Hector Minto, Lead Accessibility Evangelist for Microsoft, joins communications specialist Sue Keogh to explain how AI is transforming the ability to create fast, accurate captions, and how to make your digital content more accessible and inclusive. Plus a trip to the Tate, and how the clarity of their artwork descriptions make everyone feel welcome in their galleries.
Have you noticed how captions have become more commonplace nowadays. Influencers add text to their TikToks and Instagram reels so you can understand their content – even with the sound off. Or you might be in a Teams meeting and there will be live captions as it goes along – really helpful if you have issues with your hearing, or maybe English isn’t your first language…or you’re in a new job and just don’t know what everyone’s talking about!
My guest in this episode is Hector Minto, and he’s the Lead Accessibility Evangelist at Microsoft. He’s spent his career focusing on accessibility, assistive technology, and disability issues.
The day we met he was giving a talk on digital inclusion at a Lloyds Bank event – so we ducked off into a side room, where he told me about how AI is transforming the ability to create fast, accurate captions and the difference this is making so people don’t get left behind in an ever-more digital society.
He also shares some brilliant tips on alt text, captions and tools to make your content more accessible and inclusive.
Along the way, we’ll take a moment to think about Tate galleries– and how the clarity of the artwork descriptions and the font itself help break down barriers and make everyone feel welcome.
Show notes
About Hector Minto
Hector is a dedicated leader in accessibility and leads Microsoft customer and partner engagement strategy for accessibility, growing awareness of assistive technology inside the largest employers across all geographies.
He has worked in the field of Assistive Technology (AT) and accessibility for over 25 years, working with both established and emerging technologies, maximising their effectiveness across the wide range of people with physical, learning and sensory disabilities.
Hector is the current UK Government Disability and Access Ambassador for the Technology and Website sectors. He actively contributes to government consultations on disability inclusion and promotes inclusive design, product accessibility, inclusive hiring practices, and accessibility innovation.
His dedication to accessibility and his influential advocacy for disability rights have made him a visionary leader in the industry. His work continues to inspire and shape the future of inclusive technology.
Useful links
Connect on LinkedIn
Accessibility at work | LinkedIn Learning
Accessibility 101 | YouTube
Enterprise Disability Answer Desk
And thank you to
- Rob Birnie for production: https://madebydbm.com/
- Patrick Holgado for marketing support
- The Cranes Nest podcast studio in Cambridge: https://www.thecranenest.co.uk/
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