LinkedIn’s looking to improve accessibility on the platform, with a new initiative that will see all articles published directly on LinkedIn now processed through Microsoft’s “Immersive Reader” system, which will enable users to use text-to-speech, translations, isolate elements of language, and more.
Immersive Reader provides a range of add-on functionalities for text that enable differently-abled audiences to engage with text content in ways that are more aligned with their own comprehension and capacity.
As shown in the above clip, primarily a tool for students, Immersive Reader facilitates different reading and communications options, so that more people can engage with text.
And now, LinkedIn’s building this into its own content creation tools, which will provide new ways to facilitate connection in the app.
As per LinkedIn:
“With one click, members on desktop will be able to choose from a suite of formatting features designed to help them consume content in a way that fits their needs.”
It’s a good initiative, which will provide a range of translation tools within LinkedIn publisher posts. And with more people engaging more often on LinkedIn (the platform recently reported that sharing of original content in the app increased by 41% year-over-year in 2022), it could be a good option to reach niche audiences.
LinkedIn says that its new Immersive Reader integration will be applied to all LinkedIn Publisher posts from now on.
Thanks to Matt Navarra for the heads up about the update.