Seeing AI, the app that narrates the world, is now available in 14 additional languages

At the Ability Summit 2024, which took place digitally on March 7, Microsoft announced several new capabilities for AI features specifically tailored to suit accessibility needs. On this occasion, the Redmond-based tech giant emphasizes the need to build accessibility-inclusive technologies, stating:

Accessible technology is crucial to empowering the 1.3 billion-plus people with disabilities globally. With this new chapter of AI, the possibilities are growing, as is the responsibility to get it right. We are learning where AI can be impactful, from the potential to shorten the gap between thoughts and action, to making it easier to code and create. But there is more to do, and we will continue to leverage every tool in the technology toolbox to advance accessibility.

Microsoft

And with it, Microsoft said users should expect a plethora of new capabilities to fit their needs, including expanding language support for Seeing AI, an app that the Redmond-based tech giant released a few months ago, capable of narrating the world to visually impaired people. The app uses generative AI to do so, and at launch, it was available in 18 languages including Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian Bokmal, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.

Seeing AI is now available in an additional 14 languages (total 33) and will be rolling out the latest generative AI models, including richer descriptions of images and chat capability for photos and documents.

Microsoft

Previously available only on Android at launch, Microsoft released the Seeing AI app to iOS, as well, alongside its expanded language support.

The Ability Summit 2024 highlighted several other Microsoft platforms that emphasize accessibility including Windows Copilot, which is set to introduce Live Captions, and Narrator, among other accessibility-oriented technologies.

Microsoft also talked about the Accessibility Assistant, a set of tools to help creators produce accessible content on Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint, available to Insiders already.

You can read the entire blog post here.