Podcasts about Accessibility

In this episode… News Adobe InDesign 2022  has an update (v17.01x) CreativePro Magazine issue 1 is out! On-Demand passes now available for the expanded Design + Accessibility Summit Some Totally Obvious InDesign Things We Just Learned This Year Interview with Marcus Radich from PageProof Obscure InDesign Feature: “Roger, hungry, ate 236 peaches and cantaloupes in 1904” Sponsors for this episode: > 3M's VAS: 3M's Visual Attention Software (VAS) is powerful, science-based AI that simulates the human vision system to analyze visual content and predicts with 92% accuracy what is attracting viewer attention. VAS is available as a web app and plugins for Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and XD. Start your free trial today, and enter promo code CREATIVEPRO5 for 5 additional trial credits! Links mentioned in this podcast: The Design + Accessibility Summit CreativePro Week What's new in InDesign 2022 (17.0) https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/whats-new.html What's new in 17.01: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/kb/fixed-issues.html How to make the menus bigger on the Mac (for high-res monitors): https://osxdaily.com/2021/10/12/change-menu-bar-size-mac/ Why versions of Mac OS are all California cities: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davidblatner_apple-mac-activity-6860597173332135936-PYWB Interview with Marcus Radich at PageProof: What is an Awk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auk What is an orc: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orc Who is Martinho da Gloria: https://www.automatication.com/about-us/ Obvious Things We Learned (or Re-learned) Move Control Panel to the Bottom of the Screen https://creativepro.com/moving-control-panel-to-bottom-of-screen/ Accessibility tab in hyperlinks… doesn't work the way you might expect: https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180-adobe-indesign-bugs/suggestions/44174832-hyperlink-alt-text-is-ignored-in-the-latest-versio InDesign icon in Publish Online embed: How to do it: https://creativepro.com/publish-online-supports-embedding-indesign-documents/ Problem: https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601021-adobe-indesign-feature-requests/suggestions/20459239-allow-removal-of-the-publish-online-button-that Adobe Illustrator: customizing the toolbar: https://creativepro.com/customize-your-illustrator-workspace/ and https://creativepro.com/create-a-custom-toolbar-in-illustrator/   Obscure Feature: Roger, hungry, ate 236 peaches and cantaloupes in 1904 If you make the sample text small, the Birch font will fit the whole line in the column. 

Hey there! Welcome to Accessibility Minute, your weekly look at Assistive Technology, those clever tools and devices designed to help people who have difficulties with vision, mobility, hearing or other special needs! Jumping from stone to stone on the rocky shore of a rushing river is not only exciting, it also encourages gross motor skills, […] The post AM449 Nordic Gonge Riverstones appeared first on Assistive Technology at Easter Seals Crossroads.

In this episode, we get a chance to talk with the newest Michigan Superintendent of the Year, Dania Bazzi, Ph.D. from Ferndale Public Schools, about her path to being recognized along with her collaborative, hands-on approaches to teacher evaluation and creating a trusting, risk-taking staff team to improve student achievement.

In this episode of the HR Leaders podcast, I'm joined by my guest Denise Reed Lamoreaux, Worldwide Learning Director of Customer Success for Accessible Accommodations at Microsoft.Thanks to SAP SuccessFactors for Supporting the show!Learn the lessons from disruption and gain insights on how to navigate changing work conditions, technology and focus on employee experiences with this future of work study from Oxford Economics, SHRM, and SAP SuccessFactors: https://bit.ly/3Ez9vhfEpisode Highlights00:00 - Intro00:37 - About Denise and her role01:43 - How Microsoft are ensuring inclusion and equity during assessment03:15 - How has the pandemic increased workplace opportunity for people with disabilities?07:11 - DE&I advice for future HR leaders09:26 - The best vehicles to reach people12:28 - On the stigma attached to the requirement for DE&I14:58 - How Denise defines her own team's success16:48 - The impact of an ageing workforce26:01 - How to stay inclusive when trying to access an older audience30:13 - Parting advice32:46 - On the importance of internal collaboratorsIf you enjoyed the podcast be sure to subscribe for more content like this and visit our website to access resources mentioned: www.hrleaders.co/podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God." -2 Corinthians 9:12 As we close out season 3 of the Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast, Crystal is reflecting on the many wonderful conversations we've had this year and the remarkable people we've met along the way. So many of our guests persevered through the hardships of their disabilities and chronic conditions, sacrificing their strength to share about their lives and God's faithfulness.Crystal is thinking of friends like Jennifer Ji-Hye Ko who lives with tremendous pain and mental health challenges and brought a powerful reminder about lamenting to our God through seasons of grief. She's also thinking of Heather Hart who, on the morning we recorded, had been in the ER with one of her daily migraines. She's reminded of Abigail Brown who used a communication board to share her testimony of God's unseen purposes for her suffering and Stephanie Magness who shared on the podcast even though her Friedrich's ataxia would not allow her to talk for more than about 10 minutes. With mental health being a focus this year, she is also so thankful for her conversations with Tara Groff who serves the Lord as a wife and mother through her daily episodes with schizophrenia. We are grateful for these friends and the many more not mentioned, for the kindness you've shown by sharing your hearts on this platform.Living with a disability is not easy, but each guest has reminded us that the hope of heaven, the help of other Christians, and the grace of God is sustaining. So how can we make the gospel accessible in our churches and communities? As she wraps up season 3, Crystal shares how Joni and Friends is making this possible through a modest grant program called the Christian Fund for the Disabled and a giving opportunity called the Perfect Gift. And the best part is, you can get involved! As we give generously and strategically to meet the needs of those God is directing us to care for, the Lord will provide—that is a promise that we can hold fast to! And when we see his provision in a tangible way, it increases our faith, deepens our love for Jesus, and fills our hearts with thanksgiving. May this season be filled with evidence of God's hand as you continue to trust in him. Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for listening to the Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast!Resources:Learn about the Christian Fund for the DisabledGive the Perfect Gift! Questions or comments? Email Crystal at podcast@joniandfriends.orgSupport Joni and Friends to help make this podcast possible. Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Join us in answering the call in Luke 14:21-23... until his house is full! Founded by author and international disability advocate Joni Eareckson Tada, the ministry provides Christ-centered care that serves needs and transforms hearts through Joni's House, Wheels for the World, and Retreats and Getaways. Joni and Friends also equips individuals and churches with disability ministry training and provides higher education courses and internships through the Christian Institute on Disability. Find more encouragement through Joni's radio podcast, daily devotional, or by following us on Facebook,  Instagram, and YouTube.

Jeff Staus is a highly successful varsity soccer coach at Arrowhead High School in Wisconsin. He is also the leader of “Let Kids Fly” (LKF), a unique youth soccer program that is rooted in choice, accessibility, limited travel, character development and fun. In the contested space of youth sport, LKF presents an appealing model from which communities throughout the U.S. can learn. In this SGG episode, we discussed: His parents' hands-off approach during his childhood sporting experiences. The two questions he encourages coaches and parents to ask: “Did you have fun?” and “Were you a good teammate?” More dynamic leaders at the high school than ever before. Working hard on “making good people and creating leaders.” Concerns with the professionalization of youth sports. How LKF started. The free play model that was used by many of the top players and nations. The number of kids signed up for LKF in its first four sessions: 125 – 225 – 300 – 500+ (rapid growth). “Free play Thursdays” at LKF practices. The benefits of free play. Deliberate practice on Mondays. A games approach to deliberate practice. Developing as a player. Developing as a person. Documentary: In Search Greatness. Providing kids choices in sports. “Do as many things as long as you can.” The rationale for seasonal registration. A “flipped classroom on the soccer field.” Soliciting parent participation. Accessibility to free play and to a healthy culture of sport. Affordability as a means of accessibility. Supporting kids who want to play collegiately. Impacts of sports travel on families. Why LKF sends all teams to same tournaments. Character development. The intentional embedding of character. Fun. Looking for teachers and parents as coaches. An obstacle: building the program in the broader competitive club soccer environment. Not worrying about the naysayers. His visions of success.

View in HD at . Full Keyboard Access is a new Accessibility feature that aims to give you access to everything on your Mac using only the keyboard. In addition to buttons, links and other controls, you can work with Control Center, Notifications, the Menu Bar and Dock.

When it comes to positivity and perseverance, Ashley Lyn Olson is a clear example of finding the best in a difficult situation. At the age of 14, today's Lift U Up: Inspiring Health Stories guest became paralyzed in a car wreck. The same wreck took her father's life, disabled her mother, injured her younger sister, and changed Ashley's life forever. Not letting her accident slow her down, Ashley found passion in empowering people with limited mobility. Through her https://www.amazon.com/Confined-Align-Ashley-Lyn-Olson/dp/B09GD2J83M/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=confined+to+align&qid=1634348092&sr=8-3 (writing), educational speaking, and website https://wheelchairtraveling.com/ (wheelchairtraveling.com) – she's spreading the message that no one should miss out on adventure, travel, and leisure. 

The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast 247: Being Wrong is Part of Learning with Shannon Crow   Description: We all make mistakes. We all get things wrong, and say or do the wrong things at times. It is a part of being a yoga teacher, parent, coworker, friend, colleague, family member, partner, and every other role that we play. Being wrong is a part of learning and growing. In this episode, Shannon shares more from her experience about when she was wrong about some things and how she learned from these mistakes.   Staying stuck in previous knowledge and not learning from our mistakes doesn't help anybody. Shannon draws on her own experiences as a yoga teacher, a teacher trainer, and as a podcaster to share some mistakes she has made and how she learned from them. She also shares how we can respond to the harm and hurt we may have caused, and how to receive feedback from others about our mistakes.   Being wrong is normal. What we need to do is learn and grow from our mistakes. This episode is a great reminder to all of us to normalize being wrong and about how we can do better.   Key Takeaways: [3:43] Being wrong is a part of being a yoga teacher. [7:47] We need to normalize being wrong. [9:49] What would you do when you are in a position of having caused harm? [10:48] Shannon shares an example of a mistake that happened recently within the Pelvic Health Professionals community. [13:52] Shannon shares a personal example of how if we stay stuck in previous knowledge and stop learning, we will not be serving our students. [16:23] Would you like to hear a podcast on what Shannon has learned about breath through the years? [16:52] Shannon shares another example of when she learned to do better because she didn't have the information before. [19:54] Shannon recalls how she started learning more to do better. [22:04] We need to get comfortable with making mistakes and being wrong, but also with having more questions than answers. [25:12] Shannon gives a shout out to Schedulicity. [27:01] Getting feedback is part of learning from our mistakes. [32:25] Receiving feedback can be really uncomfortable, and this is normal. [33:04] When someone comes forward to share the hurt or harm you have caused with your words or actions, how can you respond? Shannon shares an example from her experience and reflects on her process of learning from feedback. [41:13] We are all wrong sometimes, whether as yoga teachers, parents, coworkers, friends, colleagues, family members, partners, and all the different roles we play. [42:58] How can we turn to the teachings of yoga in moments when we receive feedback and feel upset or defensive? Links: Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimerer History.com History of Handwashing The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast Episode 007: Breath and Pelvic Health with Trista Zinn The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast Episode 033: A New Perspective on Diastasis Recti with Dr. Sinead Dufour The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast Episode 108: Inclusive Language for Prenatal Yoga with Shannon Crow Anti-Oppression, Inclusion and Accessibility in Yoga Resources Thread in The Connected Yoga Teacher Facebook Group about Pelvic Health Information Shannon Crow on Instagram Jacoby Ballard A Queer Dharma: by Jacoby Ballard A Queer Dharma, by Jacoby Ballard - North Atlantic Books (Use code 'connected' for 30% discount and free shipping) Schedulicity (Coupon Code: CYT2MONTHS) The Connected Yoga Teacher Facebook Group   Gratitude to our Sponsors, Schedulicity, and Pelvic Health Professionals (Coupon: Connected2021).   Quotes from this episode: "We can't know everything about gardening or teaching yoga and really the best way to learn is to jump in and do the thing and learn as we go."   "Telling others that you don't know the answer to something or admitting that you were wrong is not a weakness. It is not showing that you don't know things. It takes a lot of strength and courage."   "If we stay stuck in previous knowledge, if we stop learning, we will not be serving our students."   "The thing that I hope we get really comfortable with as yoga teachers is not only making mistakes and being wrong, but also ending up with way more questions than answers. "  

When you're first growing your practice you typically have more time than clients so you're happy to spend extra time with them or on their questions…   But what happens when your practice begins to grow or you're 2-3 years in and have a couple hundred clients?   As you may imagine things could spiral quickly where you're answering too many questions that outpace the time you have…   That's why on today's Integrative #HealthCoachSuccess 076 I'd like to share with you how to set your business up from the start on setting boundaries on client accessibility to you - Enjoy the show and let us know what tips you have!     Listen or Watch At:  IHP.Coach/076   - - - Dr. Cabral's Book, The Rain Barrel Effect: https://amzn.to/2H0W7Ge - - - Become an Integrative Health Practitioner: https://integrativehealthpractitioner.org - - - Speak with an IHP Graduate: https://clientsuccess.as.me/ihp-discovery-call

In this week's show, Phil talks to Jack Domleo, a front-end developer who loves working with web technologies and creating things for users to interact with. He has a particular passion for UX, accessibility and self-development. He is also the author of “Level-Up Your Career Today: Developer Edition” as well as a blogger and a speaker. Jack talks about the importance of diversifying when it comes to projects. He also discusses why we must not make excuses, and put the work in to get the things we truly want in life and in our careers.   KEY TAKEAWAYS:   TOP CAREER TIP Many believe that you should have lots of projects going on at the same time. However, it is far better to have a variety of projects ongoing, as this will demonstrate your flexibility and breadth of knowledge.   WORST CAREER MOMENT Jack was made redundant from his apprenticeship. After six months, the company went bankrupt, and at such a young age, he initially believed that his career had been irretrievably affected.   CAREER HIGHLIGHT Being made redundant from his apprenticeship pushed Jack out of his comfort zone, which has helped him to grow and develop ever since, and has also made him more money!   THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T Technology is pushing every sector forward, and so the opportunities in every field seem to be limitless. But this does come with a downside, in that security is becoming a larger issue.   THE REVEAL What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – Jack has always had a knack with computers, and enjoyed considering the opportunities that they could bring. What's the best career advice you received? – You are not your code. Don't take comments too personally. What's the worst career advice you received? – That being a front end developer only makes you unmarketable. What would you do if you started your career now? –Jack would work more upon the immature behaviour he displayed at the beginning of his career. What are your current career objectives? – Jack has focused upon side projects and appearances in order to provide an income separate from his employment. What's your number one non-technical skill? – Communication and confidence. How do you keep your own career energized? – Keeping abreast of not just developer tools, but new advances in tech in general. This is better done by fine tuning our social media input. What do you do away from technology? – Ice hockey, travelling and video games   FINAL CAREER TIP Don't make excuses when you're afraid of something. No one is going to lower the bar for you. Things are sometimes tough, but never impossible.   BEST MOMENTS (6:17) – Jack - “I do lots of different varieties of things, and I think that this better shows a broad range of things that I can do” (11:55) – Jack - “I feel like we have the right people in place to drive this world forward” (15:01) – Jack – “You are not your code, so the code you write does not reflect you as a person” (20:32) – Jack – “I know what I want to do, and what I want to achieve in my career, and that has definitely helped me”   ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organizations to design, develop, and implement software solutions.  Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers.  And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.   CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms: Twitter: https://twitter.com/_PhilBurgess LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess Instagram: https://instagram.com/_philburgess Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact Phil is also reachable by email at phil@itcareerenergizer.com and via the podcast's website, https://itcareerenergizer.com Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer   ABOUT THE GUEST – JACK DOMLEO Jack Domleo is a front-end developer who loves working with web technologies and creating things for users to interact with. He has a particular passion for UX, accessibility and self-development. He is also the author of “Level-Up Your Career Today: Developer Edition” as well as a blogger and a speaker.   CONTACT THE GUEST – JACK DOMLEO Jack Domleo can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms: Twitter: https://twitter.com/jackdomleo7 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackdomleo7 Website: https://jackdomleo.dev/

Jessica Moerman is the Senior Director for Science and Policy at the Evangelical Environmental Network, based in Washington DC. After working as a researcher in isotope geochemistry, Jessica decided to move to a career in policy. She joins us to discuss her views on faith and science, and how to reach people who are turned off by the term ‘environmentalist'. Evangelical Environmental Network: https://creationcare.org/ Jessica Moerman: https://twitter.com/jessica_moerman Climate Scientists Podcast: https://twitter.com/ClimateSciPod Transcript for Accessibility: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vafjJ74qTsBCmhQsN71w3pu5M_7nthOV/view?usp=sharing Hosts: Dan Jones, Ella Gilbert Music and Cover Art: Dan Jones Editing: Sian Williams Page Audio Engineering: Lilian Blair --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/climate-scientists/message

Thank you to ExpressVPN, Felix Gray, and Postmates for sponsoring this episode of What's Good Games! Go to http://expressvpn.com/whatsgoodgames to get 3 months free on a 1-year package. Go to http://felixgrayglasses.com/games to get your Felix Gray glasses. Get 50% off your first 5 orders of $50 or more when you use code WHATSGOOD on Postmates. This week Andrea is joined by a special panel of guests to talk about working in game development and the impact diverse perspectives have on the process. But first, Belinda Garcia, Alyssa Harrison, and Mel Ramsden join Andrea in chatting about the Game Awards 2021 nominations before talking about their game Stonefly and taking community questions. Follow Mel on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/melrambles Follow Belinda on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/bbcgarcia Follow Alyssa on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/hyperlyss Thank you to this month's Patreon Producers: Chewy's Godson Alex Rigopulos David Iacolucci Faris Attieh Justin Foshee Matthew Goderre Punkdefied Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/2rAcJvF Support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/whatsgoodgames Want audio only? http://whatsgoodgames.com/podcast/ Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/whatsgoodgames Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/whatsgood_games Follow on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/whatsgoodgames Follow on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/whatsgoodgames Our discord channel: http://discord.gg/whatsgoodgames Follow on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/whatsgoodgamesofficial Our website: http://www.whatsgoodgames.com Time stamps: 1:10 - Special guest introductions 3:43 - Game Awards nominations discussion 5:55 - Game of the Year nominees 15:03 - Innovation in Accessibility nominees 24:00 - The weird feeling devs get watching people play their game 28:45 - Sponsor messages 35:15 - What is Stonefly? 37:40 - Does one person pick the idea for a game or a group brainstorm? 49:45 - Media training and game developers: what is interviewing with media like? 1:02:55 - What game idea relevant to women would you like to see? (hint: MOMS) 1:05:17 - Gendered game experiences: is it ok? 1:09:40 - Things they are excited about right now

In this podcast, we talk with Candida Mulligan, an admissions officer in Salus University's Office of Admissions. She talks to us about the Blindness and Low Vision Studies program and tips and tricks for application.To learn more about our podcast series, visit salus.edu/podcasts

We're talking with Bet Hannon about the in's and out's of accessible design in a digital landscape.

Once again, it is an overstuffed That Real Blind Tech Show virtual studio, as Brian and Ed welcome members of Yahoo that were instrumental in the production of the Yahoo Mini Documentary about The All Blind Fantasy Football League. We also welcome in all members of the league who were able to attend this year's live in person draft  to get their thoughts on the documentary now that it has been released.  We kick this episode off with Larry Goldberg, Yahoo Head of Accessibility.    You can read the article that came out in 2020 about how The All Blind Football League started here.   To register for free for the upcoming Sight Tech Global on December 1 and 2nd, where Brian and Larry will be presenting the documentary and discussing  the company/consumer relationship for inclusive design  click here.   We then welcome in Libby Luna, the Producer of the Yahoo Mini documentary. We discuss what the post production process was like, and how she came to cut 8 hours of filming down to just under five minutes.   Next up is Brian's nemesis Lord D'ambrosio Vader. Seriously everyone, Nick and Brian get along just fine. Nick shares with us his love of fantasy football and a little adventure he had at the border getting to New York to film the draft.   We then welcome long time listener first time caller Allison Meloy to the show to get her initial thoughts of seeing the documentary, and find out what she hopes it will accomplish..    David Goldstein then stops by to discuss how much he enjoyed meeting everyone in person, what the filming experience was like, and his thoughts of the mini documentary.   Then it's part time That Real Blind Tech show host Jeanine Stanley. Jeanine discusses what it was like drafting a fantasy football team for the first time, how much fun she has had playing fantasy football, her thoughts about the documentary, and how to and how not to properly smack talk!   Up next is TJ Meloy. TJ co-manages his team with Allison, and tells us how surprised he is in how much fun he is having with fantasy football. TJ chimes in with his thoughts about the documentary.   Following is Frank Hipolito. Frank is leading the league in points, and talks about how much fun it was meeting everyone in person, and learning about everybody in the league.    Dominick Petrillo, a part time contributor to The Athletic then joins us, discussing his first year in the All Blind League.    The last member from The All Blind League to pop on with us is Richard Guerrero. Richard talks about how much fun it was meeting everyone in person and how much he has enjoyed playing fantasy the past few years. He then lets us know what he thinks of the documentary.    It would not be a full recap of our experience without an interview with Edith, Nick's better half, who was one of our sighted guides during filming.    Last but definitely not least, Colin Bright, the Lead Motion Graphics Artist from Yahoo joins us to discuss his thoughts of the entire filming process, fantasy football, and the post production process of working on the documentary.      To contact That Real Blind Tech Show, you can email us at ThatRealBlindTechShow@gmail.com, join our Facebook Group That Real Blind Tech Show, join us on the Twitter @BlindTechShow , or leave us an old school phone message at 929-367-1005..   

Hey there! Welcome to Accessibility Minute, your weekly look at Assistive Technology, those clever tools and devices designed to help people who have difficulties with vision, mobility, hearing or other special needs! Looking for a way to record shopping lists, reminders, and more with your voice? Check out the newest version of the Wilson Digital […] The post AM448 Wilson Digital Voice Recorder appeared first on Assistive Technology at Easter Seals Crossroads.

Our Design Advisors get candid about how they channeled their creative side to make a good fit when there was no available or affordable option. Source

Benen Dykstra - Born January 21, 1998, Voiceover artist since 2019. Based in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada. Find more of Benen: Twitter: @BenenDykstra Instagram:@_rollingdragon_ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RollingDragon-Media-928180754191271/ A statement from Benen: "I'm Benen Dykstra, I'm just your average guy living my life sitting down while trying to stand out from the rest in a non-accessible world. [This piece was originally created in] June of 2021 to show that people with Cerebral Palsy face different challenges everyday including this pandemic and being mislabelled by individuals who are unaware of how large the disability spectrum is. We all have challenges but, we are all people with goals, dreams, and feelings." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Created during a time of quarantine in the global Coronavirus pandemic, A Moment Of Your Time's mission is to provide a space for expression, collaboration, community and solidarity. In this time of isolation, we may have to be apart but let's create together.  Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter Created by CurtCo Media Concept by Jenny Curtis Theme music by Chris Porter A CurtCo Media Production See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's time we recognize that the way we build digital products is broken. That's because the products we use today represent the people who build them more than the people who use them. There is a digital divide between the experiences of people with disabilities and people who are able-bodied. Bridging this divide is about more than compliance or checking a box. Fable is helping companies practice accessibility at scale with the goal of operationalizing accessibility in the same way we already do for things like DesignOps and DevOps. Listen as Fable's CEO and Co-founder, Alwar Pillai, and Fable's Engineering Manager, Perry Trinier, talk about the importance of inclusive design, the need for digital accessibility and how to integrate accessibility into the development process. Join our Discord Community ►► discord.gg/devinterruptedOur Website ►► devinterrupted.com/Want to try LinearB?  Book a LinearB Demo and use the "Dev Interrupted Podcast" discount code.Have 60 seconds? Review the show on Apple Podcasts

Shelly sits down with Project Manager, Jenny Angell to discuss the two year long project that the Pa Museums and Historical Sites have undertaken to identify what changes they can make to create accessible excellence throughout the state. If your organization could use a fresh look, contact Jenny to obtain a packet.  Pa Museums website: https://pamuseums.org/accessibility-excellence/Want to be a guest on our show?  Connect with us at: https://www.abilitiesinmotion.org/podcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AbilitiesinMotionPALinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/abilitiesinmotion/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BerksCountyCIL?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5EauthorInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/instaaim/

Hey there! Welcome to Accessibility Minute, your weekly look at Assistive Technology, those clever tools and devices designed to help people who have difficulties with vision, mobility, hearing or other special needs! For many individuals, putting on socks independently is very challenging if not impossible.  If you're looking for a product to help make this […] The post AM447 RMS Sock Aid appeared first on Assistive Technology at Easter Seals Crossroads.

As district leaders, we use data in countless ways. The connections we make (or fail to make) affect the way we think and feel about that data. In this episode, we spoke with Kenda Lawson, M.Ed., Founder/CEO of Owls Education, about how using data in the right ways can influence how our students learn for the better.

Mills and GoodGameBro discuss Forza Horizon 5, Accessibility in gaming, NFL Refereeing, NCAA Basketball previews, and more!Gaming Community Expo '22 Tickets and Information: https://www.gcxevent.com/ Love Coffee? Check out Kings Coast Coffee Co.:https://kingscoast.coffee/Join the Loot Pool:https://patreon.com/raredropCheck out all our latest giveaways here! https://loot.raredrop.co/Be the coolest kid on the block with some Rare Drop Co merch:https://shop.raredrop.co/Visit us at:https://raredrop.co/Watch the streams:https://youtube.com/GoodGameBrohttps://twitch.tv/Millshttps://twitch.tv/RareDrophttps://twitch.tv/GCXEventhttps://twitch.tv/OldFashionedPodcastFollow on Twitter:https://twitter.com/GoodGameBrohttps://twitter.com/MillsTwitchhttps://twitter.com/RareDropCohttps://twitter.com/GCXEvent

Another awesome season come and gone! This episode is in celebration and appreciation of the meaningful episodes, guests, and listeners of season 4. In this episode, I share a few behind-the-scenes of the season (with an exciting update!) and reminisce as we listen to the sixteen episodes condensed into a two-minute segment. I also share and respond to three audio submissions from parent-listeners as they speak of the impact the podcast has had on them, and their favorite episodes of season 4. Links: Pitch in on the group gift for our dedicated interns. Ep. 67: What Your Child's Doctors Want You to Know but Don't Tell You w/Dr. Dominic Moore Ep. 60: Blindness Ep. 69: Vanessa's Story Ep. 70: Accessibility and Ableism w/ Vanessa McLeod Follow Jessica on Instagram. Follow Lexie on Instagram. Follow Alyssa on Instagram. Follow meon Instagram.

Many technologies we all take for granted today got their start as assistive technologies for people with disabilities. Today, AI is making the world a more accessible place. Dave Dame, Microsoft's Director of Accessibility, tells us he's optimistic about the use of Artificial Intelligence because he believes it's going to make the world a better place. 

Christy Desai is the Co-Founder and CEO of Okay Humans. After unsuccessfully trying to outrun the stress of life, Christy finally looked for a therapist in hopes of catching her breath. What started as “3-5 sessions” turned into years of deep inner work. Her own experience turned into a personal mission to help other people feel better, stronger, and more alive. Christy returned to school to pursue a master's in clinical psychology as well as become a licensed marriage and family therapist. Okay Humans is a completely fresh approach to face-to-face talk therapy dedicated to modernizing and destigmatizing the entire experience around therapy.In this episode, Nada sits down with Christy to discuss why she used a retail model to rethink how we offer talk therapy services. Christy's passion for making Okay Humans accessible permeates through every customer touchpoint, from finding a therapist to membership to the MentaliTEA bar. Christy resourced her franchise experience and partnership with The Feel-Good Company to build a new vision for talk therapy. This fifth episode in our retail season focuses specifically on disrupting antiquated processes to eliminate the barriers of entry to empower customers. This conversation will INSPIRE you to reimagine, and revise your current or potential service offering(s) to better serve your customers and your brand.  You can follow Christy and Okay Humans @okayhumans on Instagram and Facebook. To learn more about their Okay Humans services got to OkayHumans.com.Please follow us at @libertyforher on Instagram--that's where we hang out the most. And please rate and review us—it helps to know if this podcast is inspiring and equipping you to launch and grow your ventures.

01:53 - Michael's Superpower: Networking and Community Building * Being Driven to Fulfill Needs * Mental Health First Aid (https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/) * Working in Proximity / Keeping In Touch * MAPS at Burning Man (https://maps.org/news-letters/v15n3/burningman.pdf) 10:36 - Defining Mental Health * Self-Invalidation & Dialectics (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel-dialectics/) * Money buys happiness, but euphoria comes dear (https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/02/05/money-buys-happiness-but-euphoria-comes-dear) * Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness (https://moneywise.com/managing-money/budgeting/boots-theory-of-socioeconomic-unfairness) * Decolonizing Wealth (https://decolonizingwealth.com/) * Mental Health First Aid (https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/) * Youth (https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/population-focused-modules/youth/) * Teen (https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/population-focused-modules/teens/) * Older Adults (https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/population-focused-modules/older-adults/) * Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander (https://mhfa.com.au/courses/public/types/aboriginal) 20:09 - Involving Gaming in Engaging in Talk Therapy * Jane McGonigal How GAMING Can Make A Better World TED Talk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irsTFdCtcuQ) * Counselling with Mike: The Nerd Therapist (https://counsellingwithmike.com.au/) * The Nerd Therapist (https://www.facebook.com/NerdPsychology/) (Facebook) * Pop Culture Competence by The Nerd Therapist (https://popculturecompetence.wordpress.com/) * Grand Theft Auto 101 (https://popculturecompetence.wordpress.com/category/video-games/) * Five Nights at Freddy's 101 (https://popculturecompetence.wordpress.com/2020/09/05/five-nights-at-freddys-101/) * Call of Duty 101 (https://popculturecompetence.wordpress.com/2020/09/09/call-of-duty-101/) * Among Us 101 (https://popculturecompetence.wordpress.com/2021/03/02/among-us-101/) 31:13 - “Age-Appropriate Horror” * Critters (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critters_(film)) * Starship Troopers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers_(film)) * Civilization VI (https://civilization.com/) 38:45 - Social Media, Media, and Mental Health: Curate & Engage Responsibly * Rick and Morty (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2861424/) * BoJack Horseman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BoJack_Horseman) * Zootopia (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2948356/) * Inside Out (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2096673/) * Onward (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onward_(film)) * Avengers: Endgame (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avengers:_Endgame) * Worthiness: Character Spotlight: Thor (https://popculturecompetence.wordpress.com/2020/10/02/character-spotlight-thor/) 50:41 - The Geek Therapy Community (https://geektherapy.org/?gclid=Cj0KCQjww4OMBhCUARIsAILndv5g7398NpUpX_cnN_t9zVT_uJqW8erTdfLGKfx_95ZxWwKSs1eP1WgaAuxzEALw_wcB) * Mike's Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/CounsellingWithMike/) * The Spoon Theory (https://butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/) * Spell Slots and Spoon Theory (https://medium.com/collected-blog-posts-of-a-bipolar-author/spell-slots-and-spoon-theory-f9481abaacd6) 55:16 - Connect with Mike! * linktr.ee/thenerdtherapist (https://linktr.ee/thenerdtherapist) * D&D Therapy (https://counsellingwithmike.com.au/roll-for-growth/) * Warhammer 40,000 (https://warhammer40000.com/) * Minecraft (https://www.minecraft.net/) 59:14 - Intergenerational & Epigenetic Trauma * My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem (https://www.amazon.com/My-Grandmothers-Hands-Racialized-Pathway/dp/1942094477) * Epigenetics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics) Reflections: John: Coyote & Crow Role Playing Game (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/connoralexander/coyote-and-crow) + Using Role Playing and Game Playing to treat mental health. I'm Begging You To Play Another RPG (https://www.facebook.com/groups/313523509340906/)(Facebook Group) Mae: The pragmatic approach to seeing where people are and meeting them there. Casey: Helping middle schoolers talk to friends in a structured way. Mike: The hardest part about doing something is helping people know you're doing it. Tall Poppy Syndrome (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_poppy_syndrome) Bristol Children's Hospital: Oath of Accessibility: (https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/dungeons-and-dragons-5e/news/dungeons-and-dragons-oath-of-accessibility) “Anyone can be a hero. Everyone deserves to go on an adventure.” This episode was brought to you by @therubyrep (https://twitter.com/therubyrep) of DevReps, LLC (http://www.devreps.com/). To pledge your support and to join our awesome Slack community, visit patreon.com/greaterthancode (https://www.patreon.com/greaterthancode) _To make a one-time donation so that we can continue to bring you more content and transcripts like this, please do so at Special Guest: Michael Keady.

I want you to you to dig in with our Seat at the Table Bonus episodes - with a new entrepreneur each Wednesday. Today we have LaShan Lovelace a serial entrepreneur. LaShan is an experienced higher education professional and consultant with a demonstrated history of working in various capacities, including Equity, Diversity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (EDAI), Academic Affairs, and Student Affairs. LaShan is skilled at infusing high-impact practices in programming, research, team development, cultural competence, and conflict resolution with a passion for holistic development. LaShan is an innovative and strategic thinker with a strong reputation for connecting with others, identifying opportunities, and collaborating for results. LaShan has a proven track record focused on organizational development, management, and leadership. If you want to get connected to VP Lovelace contact information: Lovelace Consulting Services Instagram Lovelace Consulting Services Website Follow on Twitter Lovelace Consulting Services Musical Track: IG: https://www.instagram.com/mtthwhudson/?hl=en Intro composer: https://www.instagram.com/dawainpodcoach/?hl=en How to stay connected with me: Register for Cycle 2(TTC Academy) Schedule an appointment Sign up for email list Link.Bio Book me for speaking engagements: teamgoodgirl84@gmail.com Follow me on Pinterest Follow me on LinkedIn Follow me on Instagram "It is in your consistency, where you will find your WIN!"~Charese Chambers --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/businessafterdark/support

The concept of a forever home and why most Americans want to remain in their homes for long periods of time, even if it is no longer a good fit. Source

Show DescriptionSupporting local sports teams, thoughts on WordPress' full site block editor, advice on convincing clients to move away from WordPress, modern WYSIWYG editors, Microsoft and cloning Notion, an update on Chris' hacker, and what will it take for devs to “focus” on accessibility? Listen on Website →Links Notion Obsidian Advanced Custom Fields Pell TinyMCE […]

Yessie recently released a 3 minute long TikTok video showing how to use iOS 15's Focus feature to improve accessibility. This episode is based on that tutorial, but without the time constraints, she is able to go into more detail. Feel free to take a listen and watch the video, and if you need any help, feel free to reach out. As always, thanks so much for your support! Check out the Kove Kast Linktree for all our links! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/KoveKast/support

Episode 36: In this episode, remus and Cathy discuss how ableism manifests in comics culture and shapes all our lives. Definitions of accessibility versus accommodations are shared, as well as discussion about disability justice in comics and schools.For episode citation: https://comicarted.com/blog/2021/11/5/drawing-a-dialogue-episode-36

Hey there! Welcome to Accessibility Minute, your weekly look at Assistive Technology, those clever tools and devices designed to help people who have difficulties with vision, mobility, hearing or other special needs! Fat Brain Toys is a company on a mission to “enrich families and provide a smarter way to play by inspiring creativity and […] The post AM446 Dimpl Pops appeared first on Assistive Technology at Easter Seals Crossroads.

Blind Abilities adds to the iPhone101 Series with an in depth review of how to create a screen recording in iOS using Voiceover. Pete Lane shows us how to retrieve the screen recording element from  the Settings app  and place it in the desired location in your control center, but that's not all he covers in this  jam-packed episode!  Additionally: Shows us how to activate our microphone for use with the screen recording. Demonstrates how to ask Siri to take a Screen Shot (a photo of our iOS screen(; share both The screenshot and the screen recording directly with a friend hands-free. How to retrieve both from the Photos App. takes a quick jaunt through the Blind Abilities App as he uses it to help demonstrate the screen recording process Join Pete for this thorough demonstration of all of these features in this 12 minute podcast that is guaranteed to educate and entertain!  Now let's lay out each procedure in a step-by-step format so it's clear for everyone to follow: Securing and placing the screen recording element in the control center: We first need to have the screen recording element available in our control center. Here's how we do it! Flick to your settings app and perform a single finger double tap to open it. Flick about halfway down the screen until you reach control center. Perform a single finger double tap to open it. Flick down until you reach the Heading called: “Included Items.” Flick to the right until you reach the item labeled Screen Recording. A single finger double tap will automatically place this item in your control center, but you can first pinpoint the precise location where you want this feature to reside when it is there. To do this, perform a single finger double tap and hold on the button following the screen recording element, labelled: “Reorder Screen Recording, draggable button.” Then slide your finger up or down the screen until you hear voiceover say the location where you wish to place this element. Release your finger and this item will be placed in that slot in this list, as well as in a similar location in the Control Center.  . now we need to go to our control center. Place your finger at the very top of your screen. You should hear voiceover speak one of the elements in the status bar, I. E. Time, Wi-Fi, cellular Network, battery percentage, etc. Once there, slide your finger down the screen beginning in the upper right hand corner until you hear the second audible sound. Lift your finger and your control center will open. Alternatively,      you can swipe up with three fingers from the bottom of your screen until you hear the second audible click to accomplish this. Flick through the various items in the control center until you reach the screen recording element. Remember, it will be in the same place here as it was on the list in the Settings App. Note: Be prepared to decide on what you will want to record using the Screen Recording feature, as our next step will be to start the recording. Also, you may wish to turn on Do Not Disturb in order to avoid unwanted sounds while in screen recording mode. You can ask Siri to do this, and see our previous iPhone 101 episode on Do Not Disturb for more information. Making a Screen Recording: Now that we have our Screen Recording element in the Control Center, we are now able to begin recording. To do this: 1Perform a single-finger double-tap on the Screen Recording element. Voiceover will count down 3-2-1, at which point the recording will begin. To stop recording, merely return to the Control Center and do a single-finger double-tap to stop. How to activate your microphone with Screen Recording: Go to the Screen Recording element in the Control Center. Flick up with one finger and you will hear two options. Perform a single-finger double-tap on “Open Controls”. Single finger double-tap to select this. You will be presented a list of options.  Flick right until you reach “microphone”. This will  be in the off or on position. If off, single-finger double-tap to toggle it on. Now all sounds will be recorded, including your voice and other sounds within reach of the microphone. You can do a single-finger double-tap to begin recording, or exit the Control Center by sliding one finger up from the bottom of your screen until you hear the second audible click. If your iPhone has a Home button, press it  once to exit. How to ask Siri to take and Share a Screen Shot and Screen Recording: While a Screen recording is a recording of  all audio and video occurring on your phone, a Screen Shot is merely a still photo, or snap-shot of a single screen on your phone. It's easy and fast to grab one. Say “Hey Siri, take a Screen Shot.” Siri will take a photo of whatever screen you are on. You may also press and hold your Home button and say the same thing. You may hear a clicking sound like a camera shutter as this happens. Ask Siri to share the image. Merely ask Siri to share with the person by name. You can shorten this process to a singled command by asking Siri to send a Screen Shot to (name).  Note: since screen shots and recordings are visual in nature, you may wish to turn off your screen curtain before beginning the process so recipients with usable vision are able to view the image. You can do this by performing a 3-finger triple-tap.   Retrieving Screen Shots and Recordings From your Photos App:  Screen shots and recordings are photos and videos and are therefore deposited into your Photos App. To retrieve them, do the following: Flick to the Photos App on your Home screen, or ask Siri to open Photos App. Single-finger double-tap to open it. Flick down to the bottom of the opening screen and perform a single-finger double-tap on the Tab labeled “Albums”. You may use a 4-finger single-tap toward the bottom of the screen in lieu of flicking multiple times. From the top of this screen, flick right and go down to the button labeled “Recent”. Single-finger double-tap to open. Flick twice and do a single-finger double-tap on the button labeled “Select”. Flick down until you locate your desired image. . You may choose to swipe up with three fingers in lieu of flicking multiple times to move down your Recent list. These are labeled by “Screen Shot” or “Screen Recording” respectively. Perform a single-finger double-tap to select the item. You may now view the item, delete it or share it by selecting the Share button on the screen. Contact Your State Services If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361. Contact: You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Storeand Google Play Store. Give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-9063 we would love to hear from you! Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, and the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impaired group

Advances in technology, foresight in construction, and Americans' growing desire to age in place have expanded the installation of home elevators and stairlifts in the U.S. And Arrow Lift, with its 13 locations nationwide, has been a leader in this accessibility transformation. On today's episode of “The Building Code,” Zach and Charley learn all about home accessibility from Pete Newstrom, Arrow Lift's vice president of finance and accounting. Plus, Pete shares how Arrow Lift has reaped the rewards of Buildertrend as a subcontractor.   EARLY ON, YOUR CLIENTELE NEEDED ELEVATORS AND LIFTS DUE TO LIFE CHANGES OR DESIRED LUXURY. WHAT'S CHANGED? “Now it is much more common for folks to plan ahead, and a lot of times they are putting the elevator in before it is physically looked at as a need, or if that is not in the budget, they might just stack closets in advance so that however many years in the future, when an elevator is in the budget or is needed, it is that much easier to add to the home.”   HOW HAS BUILDERTREND BENEFITED YOUR TEAM'S WORK AS A SUBCONTRACTOR?   “One reason that we like Buildertrend is that those jobs tend to go relatively smoothly. It might be because the type of builder that uses Buildertrend is the type of builder that really is deliberate with open communication with their clients and subcontractors, or it might be because of the added benefit that Buildertrend provides with communicating with subcontractors like us. But in any event, it does seem to help things go smoothly.”   LINKS AND MORE Related content: Explore the elegant elevator offerings of Arrow Lift that have Charley raving.   Are you a subcontractor curious about Buildertrend? Learn more about how our platform can enhance your relationships with general contractors. “The Better Way” a podcast by Buildertrend: Improve how you use the world's No. 1 construction management software. Subscribe and stream all four seasons on your favorite listening app now. Follow us on social: Instagram and Facebook: @Buildertrend   We want to hear from you! Reach out to us at podcast@buildertrend.com.   Listen to “The Building Code” on YouTube! And be sure to head over to Facebook to join The Building Code Crew fan page for some fun discussions with fellow listeners.  

In Episode 15 of the SensuElle Podcast, Ari interviews Founder + Data Scientist, Michele Abraham(she/her). Michele tells us how about her mission to abolish discrimination as a Black Female Technologist, and the toll this journey has taken on her sensuality. Michele answers burning questions; why the data does not currently exist for the Neurodiverse, Non-traditional, and Accessibility communities in AI we use every day, creating a seat at the table with Holistic AI, and taking care of her sensual side after a career pivot from film to tech. Follow Michele: https://www.instagram.com/micheleatquiver/ Follow the Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/sensuellepodcast Follow Host Ari: https://www.instagram.com/sensuelle.education Show Notes: sensuellepodcast.com

2145 Accessibility of Android Devices Past and Present (Nov. 3, 2021) Show Notes The accessibility of Android devices has continued to improve over the years and is now a viable option for those who are visually impaired. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Austin Pinto, Warren Carr and Mariam Mohsen from the Blind Android … Continue reading 2145 Accessibility of Android Devices Past and Present (Nov. 3, 2021) →

01:03 - Not Giving Into Peer Pressure 02:31 - Reaching Outside of the Accessibility World (Demystifying Accessibility) * Everyday Accessibility by Dr. Michele A. Williams (https://www.a11yproject.com/posts/2021-06-14-everyday_accessibility/) * Thinking About Disability Until It's Everyone's Normal Way of Thinking * Power Structures and Erasing Innovation * Recognizing Specialty * Cormac Russell: Four Modes of Change: To, For, With, By (https://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/4510.pdf) 12:37 - The Real Work of Accessibility: Organizational Change * Taking a Stance and Celebrating Innovation * Inclusion 17:52 - Avoiding Dysfunctional Ways of Working * The 5 Principles of Human Performance: A contemporary update of the building blocks of Human Performance for the new view of safety by Todd E. Conklin PhD (https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Human-Performance-contemporary-updateof/dp/1794639144) * Context Drives Behavior * How Leaders Respond Matters * Set Up The System So The Right Thing Is Easy 26:46 - Moral Obligations and Social Norms: Top Down * PAPod 36 - Martha Acosta Returns - The 4 Things Leaders Control (https://preaccidentpodcast.podbean.com/e/papod-36-martha-acosta-returns-the-4-things-leaders-control/) * Roles * Processes and Practices * Values/Norms * Incentives 31:20 - Personas: Translating Ideas and Principles Into Action * Software Security: Building Security In by Gary McGraw (https://www.amazon.com/Software-Security-Building-Gary-McGraw/dp/0321356705) 37:04 - Putting Accessibility Into Action * Knowledge Building: Iterate * Giving Access * “Appreciate the bunt.” * Clearer Consequences * Greater Than Code Episode 162: Glue Work with Denise Yu (https://www.greaterthancode.com/glue-work) 51:06 - “Disability Dongles” – Liz Jackson (https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/disabled-people-want-disability-design-not-disability-dongles-1.5353131) * The Lows of High Tech – 99% Invisible (https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-lows-of-high-tech/) * Infrastructure Disables Blind Navigation * The Models of Disability (https://www.disabled-world.com/definitions/disability-models.php) * The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me by Keah Brown (https://www.amazon.com/Pretty-One-Culture-Disability-Reasons/dp/1982100540) Reflections: Michele: Finding room for everyone to provide their perspective. John: The real solutions are infrastructural. Rein: Accessibility has to be built-in throughout the process of building and designing software. This episode was brought to you by @therubyrep (https://twitter.com/therubyrep) of DevReps, LLC (http://www.devreps.com/). To pledge your support and to join our awesome Slack community, visit patreon.com/greaterthancode (https://www.patreon.com/greaterthancode) To make a one-time donation so that we can continue to bring you more content and transcripts like this, please do so at paypal.me/devreps (https://www.paypal.me/devreps). You will also get an invitation to our Slack community this way as well. Transcript: REIN: Hello and welcome to Episode 257 of Greater Than Code. I'm your co-host, Rein Henrichs, and I'm here with my friend, John Sawers. JOHN: Thank you, Rein, and I'm here with our guest, Michele A. Williams. She's the owner of M.A.W. Consulting (Making Accessibility Work). Her 16 years of experience include influencing top tech companies as a Senior User Experience Researcher and Accessibility Consultant, and obtaining a PhD in Human-Centered Computing focused on accessibility. A W3C-WAI Invited Expert, international speaker, published academic author, and patented inventor, she is passionate about educating and advising on technology that does not exclude disabled users. Welcome to the show, Michele. MICHELE: Thank you so much, John and Rein. Thanks for having me. JOHN: You are very welcome and we'll start the show as we always do by asking our standard question, which is what is your superpower and how did you acquire it? MICHELE: I don't think I have the most creative answer to this. [laughs] I kind of hate those, “Oh, tell us something fun about yourself.” But the thing I thought about that came to mind was my ability to not give into peer pressure. [chuckles] And some ways that manifests for instance, I have a technology background and yet I'm almost the least technical person like I was probably one of the last people to get a smartphone. I love my flip phone and you couldn't take it from me. So this idea that everyone's doing this social media, all of that, I just joined Twitter last year. So I do things dagnabbit; when I need it, not necessarily just because there's groundswell. So I would say that's pretty good superpower. JOHN: All right. So you gave some examples there in your personal life with technology and social media. I assume that that's also a fairly powerful capability in a business context as well. MICHELE: I think so. Particularly when you're advocating for say, disabled people who aren't necessarily always advocated for, it definitely helps to have a more strong will and the ability to take a stance that turns others rather than consistently feeling like you're being turned around about what others want you to do. So I agree with that, thanks. JOHN: [chuckles] Excellent. And so it looks like you've been involved in the accessibility world on a number of different angles and capabilities and so, what have you found to be the most impactful of those? MICHELE: I tend to want to reach people who are outside of the accessibility world. Unfortunately, I think sometimes accessibility people can tend to talk to other accessibility people a little bit too much. I tend to like to recognize that it is something that everyone in the world should know a little something about. It is an expertise, but there are some ways that everyone can do it. I just recently wrote an article for A11Y Project called Everyday Accessibility. That's when you're making a Word document, for instance, using the Ribbon, using headings, and buttons, or bulleted lists. So I tend to want to bring everyone on board, and demystify accessibility and make it more attainable and easier to grasp and that feels so much like this expert field that takes years to break it down to those tangible pieces that still make a big difference. REIN: One of the things that I hear a lot when abled people are advocating for accessibility is, “Sure, this helps disabled people, but you should care about it because it helps abled people, too.” How do you feel about that? MICHELE: So that's a conversation that's been coming up a lot, too and I have a particular colleague that sent me their response, for instance and it's a stance that I don't particularly align with because the problem with that stance is you end up keeping the status quo. So there are real consequences to being in a society that does not value disability and you, as someone who doesn't have a disability, do not feel those effects. So until we are a more equitable society, we do have to call out the characteristics that make someone have negative effects. So the reality is yes, there are things like situational impairments, which is when the situation you're in mirrors the impact of a disability such as walking and texting—you're not seeing out of your periphery—or there's temporary disabilities, like you've broken your arm, and then there's just the natural process of aging. All of that is true and you can also figure designing for your future self for that last part. But again, I think that we have to be very mindful that right now we need to overemphasize and think about disability until it is our normal way of thinking. REIN: It also seems like it's conceding the ground that doing what's right for disabled people is enough of a justification. MICHELE: Explain that a little bit more, what you mean by that. REIN: So when you say it helps disabled people, but it also helps abled people, it seems to me like you're saying it's not enough for me to just say that this helps disabled people. I have to give you another reason. MICHELE: Absolutely, absolutely, and that ties back into ableism and the invisibility of disability and the devaluing of disability. Like you said, it's like a disabled person is not enough. It has to also include absolutely right with that way of thinking and that's another reason not to go that route of segmenting it in that way. JOHN: I think this ties into something that you had mentioned earlier that I find really interesting, this idea that able people are doing something for disabled people. MICHELE: Yes, and that's the big thing. When you say like, “What's been on your mind lately?” That's the one that comes to mind and it comes to mind for a couple of different reasons. None of them new, none of them – I did not discover any of this; people have been saying this for decades upon decades. But for me, my personal experience, I will give a talk, an accessibility talk, I might explain something about say, screen readers, or some other technology, or a particular disability and then the response is, “Well, it should work this way,” or “We should do this.” There's a lot of solutioning around what I've just presented without any context of ever having met say, a disabled person, or particularly a person in the disability community that has been talked about and that comes, I think from this idea, a couple of things. One, again, this idea of a power structure where, “Well, I'm doing this for you, disabled person.” Not understanding the empowerment that the disabled person has, or this misunderstanding and again, invisibility of disability in spaces like tech innovation and not understanding, okay, that touch screen you're using, that text-to-speech you love, those captions that you use at the bar; all of these things [chuckles] came from disability. We erased the innovation that came from someone designing for themselves and designing for their ability and it's assisted technology and therefore, it's an add-on when it's for disabled folks, but it's innovation when it's for people who don't have disabilities. I think we need to have a lot more discussion about this, particularly in spaces like user experience, where we're supposed to be all inclusive and all about the user. There's some ways that we really are reinforcing this mindset and this power structure, for sure. JOHN: So I want to check my understanding of what you're saying, just to make sure. Are you saying that when you present a problem, accessibility problem, the abled people, the other UX designers, the other people who want to be helpful jump in with, “Oh, we can do this, we can do that, or that” rather than saying, “Well, let's go talk to some disabled people and find out what they need and let that guide how we solve this problem rather than us just being like, ‘Oh, it would be great if dah, dah, dah, dah, dah.'” MICHELE: So to two stages to that. For the first one yes, that's the first thing that happens. In the assistive technology, broad accessibility world, this manifests in some very familiar ways. The first is the blind navigation. Every year, some engineer thinks they've solved blind navigation, pedestrian navigation. Meaning they've created a belt with vibrations on the left and right with an Arduino, or something and they go, “You don't need a cane anymore because it's going to vibrate left when you need to turn left and right when you need to turn right, and you can walk like a sighted person,” or some variation of that—robot guide dogs, smart cane, something like that, or the sign language gloves, or the stair climbing wheelchair. There's these sort of assistive technologies that always come out with very little context around whether it's actually happening, whether it's actually needed. But then there's something John, about what you said, too about let's see what people need and we'll build it. We have to be careful even with that, too because that assumes that I can't build for myself and that's not true either. [chuckles] Disabled folks are the most innovative people because the world is not accessible. There is a such thing as a specialty. Like I have an accessibility specialty, I have a design specialty, but I think we often think that's someone without a disability. No, a disabled person can also have these specialties, or they can be someone who has the idea of what they need and you're partnering with them with your specialty in say, design to create those solutions. So again, I think we have to be very careful about our wording and our viewpoints of what's actually happening. REIN: There's a framework that I've been using for this that actually comes from aviation safety and there's a European aviation safety magazine where Cormac Russell published an op-ed called Four Modes of Change: To, For, With, By. The idea is that change to is the mode where change has done to us without us. So this is a sort of authoritarian top-down thing. We've got no say in the matter. It's not even necessarily for our benefit. Then change for is a benevolent top-down approach. “I'm trying to help you, but I'm the one who decides what to change.” Change with is a participatory co-creating the change. And then change by is change done by us for us where if I'm, for example, a manager, my role would be find out what support you need so you can make the changes you want to make. MICHELE: Absolutely. Perfect. Thank you. I knew there was some reference. This appears in disability justice spaces, in any kind of space where you're talking about inclusion, we know that sometimes inclusion can be code for do things the way that the current power structure does it. Do things the way that the current people in charge of comfortable and assimilate rather than no, we're actually going to allow you to be your authentic self and come into these spaces. Part of the reason this has also been on my mind is because I fit into some of these other spaces as a woman and as a Black person. I think that sometimes my cohorts think well, because we have experienced some of that in our lives, we are immune to them giving that out to others. So as a Black person, a woman, even someone with intersectionality, I can't possibly do that to do was done to me to someone else. But we don't realize how much ableism is steeped into our society, such that it is very easy to do that with disability and not even realize it and not even realize you have the mentality that someone is inferior to you, incapable, and particularly when the disability has to do with neurological, or anything that we really don't understand. But even still, even that kind of categorization can go away because the idea is that any sort of disability triggers usually some sort of ableist response and these things can happen even if you've experienced it yourself. JOHN: So like so many of the other things we discussed on this podcast, it sounds like the real work of accessibility is organizational change. It's getting the power structures to change to allow these things to come into being rather than forcing them in there, or trying to – like you were saying, not forcing the change on the disabled people to fit in. MICHELE: I've been thinking about the roots of this, for sure. And thank you for that. Unfortunately, capitalism drives a lot of this and again, if we're talking specifically more to tech worlds and say, including accessibility into your tech, part of that is just because the buy-in sometimes comes from the internal stakeholders, not the end customer. Again, if you're not mindful, not careful, and don't have leadership that are careful. So the dirty little secret is for instance internally yes, you may be making education software for students, but you're really marketing to the teachers who are going to buy it, and you're then even more so really marketing to whoever the management structure is internally who's going to approve it to even be on the market. So you get further and further away from actually helping a student because you have all these other checks that it needs to impress, or you need to make the case for similar to what we were saying earlier, you have to make the case for disability. For instance, you have to say, “Well, blind people to do this.” You get this pushback of, “Well, blind people don't do that so we don't have to worry about it and you keep moving on.” So there is a shift that is hard, but I do think it goes back to what I was saying earlier about taking a stance. I think that people do need to individually start to take the stance that that may be how we do things now, or how it may even need to be done. But we do want to be careful buying into that completely because it's going to perpetuate the same. We know that that power dynamic internally of who the stakeholders are, again, also sometimes doesn't reflect the diversity of who we are designing for. We're going to keep getting the same result if we're not super mindful and super careful to take the stance that we are going to care about the diversity of the end users, the people that ultimately will have their hands on what we're making and celebrate that oftentimes those best solutions, again, come from the community who are doing the work. So celebrating the innovation that comes from being tied back to those end users rather than thinking the solution has to come from within. So changing that mindset around this difficult, but it takes taking a stand and recognizing it, too. JOHN: So it's trying to change my thinking around to the by style change around accessibility and my context is on the team of web developers who develop apps that are eventually used by some disabled people. So I'm trying to think about obviously, we need buy-in from the power structures as a company and to spend time on the work, but deciding what work gets done needs to be – that's where the inclusion comes in and I'm curious about what the steps are there that helped me get to that point where those people are included MICHELE: So here's a few ways that that comes about. One of it could just be, okay, this is the feature we're doing and we're going to make sure that this feature that we're doing—however that came about—is assessable. That can come from anything from how you're going to code, like making the decision to use standardized elements that come with accessibility built-in, or whatever knowledge building you can do internally to just bake it into how you are creating that feature. Then there is what is the feature and making sure that that, if nothing else, is as inclusive as possible, or at least not exclusionary. You're not making a feature that will exclude people. Again, that comes from an understanding of who is the audience and making sure everyone understands that. No one, I don't think has fully solved for how to make accessibility the thing that everyone knows does – it's difficult. It takes time. It takes training. It takes science from top down as well as then knowledge from the bottom up. It's a journey. But I think that there are places where decisions are made, that you know you're going one way, or the other, whether it's, I'm using a div, or a button, [chuckles] whether it's we're going to wait to put captions, or we're going to go ahead and build in time to do that, whether it's, again, we're going to put in this very visual feature, or we're going to take a little bit more time to understand how to have an alternative to that feature. So there's lots of places where you can be very intentional, that you are going to take the steps to learn about accessibility from your point of view and then incorporate it. REIN: So let's say that your VP of engineering mandates that every project has to meet a certain accessibility score, or something like that, but you don't train the developers. So you were saying top down and bottom up have to come together. I have seen things like that lead to some pretty dysfunctional ways of working. MICHELE: I can see that [laughs] and I think part of that comes from a misunderstanding that accessibility is not just something you say we're going to do. Like, it's not like we didn't do it because we just simply forgot, or we didn't do it just for reasons that can then you can flip a switch and turn it on. People aren't doing it because they weren't taught it, they aren't fully aware of the diversity of it, they aren't aware of what's required, and then leadership isn't aware. Therefore, that steps have to be taken. So there's a lot of rally around let's be inclusive, let's be assessable, but then there's less so when you learn oh, that means we have to maybe take half of the time to train and disrupt our workflow, or we have to do our workflow differently, or we have to go back to the code we've already written and been using for years and fix it. Those are some real decisions and those are some real consequences sometimes to that, too when you're a business that is expected to constantly move forward, but they are decisions that have to be made in order to actually put it in place, not just say you are for it. REIN: Todd Conklin has a book, The 5 Principles of Human Performance, and there are two that I think are especially relevant here. One is that context drives behavior. So if you want to know why someone is behaving the way they do, the thing to look at is the context that they're operating in, and the other is that how leaders respond to matters. When I think about this, I think if you have a design systems team, is that design system built to be accessible from first principles? Is the easy thing to do grab a component that's already designed to be accessible, or is the easy thing to do is throw a div on the page? MICHELE: Yeah, and there are, I think that the number one takeaway is none of it is easy because all of it is late. So there are initiatives like teachaccess.org; we really need to be embedding it in how we even learn the things that we learned, because then it does feel like we're almost disrupting industry to do this. When in reality, we just learned it wrong. [chuckles] We learn to cheat and to make it look and feel the way I want it to look rather than learning that there was a reason there's this thing called a button versus this thing called a div. Now, recognizing, too, though that standards come after innovation. So you can't standardize something that hasn't really even been explored, or even invented yet. So we understand that as you want technology to advance, it's more difficult to then say, “Okay, there's a standard for this and that will guarantee us accessibility.” So for instance, using native HTML elements isn't all, or when we look at mobile, native mobile elements is more difficult to do. This is still a new space, a growing space and so, sometimes we don't often know what that looks like. But that then requires again, that awareness piece of what disability looks like and this is where they're trying to catch augmented reality and virtual reality with XR Access and accessibility initiatives. Because if you're at least aware of the diversity of disability, you can catch it early enough so that when the standards come out again, we're making it less hard. Someone on a panel I was on last week, talked about like tech debt and this idea of well, it can be overwhelming. Well, if you have less things you need to maintain, it's less overwhelming and that comes from using standards and being aware of standards. You lessen your tech debt; that becomes part of the overall responsibility of standards bodies, for instance. So there are some again, tangible steps that I think just need more awareness and talking about over and over again until we get it right, that can be put in place, should be put in place. Hopefully, it will be put in place to make this less daunting over time. REIN: Yeah, and then on the how leaders respond thing. If someone builds something that's not accessible to you, do you punish them to just drive that behavior underground, or do you say, “Why weren't they able to do it? Do they not have the right expertise? Were they under too much time pressure?” How can I make the context better so that people are more likely to do the behaviors that we're trying to lead them towards? MICHELE: Yeah. Thinking a lot about that, too. So I tend to have two ways. I guess, it's sort of the carrot stick kind of thing, or maybe some other dynamic like that, but we know some people are going to get the altruistic side. Again, awareness. They just weren't thinking about disability. It's not something that's in their life. It's not something that was exposed to them. Once someone is exposed and understands a little bit of the work that needs to be done, they're bought in and they go for it. There are other folks that just are ablest. They just will not care. If it has not affected them personally in their lives, they are going to look – maybe like you said, maybe their motivations are something like money, even though they don't realize they're excluding more consumers. Whatever those things are, they're just not going to buy in. That's when unfortunately things like the threat of lawsuits, or bad publicity has to be the way that you get those folks to turn around, or again, you just do it. [chuckles] So that's when maybe the folks on the ground can just do it regardless and the one thing, I think about is this video that went around with this little baby and there was a parent and a teacher aide. I presume the baby was supposed to be doing their sound it out cards, flashcards, but didn't feel like doing it. The little baby sitting on the floor back turned, the mom and the teachers, they did it. They did the sound out cards. The baby's looking back still playing, but keeps looking back and eventually, the baby goes, “Wait a minute, that's my game,” and next thing you know, they're playing the game. So there is something also, too to like you said, maybe it's just a peer pressure thing. No one else seems to be doing accessibility so why do we have to be the ones to do it? But if the cool kids start doing it, if the company start exposing that they are doing it, if there's enough groundswell, people will just get on board with the thing that everyone is doing, too. So I think maybe there are three ways now—maybe I've added a third in my mind. There are ways – as a user experience person, I say user experience the person that you're dealing with. Like you said, get in their head, what are they thinking? What do you think they would want? But ultimately, understand that it isn't always going to be because it's the right thing and the faster you learn that, the more you might be able to actually get some results, too. JOHN: Yeah. I like what you said there, Rein about set up the system so that the right thing is easy and I think obviously, there's a lot of work to get to that point where you have the whole system built around that. But once you can get there, that's great because then, like you were saying, Michele, there's so much less effort involved in getting the thing to happen because that's just how everyone does it and you're just pulling the components are, or copy pasting from the other parts of the code that are already accessible so that it that stuff is already built into the process. And then it doesn't have to be quite so much of an uphill. Like even just uphill thinking process where you have to think differently than you used to in order to get the thing done in an accessible manner. MICHELE: Yeah. Again, unfortunately it's not embedded within us to do this, but maybe the next generation will, maybe the next couple of generations If we keep talking about it and we take the effort to start to shift ourselves, maybe it will be the thing that people can't even remember when they didn't do it. I do feel like we're in a cool moment right now where that might be possible. I'm hearing it more and more. I didn't learn it in school when I was doing computer science and software engineering, but I know some students now that are coming out that are. So I'm kind of hopeful, but the conversations really need to be said aloud and often in order for it to happen, for sure. REIN: You mentioned the larger structural problem here, which is that designing accessible software is a moral obligation and we work in an economic system that's not optimized around moral obligations. Let's put it that way. MICHELE: Yeah. [laughs] That will dollar. [laughs] I think again, there's that school, are we changing that, or we're going to work within it. I think you can do both. Some people should – we should really be tackling both, any kind of inclusion efforts, same thing. Do you do it from within, or outside? Do you work within the structure, or do you dismantle it? I think there's benefits to both. I think there's benefit to basically editing what isn't working about what we're currently doing. There's always an improvement and I tend to look at it that way. It's not so much as it's down with this and up with that. I think we just need to recognize, as human beings who can evolve and do things different, learn, grow, and get wiser, let's just do that. Let's do what we're doing better and when we recognize that we have a negative effect, let's solution something that is going to work better and just recognize that and do better. It's okay to edit. So I don't think we have to toss our hands up and say, “Oh, we'll never get there because of how this is.” That was invented, too. All of these things are constructs. At some point, the way we do things wasn't the way we did things; we did things completely differently. Empires can fall and rise and be redone. So we don't have to stay stagnant, but we can, again, start to make these changes. REIN: I think that even within a capitalist system, there's still a place for social norms. There's still a place for deciding which behaviors we're going to accept and which behaviors we're not going to accept and what we're going to do about those. I just wouldn't expect that to be the CEO's job. I would expect that to be the entire community of the company. MICHELE: The entire community with the CEOs. So the two companies that are the pillars, for instance, of accessibility, Microsoft and Apple, you hear their CEOs say, “We do things accessibly.” So it's not necessarily on them to forego stakeholders and stock prices and all of that. Certainly, you can't do too much if you don't have a company, so they have to do what they have to do, but there is still an okay from that and that's part of that top-down. Again, we need training. Is there money in the budget for training? That has to come from management. So there is still a recognition and it's just always beneficial when everyone is on the same page that this is how we operate; the message then doesn't ever get disconnected. It just shifts to the role of a person and they put it into practice in their own particular way. REIN: Martha Acosta, who is one of the few original women in safety science, she says that there are four things that leaders can control, or have leverage over—there's roles, there's processes and practices, there's values, or norms, and there's incentives. So I think this ties in with what you're saying about what the CEO's job could be. MICHELE: Versus stock prices? Yeah. [laughs] Versus yeah. Which unfortunately is, again, I think it's even upon the CEO to take a stance on what they are going to do with their company and their time. Because certainly, the pressures are coming to them sometimes not necessarily emanating from them. So I think there is opportunity, this is why there's opportunity for everyone to evaluate what are we doing. Like you said, we can decide what is important, how are we going to go about this? And if enough people start to be even more mindful than they were yesterday, shifts are going to inevitably happen. And people who disregard others, discriminate all of these other negative effects that we've seen will inevitably have less effects because the norm will be these other ways that we're trying to include and get better as a society. REIN: So one of the things I like to think about when we have guests, or ask guests to think about, is to think about this challenge from the perspective of a few different people. A few different personas. So I'm a manager, I'm a line level manager and the people that report to me are engineers. What can I do? Or I am a mid-level engineer, what can I do? How do we translate these ideas and principles into action? MICHELE: So what is to understand that there are, for instance, guidelines like there are web accessibility, web content, accessibility guidelines, or author and tool guidelines, because we do need to define what it means. At some point, there needs to be metrics and there needs to be measures that need to be placed to understand, did we do this? One way to do that is to translate those into those various roles. Some of that work has happened and some of it needs to happen. So there's understanding the tangible actions that can and should happen. But I think also, it's simply a matter of deciding that accessibility and inclusion and particularly in my world, disability is just going to be a part of everything. Every check that you make for whatever your role is. You were talking about different frameworks for different levels. Certainly, that's true. I think that we tend to separate out disability from those kinds of conversations as if it's different. It's not different. Making decisions for how you're going to manage your employees should be inclusive of disabled employees. The tools that you want them to use, the ways you want them to work, how “productive” you want them to be, how you're going to measure that. All of that should be mindful of the variety of people that you are supporting. Same with I am a developer so that means that I am writing code on behalf of a group of other people and that means I need to know who these people are. It's funny you say personas because—I know that's not probably what you meant, but in my role, obviously that triggers the user experience personas, which I'm not a fan of. That's all another podcast. [chuckles] But when we're talking about that so in user experience we're saying, “Oh, we're designing for these people, these target audience per se.” It'll be John who's the manager and he does this on his way to work and then there's Mary. Maybe she's a stay-at-home mom, but uses it this way. Dah, dah, dah, all these other characteristics. And then we'll go so now we need disability personas. No. [chuckles] John can also be quadriplegic. Mary can also have multiple sclerosis. So again, it goes back to the idea that we have separated out and made invisible disability. Oh, taboo. Even the word oh, it's taboo. Can't talk about disability. REIN: Yeah. Like imagine having a separate persona for a woman, or a Black person. MICHELE: Thank you. We don't do it. We don't do the whites only school and we'll get to the Black people later. We know that intrinsically, but we do it in everything. So same thing particularly when we're talking about inclusion of disability in all of these phases of say, an organization, we go, “And disability.” No, no, no. If we really want to think about it, disability is the equalizer. Anyone can become disabled at any moment at any time, it does not discriminate. It is the one thing that any human being can become at any time and yet we still separate it out as if it's this taboo, or a terrible thing. Now, again, there are negative outcomes of disability. Not saying that, but we have this tendency to segment it in ways that just absolutely don't make sense and aren't necessary and are detrimental and make it more work, so. REIN: There's a book called Software Security by McGraw. It's kind of old now, but the premise is still very relevant, which is that to make software secure, you have to build security in at the beginning, and you have to keep constructing and repairing it throughout the software development life cycle. So it starts with design, but it includes, you talked about different touchpoints in the life cycle, where you want to sort of check in on whether you still are as secure as you think you are. So that includes design. It includes code review. It includes testing. I wonder if this sort of an approach works for accessibility, too; we just sort of bake it into the fabric of how you design soft. MICHELE: It should be how it works. The moniker is shift left. That's absolutely what has to happen to do it well. You have to be thinking about it all the time. Everything that you do. So that's how my mind works now. It took a long time to do that. But now when I'm sending an email and I put a picture in, “Okay, let me put the alternative text.” I'm making a spreadsheet, “Okay, let me do the heading.” Like, I'm always constantly checking myself as I'm doing anything. “Okay, if I'm doing a podcast like this, is there a transcript, or are there captions?” I'm just constantly doing these checks. That takes time to build up, but it is the way you have to do it to make sure nothing slips through the cracks so that all the hard work that say, the design team, or the dev team did, and then QA comes in and doesn't know how to test it. We're all interdependent so it has to be everyone all the time, all throughout the process in order to get it from end to end to work; the weak link in the chain will break that. So very much how it has to go. REIN: It also seems like this there are small, actionable things that you could do to move in this direction. So for example, when you do code review, ask some accessibility questions. Maybe build yourself an accessibility checklist. Now I don't like checklists, but that's a whole other podcast, but it's better than not thinking about it. MICHELE: Yeah. As you're learning something, sometimes the checklist is helpful because you don't yet have it in your own mind and you don't want to forget. Now you don't want to – I'm sure what you're saying is you don't want to tie yourself to the checklist, too. REIN: Yeah. MICHELE: But as you're building up knowledge, yes, there are so many just tangible did I do this things that you might as well just keep a sticky at your desk, or however you want to do it and just start doing those things. Again, we don't have to keep talking about it. It doesn't have to be this revelation of inclusive buy-in in order to put captions on your videos. [chuckles] These things, you know. REIN: Yeah. This also seems like an opportunity for tech leads to do leadership to say, “Hey, so I looked at this and the contrast ratio is a little bit low. Do you think we could punch this up in a code review?” MICHELE: Yeah. The only thing, though is back to the beginning—being careful about these directives, making sure you understand the directives that you're doing because again, a lot of times, particularly when people are new to accessibility, they overdo it. So they hear a screen reader and they think it needs to read like a novel so they want to add in a summary of the page in the beginning, a summary of this section, and they want to overly describe the alternative text, the image down to the pixels. There's some give and take there, too. There's some learning you want to do, but you can iterate. You can learn one piece, get comfortable with it. Okay, now that this next piece. Knowledge building it's just what it is, is what it is. So there's absolutely knowledge building that you can do to get more comfortable and we need everyone to do this. There's certain parts that should be specialty, but unfortunately, the specialists are doing what everyone else should be doing the basics and so, we've got to shift that so that the specialists can do the specialty stuff, the harder stuff that may not quite get – [overtalk] REIN: That's exactly the same problem is having a security person on your team. MICHELE: Absolutely. So it sounds like you all have a focus on implementation. Like you're implementing and you want to know how best to make – I'm turning it on [inaudible]. [laughs] So you want to know how best to make it work for you, or is that what I'm hearing? REIN: I guess, I lean towards practice. I want to understand the theory, but then if I can't put that theory into practice, the theory is not very useful to me. If that makes sense. MICHELE: Absolutely makes sense. My company name is Making Accessibility Work and a lot of what I say is put accessibility into action, because I am very much tied to this idea that you can be absolutely on board with accessibility and not have any clue how to do it. [chuckles] And then the inverse can be true, too. You can absolutely do not care, but because you care about semantic HTML, you're doing more accessibility than the person who cares. There are these places that people can be in their understanding that neither one is actually, or you think one is helping, but the other actually is. I think people think you have to care. You have to want to Sometimes, you know what, you don't. Sometimes I just need you to fix the color contrast, [laughs] or yes, it's great that you care, but in doing so, you're actually, co-opting a message. You care a little too much and you are actually not letting disabled people speak for themselves because you've now discovered accessibility and now, you're all about it. So I think we've got to meet in the middle, folks. Let's care, let's do, let's demystify, but also understand there are some harder problems to solve, but understand where those are. Putting headings on the page is not the hard problem we need to solve. Just put the headings, making math and science more accessible, particularly when we've made it so visualization heavy. Yeah, let's go over there. Let's tinker with that, folks and that's where we need to be putting all this massive brain power. We've had Web Content Accessibility Guidelines for 20 years. HTML5, which addressed a lot of semantics for accessibility, has been out a decade. Y'all, hurry up and learn that and let's get that going so we can get over to this harder stuff. Get this brain power over to these more complex issues and newer innovations. JOHN: Yeah. I think if you're one of those people that cares, like you were saying, a little too much, or perhaps just a lot, you can end up with option lock because you want to solve all the problems and then you're just like, “But what do we do? What are we doing here?” Like, I'll just put the headings in, put the alt texts in, we'll start there. You've got to get moving. And that's partly where I'm coming from with some of the questions I'm asking is that process of just getting that boulder rolling a little bit so that it takes a little bit less effort to keep going in the future. MICHELE: Yeah, and there's no perfect way to do it. I think everyone's looking for okay, well, how do we do it? You're going to spend a year on how and again, miss the year of what and doing it. It is messy because you're hiring people, you've got people working who don't know how to do it; it's going to be disruptive. We didn't come in with this knowledge. I know you didn't hire people to then train them up and send them to school but unfortunately, you've got to do that. People need to know what to do differently, what they're doing wrong. So some of it is going to be experimental, iterative, and messy, but in the end, start giving access. We talk about language even. Do we say disability? Do we say people with? Or do we say disabled people? And do we say differently abled? Even these – okay you know what, the reality is you do all of that and still don't get access. What would be better is if you have a person with a disability at the table to tell you themselves, but you're worried about language and yet can't even hire someone with a disability. So again, it's getting out of these little zones that we sometimes get in and recognizing the real work that needs to be done and can get done today. REIN: I think there's a real temptation to fixate on the hard, or interesting problems in the tech world that might be wanting to build this distributed database with five nines of durability. But your API server has a bug where 1% of the requests are an error. So if you don't fix that, your five nines over here are useless. MICHELE: The flashy thing, yes. [laughs] The shiny thing, we want to gravitate. Oftentimes, there's no glory in what was considered the grunt work, the foundational work. But I think that's where leadership could come in. I heard someone say years ago, “Appreciate the bunts” in baseball that oh, chicks dig the home run. We love the home run, but sometimes, that bunt wins the game. But that's where a leadership can come in and appreciate laying found a scalable foundation of code that does not add to tech debt, or the diminishing of the bugs that you've kept rolling year after year after year, you close 50 of them. That's where, again, a change in mentality of what we value. Sometimes again, accessibility is not put at the front because sometimes it's just code changes that aren't visible to users. So users are going to think you spent a year and didn't do anything to your code, or some of them will. But again, I think that's a messaging and that's an appreciation of really trying to do, and that's even appreciating software engineering versus just COVID. I have a software engineering degree and that's when I realized, “Oh, we're not just supposed to sit down and start hacking away and make sure it runs for the teacher to check it and we're done.” There's an engineering to this, but you have to value that. But also, I think there needs to be clearer consequences like speaking of engineering. If it's a building, we know the building can collapse. I don't think sometimes we appreciate what can happen if we don't do that foundational work and I think that's a shift overall and then technology and appreciation of that work. REIN: And I appreciate what you did there, which was to subtly redirect me back to the context and to how leaders respond. Because if building that five nines database gets you promoted and fixing that bug doesn't, what are people going to do? MICHELE: Yeah. So what's valued and that's set. Someone sets that. That's made up. You can value whatever you want to value. You can praise whatever you want to praise. Complete tangent, but that takes me to my high school where they were intentional that the students who performed well were going to be recognized by the principal because oftentimes, it was the misbehaving students that went to the principal's office. So the principal knows all the misbehaving students, but doesn't know any of the students that are doing the actual work that the school is asking of them to do. Not trying to get too much into school systems but again, it's an intention that you will honor the work, the unseen work. We do these in other spaces; the behind-the-scenes work, the unsung heroes. That's an intentional step that you can take as well to celebrate that, too. REIN: We have an older episode on glue work and how valuable glue work is, but how rarely it's acknowledged, or appreciated, especially by leadership and also, how it has a gender characteristic, for example. It seems to me like it might be easy to put accessibility in the category of glue work rather than in the category of like you were saying, foundational things that make us have a reliable product and a product that works for everyone. MICHELE: And I don't know if how we've presented technology to consumers plays into that as well. Again, the new flashy wow. The other day, I just looked down at my keyboard on my computer and I just thought about we just take such advantage of the fact that I'm just sitting here typing on the keyboard. Someone had to decide what the material would be that doesn't scratch my fingertips. Someone had to decide how to make the letters so that they don't rub off, or how they light up in the back. There's so much detail that goes into almost everything that we use and we just get so dismissive of some of it. “What's next? Eh, that's okay.” So I think, again, it's a human condition. It's the human condition to appreciate what people are doing for one another in front and behind the scenes and absolutely. But I think that also ties into, again, ableism, too. We see in assistive technology, or an adjustment because of disability as okay, that thing we can do later. But then when it becomes Alexa, when it becomes the vacuuming robot, when it becomes the new latest and greatest thing, then it's front and center and everyone wants to work on it. But it's the same technology. [chuckles] It's the same reasons that you should do it. It just happens to benefit everyone. It came out of disability, but you didn't want to think about it until you've found a benefit for all the “others.” Again, I think that's a human condition we have to correct. REIN: There's a thing that happens once a month on Twitter, which is someone will post an image of pre-sliced vegetables and they'll say, “What kind of a lazy loser needs pre-sliced vegetables?” And then someone will respond, “Disabled people need pre-sliced vegetables.” And then the response to that will either be blocking them, or saying, “Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I had no idea.” I think that there's maybe that dynamic going on here as well. MICHELE: Absolutely what I was thinking about, too, like Nike's shoes recently that you don't have to tie. Well, who doesn't want to sit down and tie their shoes? People who can't sit down and tie their shoes, but that was also a marketing issue. They refused to market it for disability. Like where were the disabled people? Where were the people with chronic illness, or chronic pain, or body size that just does not lend itself to bending over and tying your shoes? Why did it have to be marketed in that other way that then took away the messaging that this is a useful piece of equipment? REIN: Yeah. Like why is this fit model not able to tie their shoes? MICHELE: Exactly. Rather than take the angle that – again, they're all made up. Someone just happened to decide laces. We could have very easily decided this other way at the beginning. We could have very easily decided Velcro was the way. We just, I don't know, somewhere along the way, came up with laces. I think people in general have to go through their own journey of recognizing that what they were told was fact, truth, and stance just with someone's made up thing. Even these companies that we've just hold as pillars started in garages. They may have started in garages a 100 years ago, rather than just 50, or 20 years ago. But these things are just built. So we can build them differently. We can say them differently. It's okay. So taking away that stigma that things have to go a certain way and the way that they've been going, or at least perceived to have been going. We have got to start dismantling that. JOHN: Harking back here, a point earlier about the new shiny is always held up as always better. I read an article recently about prosthetic arms and how everyone's always really interested in building new robotic prosthetic arms. They're the new shiny, they're the cool thing to work on, and people feel good about working on them because they feel like they're helping people who need them. But that in a lot of cases, they're not better than the one that was designed 30 years ago that doesn't do a lot, but has at least a functional hook. They were following one woman through the article who had gotten one of these new ones, but it actually wasn't any better and she ended up switching back to the old one because she could get it to do the things that got her through the day and – [overtalk] REIN: Made with titanium. [laughter] JOHN: And you can clearly see that probably the people that are designing these probably weren't working with people bringing that feedback into the process enough and it was designed for rather than designed by. MICHELE: Absolutely. So Liz Jackson coined the phrase “Disability Dongle.” That's another one that comes up. The prosthetic, the exoskeleton, absolutely. The thing that non-disabled people look at and awe and look at what technology is doing, disabled people are over in the corner going, “That ain't going to help us.” [laughs] If you had asked, we would have told you we don't need that. I think we've also reached a point where we're at the harder stuff and no one's willing to tackle, I don't think always the harder stuff. So for instance, going back to blind navigation, one of the things that makes navigating difficult as a blind person—and I learned this because I talked and worked with like 80 blind people. [laughs] So one of the conclusions that came to with that infrastructure disables blind navigation, you don't need a smart – a lot of people espouse a smart cane. Well, they had this white cane, but it needs an infrared and it needs buzzers and it needs – okay, you're going to give people carpal tunnel. The battery on that is going to die. It's not going to be reliable. And in the meantime, the thing you could have done is educate people on putting stuff at head level. So the way that we design our street signs, for instance, we do everything very car minded. We do a lot of things for cars and we forget people also have to walk and so you put obstacles, or you can educate people about trimming your trees, for instance so people aren't running into them, or how they park their cars so that they're not in the way. Some of it is also just not a technology solution. It may be more an environmental and human education solution, but you can't tell people, who have signed up to work in technology, that they must find a technology solution. So they end up solutioning amongst themselves in ways that actually aren't helpful, but they make themselves, like you said, feel better and they promote within themselves. It's difficult to get people to undo that. JOHN: Yeah, it strikes me like you were talking about the wheelchairs that can go ramps, the exoskeletons, and there are certainly use cases for those sorts of things. But I think the distinction there is those are a solution to make the disabled people more abled rather than making the world more accessible. Like what they need is lower countertop so that in the wheelchair, they can still cook. That's what they need. Not the ability to walk upstairs, or have like you said, this awe-inspiring exoskeleton that just draws more attention to them and probably doesn't even solve most of the problems. MICHELE: I'm just going to say amen. [laughs] That is it. That is the thing we need people to get. So you'll hear about the models of disability, too. Sometimes you'll hear about – you should hear about the models of disability and when people extract that and summarize that, they usually pull out two, which is the medical model, which is generally what we've been under, which is the effects of disability and how that affects the person. Therefore, these things need to happen to overcome and this sort of again, hospital, kind of what the body's doing, or what the mind is doing mindset, which is opposite of one that people often quote, which is the social model. The social model says, “No, no society, the world, my environment is disabling me. If you would just give me something more adaptive, more inclusive, I'd be good.” So a lot of examples of that, I recently read a Kia Brown's book with a book club and you'll have to insert [chuckles] the link. The Pretty One is what it's called. Kia has cerebral palsy and one of the things that was a feat for her was putting her hair in a ponytail and it made you think about scrunchies and the makeup of that. What if we just made the mechanism to have maybe a little bit more to it to grab your hair and put it in the ponytail rather than relying on the fact that you have two hands that you can do that with? So those are the differences in the mindsets of our views of disability that we need people to shift and even go sometimes again, deeper into what it is you're really doing when it comes to inclusion. Are you really being inclusive, or are you saying, “Hey person, come on to what I believe is the way of life”? JOHN: So reflections, then. MICHELE: My reflection, or takeaway would be that my hope is that we can find room for everyone. Everyone who wants to create great tech, everyone who has an idea, everyone who has a contribution. I hope that that doesn't continue to need to filter through say, a non-disabled person, or a certain status of job title. My hope is that we're starting to recognize that there's room for everyone to provide their perspective and it can be valued and it can be included in the ways that we operate at equal opportunity. So that's hopefully, my reflection and my takeaway. JOHN: All right, I can go next. I think really actually the point that that's really sitting with me is what I had just said, which dawned on me as I was saying it, as we were talking in the last minute there about how the real solutions are, like you said, infrastructural. They're changing the form of society to make the disabled person able to do what they need to do rather than bringing them up to the level of whatever was currently built, or whatever that – and even there's a weird value judgment in saying, bringing them up to the level. I'm uncomfortable saying it that way. So just changing the thinking, like you said, the social model is, I think a powerful change and thought process around this, and I'm going to keep turning that one around in my head. REIN: I think for me, I'm coming back to the idea that just like security, accessibility has to be built in throughout the process of designing and building software. You can't have a part of your software delivery life cycle where that's the only place where you think about accessibility. You can't just think about it during design, for example, and you can't just have a team of accessibility experts that you go to sometimes when you need help with accessibility. It's really everyone's job and it's everyone's job all the time. MICHELE: I love it. I'm going to change the world. [laughs] Special Guest: Dr. Michele A. Williams.

For this second episode in a special two part series of Destination on the Left episodes, I visited the 2021 eTourism Summit held in Las Vegas, Nevada from September 20-22. At the summit, I was privileged to speak with fourteen attendees who are experts in the field of digital marketing for travel and tourism. In my conversations with today's guest experts, I asked them to each answer one question: “Looking into the future, what innovations are happening now that you think will impact digital marketing for your organization or destination?” I'm so delighted to share their insightful and sometimes surprising answers with you in this week's special podcast episode. In this episode of Destination On The Left, you'll hear from these fourteen extraordinary digital marketing experts:   Chris Lukenbill – Co-Founder, Shrpa Ed Harris – CEO, Discover Lancaster Emilie Harris – Director of Marketing Operations, Bandwango Jake Brown – Content Manager, Visit South Bend Jason Holic – Vice President of Business Applications & Insights, Experience Kissimmee Kyle Johnson – Digital Strategy Manager, Indiana Destination Development Corporation Leena Riggs – Director of Marketing & Partnerships, Visit Rancho Cordova Marc Garcia – President & CEO, Visit Mesa Maria Skrzynski – Marketing Coordinator/Office Manager, Destination Ann Arbor Mark Romig – Chief Marketing Officer & Senior Vice President, New Orleans & Co. Nicole Stacey – Director of Marketing Communications, Visit Pensacola Ralph Thompson – Executive Director Travel & Tourism, Streetsense Tim Ash – Marketing Keynote, Trainer & Advisor Victoria Simmons – Senior Vice President of Travel, BVK Innovative Digital Marketing Experts at the 2021 eTourism Summit The eTourism Summit is a one-of-a-kind conference that exists at the intersection of destination travel and tourism with cutting edge digital marketing. It's a unique opportunity for industry leaders, marketers, and destinations to come together and exchange ideas, collaborate, and brainstorm new solutions together. This year's eTourism Summit was held in Las Vegas from September 20-22 and offered insights into digital marketing trends, advertising innovations and new ways to connect travelers with incredible experiences. I asked each of these experts the same question: “Looking into the future, what innovations are happening now that you think will impact digital marketing for your organization or destination?” Here are the insightful answers they gave me: Chris Lukenbill from Shrpa Chris discusses how the many disruptions our industry is facing create new opportunities for Shrpa's clients to tell their stories within their own communities. He discusses why an increased focus on local communities has moved from “nice to have” to necessary to navigate the pandemic. He talks about why stronger communication is going to be an increasingly critical component of travel and tourism marketing going forward. Ed Harris from Discover Lancaster Ed talks about the juxtaposition of digitally marketing the simple life of the local Amish communities through modern technology and social media, and he discusses why innovations in technology like AI and machine learning are transformative tools that will reshape digital marketing in the future. He talks about the power of data in informing what content destinations and marketers share, and he discusses the importance of adapting to and embracing these emerging technologies to help meet travelers where they are. Emilie Harris from Bandwango Emilie talks about how the industry's broad focus on innovation is creating new opportunities to integrate various products, experiences and locations into full experience packages. She discusses how important it is for marketers to understand how the process of booking travel is changing as consumer expectations are shifting. She shares how the “niche” audiences of the past are dissolving and how authentic, unique experiences are becoming the cornerstone of travel and tourism marketing. Jake Brown from Visit South Bend Jake talks about the role of data in travel and tourism digital marketing, and he shares why being able to track the success of campaigns by how much revenue they have generated for the area is going to be a sea change for digital marketers going forward. Jason Holic from Experience Kissimmee Jason explains a calculator tool his organization developed to help track key data metrics that they have made available to other DMOs, and he shares how it helps track media impact of your messaging through transparency and the dynamic narratives it can create. He explains how the tool uses 30 different data points to fine tune visibility over your metrics and help you communicate with four key stakeholder groups using language they themselves use to help you demonstrate the value you're driving to them. Kyle Johnson from Indiana Destination Development Corporation Kyle shares how his organization's transition from the Indiana Office of Tourism Development to the Indiana Destination Development Corporation has allowed the organization to expand their goals and cast a wider net. He shares why their goal isn't just to attract visitors but to also attract talent to the state. He discusses the important role location tracking serves for the organization, allowing for targeted messaging. He talks about how Indiana has seen big success bringing corporations to the state, and he shares how the next goal is to bring more workers to the state as well. Leena Riggs from Visit Rancho Cordova Leena shares how her organization is focused on more and stronger data collection, and she shares how Visit Rancho Cordova is exploring options for engaging with and messaging in-market. She shares how the data is powerfully informing how Rancho Cordova plans their future growth. Marc Garcia from Visit Mesa Marc shares how his organization is focused on accessibility in travel as part of Visit Mesa's larger Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts. He shares how Mesa, Arizona has worked hard to become the nation's first Autism-certified City and is now seeking to become a city known for its accessibility programs and initiatives. He shares how Visit Mesa has recently established the Mesa Regional Foundation for Accessibility, Diversity and Inclusion, which will be used to purchase accessibility technologies. He also talks about how his city is building what will be the largest youth and amateur sports complex in the country. Maria Skrzynski from Destination Ann Arbor Maria shares how her organization is working to strengthen its local partnerships and collaboration with other organizations and sectors to elevate the energy of the community. She also discusses the importance of unity within Ann Arbor. Mark Romig from New Orleans & Company Mark discusses how people are using handheld devices far more than tablets, desktops and other large devices, and he shares how his organization is focused on developing their integration with phones and other handhelds. He talks about the importance of focusing on the consumer's needs and obstacles and staying ahead of the curve by meeting them where they are. Nicole Stacey from Visit Pensacola Nicole talks about how Visit Pensacola is reallocating their budget to use connected TVs to better reach people. She talks about the importance of transparency and honesty in messaging, and she shares how Visit Pensacola is utilizing targeted marketing strategies and messages to reach niche traveler groups. Ralph Thompson from Streetsense Ralph talks about how Streetsense is creatively using podcasts to build relationships with travelers in a more casual way than traditional messaging. He explains how even smaller, resource-challenged DMOs can take advantage of established podcasts to amplify their message. Tim Ash, Marketing Keynote Speaker, Trainer and Advisor Tim discusses how travel planning can take advantage of Alexa, Siri and other voice assistants and the casual, conversational way they work. He shares why it is important to understand the psychology behind how people make decisions, and he explains how evolutionary psychology can be the key to anticipating and guiding people's decision-making processes. Victoria Simmons from BVK Victoria talks about how DMOs and destinations are becoming better at having in-market conversations with travelers and connecting them directly to travel partners. She shares how geolocation data is becoming a powerful resource for enhancing this connection with travelers. Technological Innovations and the Role of Data As you can see, many of the leaders I spoke with hit upon recurring themes around emerging technologies and new ways of collecting, collating and analyzing data. The outbreak of the global pandemic has created major strains and challenges on travel and tourism, but it has also given us a unique opportunity to reevaluate how we market destinations to travelers and how we can share our messages in more targeted ways and with larger, more diverse audiences. I hope you've enjoyed hearing insights from the 2021 eTourism Summit and from these extraordinary travel and tourism marketing experts and leaders. As our world slowly begins to turn the tide against the pandemic, one thing is certain: by embracing new innovations and outside-the-box ideas, the future of travel and tourism looks bright! We value your thoughts and feedback and would love to hear from you. Leave us a review on your favorite streaming platform to let us know what you want to hear more of. Here is a quick tutorial on how to leave us a rating and review on iTunes! https://breaktheicemedia.com/rating-review/

#108 When making PDFs accessible for Section 508 or ADA compliance, there are some tools you can use that make the process a lot easier and faster. Here are my top 21 InDesign and PDF accessibility tools for making accessible PDFs.

Gina and Chris discuss the importance of real-deal content in your designs, defining “good design” for your company, and how to set effective, meaningful KPIs for design work.Guest: Gina is the Principal Analyst, Design and Accessibility, at Forrester Research. Her research focuses on experience design organizations, scaling design, accessibility, and inclusive design. You can find Gina on Forrester's blog, on Twitter as @ginabhawalkar, and on LinkedIn.Host: Chris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.Sponsor: Knapsack is a design system platform rooted in code for shipping consistent apps in half the time. Design once, build once, use everywhere. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.View the transcript for this episode.

Our Design Advisors share how flooring an be a good or poor fit in another episode of our candid conversations series! Source

Anna Palmer is the co-director of the 2021 film Inhabitants: An Indigenous Perspective. Anna and Dan discuss what it was like to make the documentary, as well as Anna's career pathway. Details of screenings: https://www.inhabitantsfilm.com/ Climate Scientists Podcast: https://twitter.com/ClimateSciPod Transcript for Accessibility: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zPTGPKl0pPo6zOYioR73jBOObTYo-EoZ/view?usp=sharing Hosts: Dan Jones, Ella Gilbert Music and Cover Art: Dan Jones Editing: Sian Williams Page Audio Engineering: Lilian Blair --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/climate-scientists/message

At only 2.5 years old, Ivy has already faced discrimination based on her disability. In this episode, her mom Vanessa McLeod shares what that's been like for her to advocate to give her daughter everything she deserves in life. She talks about the ableism they've encountered, and her blazing confidence that Ivy will live a fulfilled life. She insists again and again that her daughter's disability is not sad at all—it's wonderful. Links: Follow Vanessa on Instagram @venessamcleod_ Follow Madeline on Instagram @the_rare_life Follow The Rare Life on Facebook. Check out our appointment day merch! Support the show and become a Patreon. Vanessa's Recommended Resources: Crimp Camp on Netflix (film) Demystifying Disability by Emily Ladau (book) Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig (book) Instagram Accounts: @nina_tame @sitting_pretty @wheelchair_rapunzel @disabled_eliza @thislittlemiggy @emilyladau @theheumannperspective

UsAgainstAlzheimer's newly-released tool, BrainGuide, may seem like a simple questionnaire, but the project highlights a growing movement to make Alzheimer's disease research and resources accessible to a broader range of communities. Released in 2021, BrainGuide is a one-of-a-kind resource that provides information about Alzheimer's disease in English and Spanish through online and telephone questionnaires. Dr. Maria Mona Pinzon, a physician-scientist at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and a consultant on BrainGuide, joins the podcast to discuss the impacts this project has had on educating the Latinx community about Alzheimer's disease. Discussing the barriers and risks that the Latinx community face surrounding brain health, the ways to connect with the community through research, and her experience working on BrainGuide, Dr. Pinzon highlights the importance and impacts of community-tailored research and resources.  Guest: Maria Mona Pinzon, MD, MS, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Episode Topics 1:17 - How did you get into this field of an aging population and people living with dementia? 6:12 - Is the idea of Alzheimer's disease and dementia discussed within the Latinx community in general? 7:38 - Latinx individuals are 1.5 times more likely to develop dementia. Is there research that can explain this higher risk? 9:53 Tell us about this tool, the Spanish-Language BrainGuide, some of the resources it offers, and why it is important to make it available to Spanish speakers. 12:47 - What's something you learned from this experience that surprised you? 14:14 - What are the barriers Latinx people face in learning about brain health, dementia, and getting involved in research? 18:25 - What strategies do you suggest to improve the connection between researchers and the Latinx community as well as recruitment into research? 20:06 - When thinking about education and raising awareness, what topics are most important right now for the Latinx community? 21:58 - What do you do in your personal life to keep your brain healthy?  Show Notes Learn more about the Spanish-Language BrainGuide, its questionnaire, and other resources on their website. To fill out the questionnaire, you can find it digitally on their website (mybrainguide.org) or complete it over the phone by calling or texting 855-272-4641. Learn more about Dr. Mora Pinzon at her bio on the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Institute website.

“When disability ministry starts to take hold in the heart of a church, it's like hitting the refresh button on the gospel in that church.” Have you considered how including people with disabilities might positively impact your church's culture? Stephanie Hubach is on the podcast to share the importance and value of including everyone in ministry.Stephanie is a research fellow in disability ministries at Covenant Theological Seminary and visiting instructor in the seminary's educational ministries program. Previously she served as the director of Mission to North America's Special Needs Ministries. She is also a speaker and author of a new devotional called Parenting and Disabilities: Abiding in God's Presence.People of all abilities have spiritual gifts to offer at your church. Listen as Stephanie talks about the importance of building a social ramp so that even gifts that are packaged differently can be employed in the body of Christ. As we're saturated in the gospel and develop more of a biblical worldview, we will look expectantly for God-given gifts in other people, including those with disabilities. Learn how you can encourage people of all abilities to be full participants in the body and life of your church!Resources:Follow Stephanie on FacebookOrder Parenting and Disabilities: Abiding in God's Presence and Same Lake, Different BoatExplore all of Joni and Friends' Church Training ResourcesWatch Joshua's Story Questions or comments? Email Crystal at podcast@joniandfriends.orgSupport Joni and Friends to help make this podcast possible. Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Join us in answering the call in Luke 14:21-23... until his house is full! Founded by author and international disability advocate Joni Eareckson Tada, the ministry provides Christ-centered care that serves needs and transforms hearts through Joni's House, Wheels for the World, and Retreats and Getaways. Joni and Friends also equips individuals and churches with disability ministry training and provides higher education courses and internships through the Christian Institute on Disability. Find more encouragement through Joni's radio podcast, daily devotional, or by following us on Facebook,  Instagram, and YouTube.

As the wine investment business leader with $275M of assets under management, Cult Wines has been a pioneer in the space for over a decade.  Born out of a passion for wine, Tom Gearing, CEO and founder of Cult Wines, tries to balance the head and heart elements of investing in wine with actively managed portfolios by CFAs and experiences with some of the top wineries of the world.  Tom shares all the details and great examples of why people should consider investing in wine, the Cult Wine investment process, and where Cult Wines is heading.  Detailed Show Notes: Tom's backgroundfounded Cult Wines w/ his brother in universityFather was an investment banker with a passion for wine, especially BurgundyTraveled a lot to Burgundy as a childStarted an import company - Burgundy CellarThe early 2000s - started Financial Wines - an online price transparency tool, but ran out of funding after the dot com crash2007-2008 - during Financial Crisis - people looking for alternative investments - Tom realized wine was a safe haven and should be more investableBased in the UKWhere the Wine trading is very well establishedThe UK has tax free status for wine trading for anyone in the world - can keep wine in a tax free warehouse where you don't pay taxes (sales tax, VAT) upfrontAsian collectors used London to build collections before shipping itBrexit impact - mostly operational (shipping is a lot slower) vs. tax,Why invest in wine?Those with a passion for wine - Build a fine wine collection, can drink it, or sell it in the futureThose not passionate about wine - wine prices are more consistent and tend to go up in value because the supply goes down over time (people drink it), tends to be insensitive to financial market fluctuations (went up in value in 2009) - suitable for diversificationVs. art/cars/other alternative investments, wine is more attractive:Accessibility - lower barriers to entry - hundreds or thousands of dollars for wine vs. millions for fine art/carsLiquidity - better than other alternative assetsPrice transparency - more trading publicly and more visibility (though, still not as good as it could be)Wine investment serves as a storage/aging function for the fine wine market with pristine provenance and authenticityCult Wines OverviewNot a retailer - acquires wines on behalf of clientsThree warehouses - London, Paris, BordeauxEU changed storage laws in 2016 to hold wines without paying VAT (similar to the UK)Have own warehouse and staff to ensure provenance and authenticity of wines (e.g., caught heat damage on a shipment of Scarecrow wine and made a claim with freight forwarder immediately)Has own photography studio and processes 250 cases/day, and photos are immediately uploaded for inspectionInvestment processHas a managed portfolio service (min $10k investment)Gather client objectives - risk profile, investment duration (3-5 years, 5-10 years, 10+ years), how wine fits into their entire portfolioBuild a personalized, customized portfolioStore wine in physical warehouses (clients own bottles or cases, the physical asset b/c it's hard to have liquidity for funds where people have fractional ownership of a fund)Get access to investment platformTop-down investment process - actively managed portfoliosCult Wines has a Chief Investment Officer (CIO), and all portfolio managers are Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA)Constantly reviewing the market and making asset allocation decisionsE.g., Trump Tariffs on European wine - team thought Bordeaux would go down in price, proposed reducing allocations from 40% -> 30% and re-allocate to Italy, which looked undervalued already and had no tariffs; in 6 months, AUM of Bordeaux went from 40%->36% and Italy 6%->13% and Bordeaux prices went down 2-3% and Italy up 12%Assets Under Management (AUM) - $275MUK/Europe is the biggestAsia nextAmericas (smallest, but newest)FeesAnnual management fee - starts at 2.95%/year (with $10k investment), 2.75% (with $35k investment), 2.5% ($150k investment), 2.25% ($500k investment)Benefits - portfolio allocation, customization of the portfolio, investment platform access, customer support, storage & insurance, trading on the platform (no feeds on trading to align Cult Wines interests with clients)Higher tiers get more experiential benefits - access to producers, client-only events, educational activities, vineyard visitsWine Buying35% direct from winery/new vintages65% secondary market - from existing investors, trusted suppliers/brokers, and trading platforms (e.g., Liv-Ex)Wine Selling / Delivery~20% of wines have been delivered to people, can ship to 45 states, clients pay delivery feesSome clients use Cult wines as a global cellar - e.g., a Japanese collector sent wines to the US when he was going to be there to visitWine sales channelsCult Wines buys for other clients - for wines they believe will appreciate moreTrade team - sells to other wine merchants, brokers, traders, importersRetail/Direct to Consumer - listed on Wine-Searcher and Cult Wines website for saleTeam - ~100 people totalInfrastructure based in UK (including ~24 tech and product folks)Regional offices - relationship managers, portfolio manager (all CFA level; Hong Kong, Singapore, 2 in London, New York)8 in North America (3 in Canada, 5 in New York)Company's Growth1st 5 years - establishing proof of concept2nd 5 years:2014 - acquired competitor, Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments, doubled AUM and business2016 - opened Hong Kong office2018 - opened Singapore office2014-2019 - $7 -> $50Mm in AUMNext 5-year phase (18 months in) - “reborn, evolution”Fine wine investment is limited by market inefficiencies: accessibility, liquidity, price transparencyFocused on projects that will improve inefficiencies and that will naturally make the wine investment space growTypes of wine for investmentOpportunistic trading - capturing inefficiencies in pricing - there may be opportunities to buy in one region and sell in another at a profitBenchmark wines - based on scores (with critics weighted differently by the impact), vintages, the value of an established baseline of wines (e.g., Bordeaux, Burgundy)Finding new opportunities - wines with high quality that have a good chance of increasing in value, e.g., Pierre Gonon St Joseph - was 30-40 euros 3-4 years ago, now $150/bottleAuction houses - don't work with them muchHard to get certainty of provenanceA lot more mature/older wines which have already gone up a lot in valueCosts are prohibitive (10-20% on a transaction)But the best place to get the highest/best prices (e.g., 1945 DRC from the Drouhin cellar got ~$500k / bottle)Next for Cult WinesLaunching new platform for managed investment serviceBespoke, public blockchain for security, authenticity, and speed of secure transactionsContinue to build North American offices (opened Spring 2021) in Canada and New York

#515 One of my favorite things that happens as a result of this podcast is when a listener or fan says, "You know what, Pat? I noticed that you haven't really talked about [topic] much, but it's so, so important. Is there anything you can do about it?" We get a lot of feedback like that, and we appreciate it. We're always trying to improve, and how would we know how to improve if it weren't for the people in our community who speak up? Today, I wanted to highlight one of those community members. His name is Dustin Bakkie. Dustin started his online journey focused on effective teaching and course design. He's helped a lot of teachers, especially through his YouTube channel (DustinBakkie1). He has a lot of really popular videos that have helped teachers, especially during COVID with how to effectively use Zoom, and how to create really good curriculums online, something that obviously bleeds over into entrepreneurship. But Dustin recently had an epiphany that he could serve his audience even better by helping creators like us create accessible online content. What does that mean? It refers to the ability of all people, regardless of ability or disability, to access what we create. Dustin is really focused on helping foster and normalize inclusive digital communities. I love that, and I'm so glad he's here today to talk about what that means and how you can start to implement it in your own business. I think a lot of us creators know how important accessibility should be, but we're worried that it's really complicated. Well, Dustin is here to break things down and show us that it's not as complicated as we might think. So sit back and listen in, because we're going to be learning something very important today that you may not have heard anywhere else. Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIncome.com/session515.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What do you learn from going to space? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and guest co-host comedian Jordan Klepper answer patron questions about living in space with engineer and NASA astronaut Nicole Stott. What's the Overview Effect?NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free.Thanks to our Patrons Elisa, terrell robinson, Adorak, Leo Azir Ra, Aaron Isaacson, Ian Konkle, and Josh Laurente & Emily McCadden for supporting us this week.Photo Credit: NASA