Yes, all of these have actually happened to me personally What is a microaggression? A microaggression is an indirect, subtle, possibly unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group. Usually these take the form of statements, actions, incidents, or exclusions. Being excluded from…
Accessibility and Usability
Tightly related but very independent UI/UX/CX concepts. Definitely NOT interchangeable. I saw a post on LinkedIn this week that said “you can’t have usability without accessibility.” However, it is my belief that the converse — “you can’t have accessibility without…
Having a VPAT is not the same thing as being accessible
Companies that view VPATs as a “checkbox” exercise frequently confuse the two. In reality, VPATs can be chock-full of exceptions that block people who use assistive technology from getting in the front door. I try to write thoughtful, sometimes geeky…
A Happy Accessibility Article
Accessibility isn’t punishment, it is about helping others so they can do all the things people without disabilities take for granted A lot of accessibility articles (mine included) are negative and/or depressing. On any given day, at least half of…
Are you guilty of “inspiration porn”?
Inspiration porn is everywhere. It is a form of unconscious bias that hurts people with disabilities Inspiration porn is portraying people with disabilities as: inspirational solely or in part on the basis of their disability, or One-dimensional saints who only…
Want an employee who is a natural problem solver? Hire someone with a Disability
Employers should be seeking out employees with disabilities, not avoiding them. Why are problem solving skills desirable in business? The ability to troubleshoot or solve problems is really a collection of a number of other skills including: Decision Making: To solve…
How to identify a Toxic Accessibility Culture, and what you can do about it
A broken organizational culture makes everything disability-related harder, from implementing accessibility projects to getting critical support to move the disability / accessibility needle forward Urban dictionary defines “Dumpster Fire” as: 1. A complete disaster. 2. Something very difficult that nobody wants…
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…
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…
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…