Today, during its special Surface event, Microsoft announced two new Surface devices for business customers: the Surface Pro 10 for Business and the Surface Laptop 6 for Business. The company also made a couple of accessory-related announcements. It unveiled a special version of the Surface Pro Keyboard with better accessibility and launched its Adaptive Accessories for Business Customers.
The new version of the Surface Pro Keyboard features a bolder font and brighter backlight, making it easier for people with special needs or those who want to reduce eye strain. Like the Surface Laptop 6 for Business, it has a dedicated Copilot key next to the arrow keys so that you can quickly bring Microsoft"s new assistant to the focus. If necessary, you can ask Copilot to toggle on different accessibility features, such as live captions, the magnifier, and more.
Microsoft says the new keyboard will be available only in the United States and Canada and only with the US English layout.
Microsoft"s Adaptive Accessories, which are now available for businesses, can help commercial customers who cannot use a traditional mouse and keyboard. The set consists of several input devices tailored to people with physical limitations:
- Microsoft Adaptive Mouse: a special mouse with a detachable tail and thumb support.
- Adaptive Dual Button features large programmable buttons you can map to shortcuts and macros to simplify complex tasks. You can swap the button toppers with 3D-printed alternatives that better suit specific needs.
- Adaptive D-pad Button: same as the Adaptive Dual Button, but with a large controller-like D-pad.
- Adaptive Joystick Button: another alternative input method.
Customers can connect Adaptive Accessories to the Microsoft Adaptive Hub or directly to their computers using Bluetooth or USB-C cables. As a reminder, Microsoft announced the Adaptive Accessories kit in May 2022 and launched it later in October.