Responsible AI FAQ

  • What is Ask Microsoft Accessibility?

    1. Ask Microsoft Accessibility is a chatbot system that helps users find and discover information related to the accessibility of Microsoft products and services. It is a type of natural language processing system that can understand and respond to user queries in plain English. At a high level, the system takes as input a user query related to accessibility, such as “How do I turn on narrator in Windows 10?” or “What are the accessibility features of Microsoft Teams?”. The system then searches for relevant information from various sources, such as Microsoft’s official accessibility website, online documentation, user forums, etc. The system produces as output a natural language answer that provides the requested information, such as “To turn on narrator in Windows 10, press the Windows logo key + Ctrl + Enter. To turn it off, press the same keys again.” or “Microsoft Teams has several accessibility features, such as keyboard shortcuts, live captions, immersive reader, high contrast mode, etc.” The system also provides links to more detailed resources if the user wants to learn more.

  • What can Ask Microsoft Accessibility do? 

    1. It can help users find and discover information related to the accessibility of Microsoft products and services, such as how to use keyboard shortcuts, adjust font size, enable captions, etc.

    2. It can provide users with links to more detailed resources, such as official documentation, user guides, etc.

    3. It can answer common questions about accessibility, such as what is accessibility, why is it important, how to report accessibility issues, etc.

    4. It can also provide users with feedback and suggestions on how to improve their accessibility experience, such as recommending new features, settings, or tools.

  • What is Ask Microsoft Accessibility’s intended use(s)?

    1. Ask Microsoft Accessibility's intended use is to provide users with easy and convenient access to information related to the accessibility of Microsoft products and services. 

  • How was Ask Microsoft Accessibility evaluated? What metrics are used to measure performance?

    1. We used manual red-teaming to evaluate the performance of the chatbot as well as to mitigate harms.

    2. The results show that Ask Microsoft Accessibility performs well across different types of user queries, such as how-to questions, feature questions, problem questions, etc. The system is able to provide accurate and relevant answers for most of the user queries, as well as links to more detailed resources if the user wants to learn more.

    3. The results suggest that Ask Microsoft Accessibility is a robust and reliable system that can handle a variety of user queries related to accessibility. However, the results are not fully generalizable across use cases that were not part of the evaluation, as there may be some limitations and challenges that the system may face in real-world scenarios, such as:

      • The system may encounter user queries that are ambiguous, incomplete, or out of scope, which may require more clarification or feedback from the user or the system.

      • The system may not have the most up-to-date or comprehensive information for some user queries, as the online documentation that Ask Microsoft Accessibility uses may not cover all the accessibility aspects of all the Microsoft products and services, or may not reflect the latest changes or updates.

      • The system may face some technical issues or errors, such as network latency, server downtime, or system bugs, which may affect the system’s performance or availability.

  • What are the limitations of Ask Microsoft Accessibility? How can users minimize the impact of [system or product name]’s limitations when using the system?

    1. Ask Microsoft Accessibility is not designed or evaluated for user queries that are not related to accessibility, such as queries about general topics, personal matters, or other Microsoft products and services that are not covered by the system’s knowledge base. The system may not be able to provide accurate or relevant answers for such queries, or may provide generic or default responses instead.

    2. Like any AI system, it is not perfect and may sometimes produce incorrect answers. This is called hallucination, which means that the system generates something that is not based on reality or evidence, but rather on its own internal logic or errors.

    3. To minimize the impact of Ask Microsoft Accessibility’s limitations when using the system, users can take the following steps:

      • Users can use simple and clear language when asking queries related to accessibility, and avoid using jargon, slang, or abbreviations that the system may not recognize or understand.

      • Users can provide enough information and context when asking queries related to accessibility, and avoid leaving out important details or assumptions that the system may not infer or guess.

      • Users can verify the accuracy and relevance of the answers provided by the system, and check the links to more detailed resources if they want to learn more or confirm the information.

      • Users can report any errors, issues, or feedback that they encounter when using the system, and help the system improve its performance and functionality over time.

  • What operational factors and settings allow for effective and responsible use of Ask Microsoft Accessibility?

    1. The system is expected to perform reliably and safely within the domain of accessibility, which means that the user queries should be related to the accessibility of Microsoft products and services, and the system should provide information that is accurate, relevant, and helpful for users.

    2. The system is also expected to perform reliably and safely within the scope of natural language processing, which means that the user queries should be expressed in plain English, and the system should generate natural language answers that are clear, coherent, and engaging for users.