June 2019 - Sheri Byrne-Haber's Blog

Red “U” shaped magnet with a white wheelchair symbol on it attracting metallic cartoon figurines

Starting a Disability Employee Resource Group (ERG)

Last week, I wrote about how important disability-focused employee resource groups are to creating an environment where employees with disabilities feel comfortable disclosing them and in turn helping others. This week I’m going to describe some steps to take to…

Two hands shaking in front of a brick wall with images of hundred dollar bills on their skin

Want to add value to your startup? Be accessible

What is accessibility? I could answer this question by doing a deep-dive into the WCAG guidelines and talk about the four pillars and 50 rules of accessibility, or I could say “Steven Hawking and Stevie Wonder need to be able to use…

Cartoon human cutouts grouped under signs with the wheelchair symbol under them

The Importance of Disability Employee Resource Groups

Do you bring your “authentic self” to work? Most people with disabilities don’t, especially those with invisible disabilities. Disability ERGs can help with that. First-class relationships are possible only in an atmosphere of total trust. ― Wu Wei, I Ching Life: Becoming…

Red wooden block labeled “ethics” in the center of a Jenga game, other blocks labeled morality, relationship, behavior, choice, responsibility, trust, reliability, principle

Ethical design and accessibility

Design is not about expressing yourself. Design is not about following your dream. Design is not about becoming a creative. Design is about keeping people from doing terrible things to other people — Mike Monteiro Ethical design means thinking about your product in the context of its users…

Woman pushing grocery cart while consulting phone

This Week in Accessibility: Diaz v. Kroger

Have we run out of grocery stores to sue over digital accessibility violations yet? Let’s do a quick check of the top grocery stores in the US with respect to digital accessibility lawsuits. Winn-Dixie — Somehow this company managed to miss the…

Accessibility Debt — What is it? How to pay it off ???

Sometimes, accessibility isn’t important until suddenly it is. The accessibility paradigm shift from “yeah, eventually” to being included as part of “business as usual” usually derives from one of the following occurances: a lost sales opportunity over lack of accessibility…

Man wearing dark leather zippered jacket partially opened to reveal a Canadian flag t-shirt

Nothing Without Us and the Accessible Canada Act

Canada flexes its accessibility superpower muscles by passing the Accessible Canada Act and beginning the campaign “Nothing Without Us” As a Canadian, I couldn’t be prouder of Bill C-81, the Accessible Canada Act: An Act to Ensure a Barrier-free Canada and the “Nothing…

Cartoon rendition of dozens of various people of different genders, ethnicities, and ages protesting in the street

Captioning: It’s Time for a Revolt

What if every person who was deaf, Deaf, had hearing loss (plus those peoples’ friends and family) refused to do business with a company that didn’t caption its videos? I saw an article recently, which identified strategies that business people who don’t…

How the Gig Economy impacts People with Disabilities

Participating in the gig economy is a mixed bag and not even always available to people with disabilities For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last five years, a gig economy engagement is defined…

Month: June 2019