Accessibility and DEI are deeply interconnected. Too often, organizations treat them as separate initiatives. This disconnect risks creating accessibility solutions that lack depth and fail to address the real-world challenges people with disabilities face. For accessibility to thrive, it must…
Straight out of the Project 2025 / authoritarian regime playbook
Straight out of the Project 2025 / authoritarian regime playbook. Get rid of all DEI supporters, not just people in with DEI in their titles. Of course, the entire Department of Education will end up getting the sack, so these…
Disability Inclusive Holiday Party Planning
It’s that time of year again. Planning an inclusive holiday party goes beyond picking out festive decorations or sending fancy invitations. It’s about creating an environment where every employee feels welcome, safe, and able to fully participate. For employees with…
Accommodations Fail: How Lack of a Sign Language Interpreter Led to EEOC Filing Discrimination Charges Against Amazon
Introduction Another day, another multi-billion dollar company fired an employee instead of providing a sign language interpreter. The EEOC takes a specific interest in discrimination against employees with hearing loss, which is the most common disability in the workplace. In…
The First Barrier Most Wheelchair-using Job Seekers Face isn’t a Staircase. It’s Bias Embedded by HR into a Hiring Algorithm that Filters us Out Before a Human Sees Our Resume
Digital barriers are blocking job opportunities for many qualified individuals. Unsupervised AI-based automated hiring tools are having severe, detrimental effects. The results of using rigid keywords, unfair rules, and outdated assumptions to select interview candidates without human review are very…
Accessibility Triumph Thursday: The FAA has Agreed to Define Safety Criteria for Wheelchair Users in the Cabin in 2025
Big news in accessible air travel! The FAA has agreed to define safety criteria for wheelchairs in the cabin in 2025. This transition is happening faster than I expected, which is incredible news for the disability community. Having a wheelchair…
Groups that don’t care about people with disabilities
I can no longer support “disability as an afterthought” Authors note: Because of Medium’s refusal to address its accessibility issues for both authors and readers, I’ve moved my last three years of blogs to Substack. Please sign up there for notices of all…
Making word clouds and polling fully accessible to all meeting attendees
If you want to be perceived as inclusive, you have to BE inclusive. Otherwise, your words and actions are merely performative. Let’s face it; Zoom meetings can be tedious. An entire business sector has popped up, focusing on making presentations…
People with disabilities and sports
We want to be spectators. Many of us want to be or are, participants. So why is it that we face so many freaking barriers? As a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan for more than four decades and compound archery 2024 Paralympic…
Applying Ted Lasso management lessons to accessibility
I am one of a jillion people anxiously awaiting season 3 of Ted Lasso. One of the reasons for its popularity is the life lessons it teaches on management and relationships through the lens of dramatic comedy (aka “dramady”). Here…