you to produce more accessible content with less effort. Accessibility Assistant comes with the following three key features:

  • Better defaults to prevent issues before they occur
  • Real-time and in-context remediation to correct issues as they arise
  • Clear, simple guidance that appears in the flow of work

A new color picker in Microsoft 365 Apps accounts for both creative license and the need for sufficient contrast between text and its background. The new color picker experience has two modes. Also, there is a new type of flag to call attention to accessibility issues while you write.

Later this year, Microsoft will be rolling out a new Accessibility Assistant pane that will display plain-language explanations that help you address entire categories of accessibility issues more easily.

Microsoft also revealed that Accessibility Assistant will fully replace the Accessibility Checker across the core Microsoft 365 Apps in the future.