The Surface Adaptive Kit makes Microsoft's laptops more accessible
You'll be able to personalize your Surface to better work for you.
We all know what to expect with new laptops: Upgraded chips, often thinner designs, and whiz-bang new features. But it's easy to ignore how some of those changes can affect people with disabilities. Making a notebook thinner can also make it harder to open, for example. So to better equip its PCs to be more accessible, Microsoft created the Surface Adaptive Kit, a collection of add-ons that can help you find specific keys, locate ports and flip open your PC or kickstand.
While they may just look like a collection of simple stickers, it still shows that Microsoft is actually thinking of people with disabilities. The Adaptive Kit comes from its Inclusive Tech Lab, the same folks behind the revolutionary Xbox Adaptive Controller. The impetus for the Surface kit is also very similar: It's all about making Microsoft's hardware easier for everyone to use.
In the box, you'll find a set of translucent keycap labels to highlight keys you use often, a set of three-dimensional bump labels for ports and buttons, and raised port indicators with matching cable wrap. To give you more leverage with cases and kickstands, there's also a ring opener and pull-tab opener.
The company isn't saying how much the Surface Adaptive Kit will cost when it arrives later this year, but hopefully it'll come in relatively cheap. After all, an accessibility-focused product should work for all budgets.
Follow all of the news from Microsoft's fall Surface event right here.
