Microsoft touts easier browsing for the blind and visually impared with Internet Explorer 11

In an official new blog post, Microsoft is highlighting an improvement that comes with Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 8.1 that provides easier browsing for the blind and visually impaired. There is also better input with Asian languages.

“Internet Explorer 11 makes browsing the Web easier for blind and visually impaired users who rely on screen readers, such as Windows Narrator. With the editing and input improvements in IE11, screen readers can better inform users about the current content of an editing region, and typing with East Asian languages using an Input Method Editor (IME) is now easier,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

Internet Explorer 11 will now auto-correct misspelled words and lets the user know via a notification that auto-correct is taking place. IE11 also allows the screen reader to announce what letters are being deleted when hitting the backspace button.

“IE11 provides more detailed notifications to screen readers, so users can better understand the content they are reading or editing. For example, Microsoft Narrator says “bold” and “end bold” to let the user know that a section of text was emphasized with bold styling,” Microsoft adds.

With IE11, the screen reader can also read out the Asian language characters as they are typed phonetically on an English keyboard. Microsoft adds that with IE11, writing an email or reading a document is easier than ever when using a screen reader.

IE11 rolls out with Windows 8.1 on October 17th.