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Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Microsoft chief accessibility officer

October 2018. Subscribe to WIRED. Plunkett + Kuhr Designers

I’ve had deafness since I was little. My sister was born with congenital deafness, and my dad has some too. You’re not really in the cool gang in my family if you don’t have some hearing loss.

When I joined Microsoft, in 2005, I led European operations that provided customer service for Hotmail and other products. I also became a leader in the company’s disability community. At one point, I wrote a white paper on accessibility and later launched a support department for customers with disabilities called the Disability Answer Desk. It now takes around 200,000 calls per year. The people who staff it know the etiquette, the language, the technologies to use—for example, using video to chat with deaf customers so they can use sign language.

Jenny Lay-Flurrie Secret rabbit-hole obsession:

Action movies

—

First computer:

Sinclair ZX8O

I believe we’re getting better at designing services and technologies to be inclusive. You can move a mouse with your eyes. I can click a button to get captioning on a PowerPoint presentation. We have an app that allows the blind to navigate using 3-D audio cues. Technology has so much potential to revolutionize the world for people with disabilities. —As told to Lauren Goode

How to Design an Inclusive Office

“I have team members in power wheelchairs, who are blind, who are deaf, who have autism, the whole gambit,” Lay-Flurrie says. Here are her tips on how to help them all thrive.

The sign for “lead” Michelle Groskopf

Entries and exits

Doors should be powered and the areas around them uncrowded, so that a wheelchair can easily turn around. Lay-Flurrie recommends adding tactile strips on the ground to guide blind people.

Seating and Windows

Seat placement makes a difference. If you are hearing impaired, backlighting from bright windows can obscure others’ faces and make lip­reading challenging.

Furnishings and Colors

Avoid thick rugs, which can snag wheelchairs. Furniture and carpeting should not be too close in color—a tripping hazard for those with low vision. Glass walls are also a risk; adding visual markers helps.

Lighting and sound

Some people may benefit from desk lamps that soften fluorescent lighting or noise-cancelling headphones that dampen ambient sound. Consult with employees individually to learn how they work best.

This article appears in the October issue. Subscribe now.

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