The Abilities Centre has honoured Microsoft Canada with the 2019 Jim Flaherty Award for Leadership, Inclusion and Accessibility.
The award was presented in recognition to the inclusion strategy of the company. The Office 365 applications by Microsoft, for example, offer various built-in capabilities aimed at making content creation easier for everyone and ensuring that the content can be easily accessed by individuals with disabilities.
“At Microsoft, we believe in the transformative power of diversity and inclusion. Accessibility is essential to delivering on our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more,” said Kevin Peesker, President of Microsoft Canada.
The Jim Flaherty Award for Leadership, Inclusion and Accessibility recognizes an organization or individual that has contributed significantly to the development, advancement and promotion of inclusion and accessibility.
Last year, Microsoft Canada announced a CA$33.3 million program, AI for Accessibility, to help people with disabilities via technology developed using artificial intelligence. The program aims to harness the power of AI for amplifying human capabilities for over 1 billion specially-abled people across the globe.