Accessibility Features in Office365

Teachers are challenged every day to meet the needs of all their learners and to develop an environment where all students are set up for success. This is no small feat. Microsoft has added a number of accessibility feature to Office365 and desktop products to make it easier to meet the needs of students and families – not only students with disabilities, but any student who is in need of additional support. Again, this post will focus on how you can use the tools that you are already familiar with in slightly new ways to improve your communication and teaching. The following are a few of the accessibility features of Office365 that I take advantage of most often. The list is certainly not comprehensive.

Immersive Reader – This tool is invaluable for helping students physically be able to read, learn to read, and listen to text read to them. Users can change the background and text colors to make reading easier/possible for students with visual disabilities and dyslexia. Users can select different parts of speech to appear in different colors, helping with grammar reinforcement. Users can have the text on the screen read aloud. There is even now a picture dictionary available, so users can see an image of selected words, improving understanding of the text. Research has shown that use of the Immersive Reader tool improves comprehension and encourages independent reading. This tool is available in the online versions of Microsoft OneNote, Word, and Outlook and as an add-in for desktop versions of the same programs. Here’s an example of what the Immersive Reader looks like in OneNote:

Translator – Microsoft offers a number of translator tools, at varying levels of assistance. I use these features in the desktop versions of the Microsoft Office programs. In Word, you have three options for translation:

The one that I want to focus on is the third, Mini Translator. When this is turned on, the user can hover over a word to get the translation. Powerful tool for higher level English Language learners who still need some help, but don’t need entire texts translated. All translations are made through Microsoft Translator, which isn’t perfect, but it is definitely a huge help for allowing students to be independent in their work, whether they need entire documents or OneNote notebooks translated or if they just need a word here or there.

**BONUS – have you visited the Microsoft Translator website? This translates live speech into other languages (translation is written, not spoken). Translated subtitles can be added to PowerPoint presentations and individuals can follow a translated conversation online. Powerful tool for in class participation, meetings, conferences, and community events (open house, back to school night, etc.) Check it out!

Check Accessibility – This feature allows users to check their documents for possible accessibility issues – images without a caption, text that does not have sufficient contrast with the background, etc. It offers suggestions for change. Quick and easy way for educators to make sure they are providing accessible materials to their students!

Reaching all of our learners as completely as possible is so important, but it doesn’t have to be difficult or time intensive when using the right tools. What accessibility features of Microsoft do you most often use? Comment below!