Microsoft Becomes the First Company to Sign the “Made By Dyslexia” Pledge

Have you heard about the Made By Dyslexia pledge? The pledge asks companies to “value dyslexic thinking” and take steps toward supporting people with dyslexia. The pledge got off to a promising start in October when Microsoft became the first company to sign it.

The tech giant signed the pledge at Made By Dyslexia’s global dyslexia summit in London. During the summit, Made By Dyslexia also announced a partnership with Microsoft. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he’s honored to give people with dyslexia “technology and free intervention and training materials to ensure they can realize their brilliant potential.”

Over the last few years, Microsoft has made big moves to support kids with dyslexia. Their new Learning Tools are bringing text-to-speech and other assistive technology to classrooms around the world. Microsoft provides these tools for free to teachers and students.

Made By Dyslexia is a global charity led by successful people with dyslexia, like entrepreneur Richard Branson. At the London summit, attendees from around the world discussed the unique skills of people with dyslexia, while thousands watched live. The charity also filmed interviews with actors Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley and with scientist Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock about their experiences with dyslexia.

Now that Microsoft has signed the Made By Dyslexia pledge, many in the dyslexia community hope more companies will follow.

Learn more about assistive technology for reading. That includes software programs for reading issues, like Microsoft’s Immersive Reader. And check out a day in the life of a child with dyslexia.

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Photo credit: Made By Dyslexia via Facebook