The inequitable impact of the pandemic has made decreasing the gap in societal inclusion for people with disabilities more critical. Microsoft's chief marketing officer Hitu Chawla shares the global software major's efforts to reduce the 'disability divide'. A game-changing idea for 2022
Increasing voices on the inequitable impact of the pandemic should become a tipping point for change towards a more accessible post-Covid world and drive disability consciousness among brand marketers. Representational image: Shutterstock
In 2019, Microsoft swept up major awards at international advertising festivals for ‘Changing the Game’, a campaign for the Xbox Adaptive Controller, which was made for gamers with limited mobility.
The controller was designed to make gaming more accessible, and the experience easier and enjoyable for people with disabilities. Designers used the feedback they got from gamers and disability advocates to shape the product’s features, including the packaging.
Gamers they spoke with provided valuable insights, including stipulations like ‘no teeth’. They said they use their teeth to open everything from cereal boxes to beer bottles. The adaptive controller’s box shouldn't require any teeth and gnawing to open.