Akari are excited to welcome ADI (Akari Diversity & Inclusion), our new accessibility app. ADI is designed to answer your questions around everything Microsoft, accessibility, and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside helpful resources to aid you in becoming more inclusive within your organisation, ADI provides helpful tips and videos across Windows 10, Office 365 and Microsoft Teams.
“Being inclusive isn’t just about adapting physical spaces; technology literacy is just as vital for social inclusion.”
At Akari, inclusion and accessibility are more than just words; they underpin everything we do and as an organisation who believes in diversity and a level playing field for all, we try to see life through a different lens. Akari are the only Scottish technology company within the Microsoft ecosystem to win one of the Microsoft global awards this year – the Diversity and Inclusion Changemaker partner of the year award.
“At Akari we are striving to level the playing field for everyone and anyone. ADI is a huge step in that journey as it provides access to vital tools, resources and information for those with disabilities including hidden or situational. As it is free to all users there is no barrier to the software or information, and it is inclusive to all. As the parent of a child with HFA I am aware of how important it is to equip people with the tools they need to succeed and ADI is a step forward in ensuring that people can use technology to create a more equal playing field at school and at work.” – Margaret Totten, Managing Director
Over the past six months, more and more people have had to work remotely, and with this an increase in Microsoft Teams daily users, chat usage has increased by 48% and we have seen an increase in 55% in Teams meetings and calls. It is more vital than ever that individuals have the tools and features that they need to fulfil daily tasks. ADI helps by pointing users in the right direction to find information with Microsoft Teams or Office 365 for accessibility features, such as immersive reader, live caption, and message translation.
ADI is available for free as a lite version of our award-winning app AVA that can be accessed through Microsoft Teams. ADI uses the latest in cloud technologies powered by Bytes Azure. You can ask ADI questions such as, ‘My new employee is dyslexic, how can I support them?’ and ‘Where do I find Immersive Reader in Teams?’ ADI will respond with conversational how-to answers, as well as bitesize videos and external resources.
Our mission is to provide an opportunity to any individual or business, regardless of permanent, temporary, situational or hidden disabilities, mental health, gender or age; ADI levels the playing field by providing users with the appropriate tools and information to complete their job in a way that is useful to them.
ADI can also be used to support change management programmes and supplement training by pointing employees to bitesize videos, respond with conversational FAQs, external resources on subjects such as diversity, inclusion and how to be a better ally.
The latest government accessibility campaign outlines four steps you should take to create accessible content for the web and internal consumption. These steps are: understand how the regulations will impact your organisation, decide how to check your website or app for accessibility problems, make a plan to fix any accessibility problems you find and publish an accessibility statement. A key focus of these guidelines is making documents accessible as well as raising awareness between colleagues on what accessibility means and how to become an accessibility champion.
ADI cares about your wellbeing, from starting a conversation about how you’re feeling and what is troubling you, ADI will also provide fun affirmations and tell you jokes to cheer you up and help you focus.
“ADI brings together the best of Akari’s knowledge across the D&I and accessibility space into one application, demonstrating the commitment Microsoft & Akari have to empower users through accessible content which is easy to access. Built by Akari, powered by Microsoft Azure and hosted via Bytes it shows the strength of our technical and change partnerships.” – Tom Hind, Chief Technical Officer
Akari are offering ADI for free to any organisation who want to explore the capabilities of Microsoft Teams applications within Microsoft 365. ADI shows immediate value by introducing a friendly face who can interact on demand and provide access to a knowledgebase of answers across various topics for which you may not have an internal repository.
ADI will be able to answer more questions over time! Keep an eye out for updates and announcements – If you feel like ADI would benefit from being able to supply information on a topic, please send this to suggesttoadi@akari.io and we will get back to you if it’s added.
To try out ADI for yourself just navigate to the app store within Microsoft Teams, or Microsoft AppSource from Monday 12th October 2020 . If you need IT to enable ADI, send the AppSource link to your administrator.
About Our Partner
Bytes is a leading UK provider of IT solutions. As a Microsoft Gold Partner – and with a fast-growing portfolio that includes cloud, security and managed services – Bytes use their expertise to help well-known brands and public sector organisations digitally transform, innovate and improve people’s lives. For further information, please visit: https://www.bytes.co.uk/
