Al Reducing Barriers for People with Disabilities to Enter Workforce: Hector Minto

He walks into the meeting room and starts talking about the Indian Premier League (IPL), a popular club cricket tournament in India, and team jersey colors. “Imagine two teams playing in blue and yellow jerseys on a green cricket pitch,” he says.

- Rajat Agrawal

As hard as I try to imagine Chennai playing Mumbai at the Wankhede stadium, I'm left wondering whether I am in the right room and if he's the person I'm supposed to be talking to about Microsoft's role in making the physical and digital world accessible to everyone. As it turns out, he is indeed the one.

“You may not realize but people with color blindness might not be able to see an IPL match between Chennai and Mumbai. And that's a Windows moment. On Windows 10, you can select a color filter in the ease of access settings that enables people with color blindness to access that content. It is built-in by default and you don't need to add anything,” he exclaims without skipping a beat.

Seeing the confusion writ large on my face, he clarifies, “We don't live in a world where there's enough voice on disability for a majority of people to consider the accessibility requirements of diverse groups. As Microsoft, we design these experiences to enable people to turn to a routine tool and feel included.”

Passion for alternative communication

Meet Hector Minto, Microsoft's Senior Technology Evangelist for Accessibility, based out of Oxford, UK. A chemistry graduate, he's been working in the accessibility technology space for over two decades. From selling specialized devices that include a page-turner for people who can't move their limbs to talking computers called Lightwriters from Toby Churchill to helping people who can't speak communicate, he's even worked with the late Professor Stephen Hawking on his communication aid.