LinkedIn's Latest Accessibility Integration Helps All Members Access Content More Easily

In honor of Dyslexia Awareness Month and National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we’re giving professionals a new tool for digesting content in a way that works best for them with the integration of Microsoft’s Immersive Reader.  

With this update we can help meet a more diverse set of reader preferences and needs by unlocking the ability to read content aloud, translate content in real-time and change reading and text preferences. This new accessibility feature is particularly useful amongst members with dyslexia, making it much easier for them to read and enjoy long form articles and content. 

With just one click, individuals can access a set of tools via the Immersive Reader icon on any article or newsletter that’s published on LinkedIn. The features include:

Text to Speech: Reading articles aloud and distinguishing between words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently makes it easier for auditory learners and those with visual impairments to consume and process content. It can also be enjoyed by someone who wants to listen to an article while they’re doing something else, like cooking dinner or driving. Immersive Reader supports more than 60 text-to-speech languages.

Content Isolation: Isolating the main text declutters your reading experience and helps you focus on the main content that you’re interested in. Immersive Reader also supports line focus which helps focus on a line (or a few) at a time.

Syllable Splitting: Breaking down complex words into smaller sounds or parts helps you understand and say the new terms with ease.

Real-Time Translations: Instant translations into your preferred language (with support for more than 100 languages) helps remove language barriers and they’re also a handy tool for anyone looking to learn a new language.

The integration of the Immersive Reader in LinkedIn reflects our ongoing commitment to accommodate our members’ diverse preferences and accessibility needs and helps in advancing our vision to equalize access to content and create a digitally inclusive experience for all of our members regardless of their goals, ideas, or abilities. We hope our learnings and product updates further the conversation around building inclusive, equitable workplaces everywhere.