And as has become customary in the last few years, major tech companies are taking this week as a chance to share their latest accessibility-minded products. From Apple and Google to Webex and Adobe, the industry's biggest players have launched new features to make their products easier to use. The company actually had a huge set of updates to share, which makes sense since it typically releases most of its accessibility-centric news at this time each year. For 2023, Apple is introducing Assistive Access, which is an accessibility setting that, when turned on, changes the home screen for iPhone and iPad to a layout with fewer distractions and icons. You can choose from a row-based or grid-based layout, and the latter would result in a 2x3 arrangement of large icons.

Speech recognition company Voiceitt has announced it's integrating its technology into Webex Meetings. Building on Webex's existing live translations, Voiceitt's AI establishes and transcribes what people with non-standard speech are saying on calls. Its machine learning technology works by familiarizing itself with a person's speech patterns to better understand what they want to communicate, predicting phrases and elaborating on user-chosen shortcuts. Voiceitt is available as a standalone app, but the new partnership means Webex Meetings will have a chat bar pop up with live transcriptions. "The integration with Webex is game-changing because it creates more independence for users with disabilities, while increasing the potential for more collaborative, inclusive work environments," Sara Smolley, co-founder and vice president of strategic partnerships at Voiceitt, said in a statement.

Speech is one of the most defining qualities of human beings. But for the 80 million adults and children in Europe living with speech impairments, according to figures from the Council of the European Union, even basic communication can be a challenge. Extensive European Commission studies have shown that such impairments can have major negative emotional and social impacts and can also get in the way of parents', teachers', and medical practitioners' ability to provide effective care. But Israeli research, backed by the EU's Horizon 2020 programme, is helping Europe's speech-impaired find their voice. "Mainstream speech recognition is developed with only'normal' speech in mind," says Danny Weissberg, CEO of Israeli startup Voiceitt.

When Whitney Bailey bought an Amazon Echo, she wanted to use the hands-free calling feature in case she fell and couldn't reach her phone. She hoped that it would offer her family some peace of mind and help make life a little easier. In some ways, she says, it does. But because she has cerebral palsy, her voice is strained when she talks, and she struggles to get Alexa to understand her. To make matters worse, having to repeat commands strains her voice even more.

Last year, M12, Microsoft's venture fund (formerly known as Microsoft Ventures), set out on a mission to uncover the most innovative startups harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform businesses and solve real-world challenges. Together with Madrona Venture Group, Notion and Vertex Ventures, we put a combined $3.5 million in investment funding on the line to kick off Innovate.AI, a global startup competition that would drive progress in AI and further Microsoft's commitment to making AI accessible for all. Six months later, we're overwhelmed with the response. Not only did we receive hundreds of submissions, the companies were all innovative, impactful and inspiring. In healthcare, startups are utilizing AI to create personal and mental health assistants, conduct drug research and diagnosis as well as spot patterns and abnormalities.

Voice-controlled technology like Amazon Echo, Siri or hands-free features in Google Maps are things we're starting to take for granted. But as Mary Meeker's 2017 Internet Trends Report noted, voice controls are changing computer-human interfaces, and industries, broadly. Speech recognition or voice controls are being added to medical devices and business applications, even vehicles and industrial robotics. But there's a problem -- voice systems have been built for standard speech today. That leaves out millions of people who live with speech impairments, or who just have a strong accent. Now, a Tel Aviv-based startup called Voiceitt has raised $2 million in seed funding to translate into clear words speech that's not easily intelligible.