Removing the barriers to inclusion with the help of AI
AI-powered translation in Microsoft Teams opens up the hearing workplace to those who are hard of hearing
Philip Maguire realised his professional life was going to dramatically change the day he attended a senior management meeting and could not hear or understand what his colleagues around him were saying.
Maguire, an official with the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland, was not born deaf, but in more recent years became profoundly deaf, and started using hearing aids, including portable ‘induction loops’ to keep pace with his busy job in communications.
On a one-to-one basis and in-person, these devices worked well; however, they became redundant at large meetings, where many voices, mixed with background noise, made it impossible to hear an active, two-way conversation.
Isolation during a pandemic
Maguire’s difficulties were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic as the physical workplace disappeared overnight and everything went virtual. “I really struggled to understand what people were saying during our online meetings. It was very hard as everything was happening on-screen and I wasn’t able to keep up”.
His challenges were further compounded by having to manage a large team, and support and guide them at the start of the pandemic. He found his lack of hearing, in real-time, tremendously debilitating.
Outside of work, Maguire was struggling to communicate with his family, some of whom live overseas. Family conversations that people often take for granted became difficult, and he felt like he was missing out on truly connecting, including with his sister who had just welcomed a new grandchild. Due to the pandemic, everyone missed out on routine social occasions such as going to the cinema or relaxing over a drink with friends in a bar; for the millions of deaf people around the world, Covid-19 exacerbated their experience of social isolation.
A community of 70 million people worldwide
Maguire is just one of 70 million deaf people around the world who struggle with workplaces that revolve around audio solutions. According to the World Economic Forum, people with disabilities, of whom there are over 1.3 billion globally, are 50% less likely to get jobs and when they do, those jobs tend to be at lower corporate levels than those without a disability.
Live translation for captions in Microsoft Teams: A game changer
In 2022, during the pandemic, Microsoft introduced Microsoft Speech Translation technology, powered by Azure Cognitive Services. As part of this offering, meeting participants in Microsoft Teams could now see spoken words immediately on screen in the form of captions, translated into a choice of 40 spoken languages. Maguire describes Microsoft’s new Teams features as a “game changer that has greatly enriched my worklife.”
“It has moved me from a place of isolation to a place of participation,” Maguire explains. “I could not do the job I am doing now without these features in Microsoft Teams.”
“Features like this can level the playing field by removing the hurdle of disability and allowing deaf employees to be themselves and play a full and active role in the workplace.”
Maguire has a challenging and busy job, managing a large digital team in the Department of Finance. He mainly works remotely. Microsoft’s new speech translation technology has allowed Philip to, “pick up every word people are saying” because he can read it in real time.
Tools like this, that are powered by AI, “take the stress out of meetings for those who are deaf,” says Maguire. “I can assess how my team is doing and I can connect better with conversations, humour, banter, and the ordinary flow of day-to-day conversation.”
Digital transformation to build an inclusive workplace
Maguire urges employers to embrace AI technologies that remove barriers for the deaf community, giving them more confidence to fully participate in the workplace.
He suggests that while some employers may baulk at hiring people who are hard of hearing, such technologies can truly encourage a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
“There is a potential employee pool of one billion talented people globally who are living with a disability of some sort,” says Maguire. “Investing in such technologies is a win-win.”
Digital transformation can help to empower those with a disability to play a full and active role in the workplace, not only boosting social inclusion but driving economic activity and building a fairer and more inclusive workforce.