Improving Skype accessibility

Across Microsoft, we are working to make technology more accessible and empower people to achieve more. We take feedback very seriously and are grateful to our active accessibility community who point us to areas of improvement. Following recent updates to Skype, your comments helped direct us to the areas of our new versions where change was most needed and could be most impactful. We have been working continuously since that time to understand the needs of our customers and have recently issued updates across platforms containing several improvements to address those issues. Accessibility is a journey and there are more fixes to come and we actively want and encourage feedback so we can deliver the right experience that empowers all our customers.

At Skype, and across the company, accessibility is a priority. We know that technology can play an important role in creating a more accessible and inclusive world. We are committed to continually improving our software and services to meet the needs of all our customers.

For the next updates to Skype, we are focusing on Mac, iOS, Windows Desktop, and Android. Although there are still more fixes and improvements to come, the Skype team has been focusing on the following areas: improving visible keyboard focus, eliminating cases where keyboard focus moves to non-actionable controls, ensuring keyboard focus moves back to the controls that opened a dialog or menu after the dialog or menu was closed, improving the accessible names and labels of controls, and improving the control types used.

Please do share thoughts and ideas via the Microsoft Accessibility UserVoice or contact the Disability Answer Desk for real-time support via phone, chat, or ASL videophone. If you are an early adopter, and comfortable with early preview releases, please consider joining the Skype Insider community.  Your feedback is invaluable to these efforts—it’s not just important, it’s essential!