LinkedIn users will be delighted to hear that the social networking and recruitment platform is introducing a significant accessibility upgrade through Microsoft. The move comes as a timely recognition of Dyslexia Awareness Month and National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
Engadget reports that LinkedIn’s latest accessibility upgrade includes the integration of Microsoft’s Immersive Reader, which aims to improve user experience by addressing the challenges of accessing and digesting content on websites.
All articles and newsletters on LinkedIn will now include an Immersive Reader icon, providing users with a range of accessibility tools to help them consume lengthy and complex pages more comfortably.
One of the most notable features is a text-to-speech aid, which LinkedIn promises can accurately pronounce and enunciate words, even those spelled the same but have different meanings. This will benefit users who struggle with reading or have dyslexia.
If you tend to get distracted while reading, there is a helpful feature called Content Isolation that can come to your rescue. This feature extracts only the essential text from the surrounding page and displays it on a plain background, making it easier to focus on the content. What’s more, you can personalize the appearance of the text by adjusting the colors, fonts, and sizes to your liking.
While this technology is not entirely new and has been used in various Microsoft services and other platforms, it is groundbreaking to see it integrated directly into a social media site like LinkedIn.
Immersive Reader on LinkedIn aligns with the platform’s commitment to inclusivity and accessibility. By making content easier to consume, individuals with learning differences or disabilities will have a more equitable experience.
As LinkedIn takes this significant step towards enhancing accessibility, users can expect a more user-friendly and inclusive environment for networking, job hunting, and content consumption.
