Good news, but simultaneously depressing because female leadership is so vastly underrepresented in both government and private business In the article “What Do Countries With The Best Coronavirus Responses Have In Common? Women Leaders,” the female leaders of Denmark, Iceland,…
Ten basic accessibility facts
All accessibility managers should be comfortable communicating the following facts and the reasons behind them. Fact #1: All accessibility (digital and physical) is a civil right. The Americans with Disabilities Act is a civil rights law for people with disabilities.…
I’ve given up on the ADA to protect my rights as a person with a disability
The ADA requires you to litigate. Why isn’t there an office where I can just file a complaint? The ADA turned 30 on the day I published this article. Anyone who views the ADA as a complete success doesn’t understand…
Performative Disability Allyship
Are messengers seeking to disrupt ableism or just seeking praise for “taking a stand” that will never result in substantive change? Performative followed by any word implies that the messenger is acting in a performance. The messenger might think they…
Why ERG volunteer work is both important and masochistic
ERG roles can contribute to the fatigue/burnout that *every* underrepresented minority experiences at least once (and sometimes continually) in their lives It’s July. And if you aren’t in the US or don’t eat, live, breathe, and sleep disability as I…
Types of discrimination women with disabilities face while looking for work
Women are 20 % more likely to have a disability than men. Workforce discrimination of any form impacts us more. Note: every “bad” HR behavior listed in this article, I have had personally happen to me, or heard about first-hand…
What one wheelchair user thinks about being called “wheelchair-bound”
The phrase is still in widespread use and needs to be banished, just like the “r” word If you’re not disabled and you don’t have the lived experiences of your colleagues with disabilities, there’s a non-zero chance you’re going to…
ADA 30 Report Card
The ADA turns 30 on July 25th. In some areas, people with disabilities have made significant advances. In others, not so much. Unless you are someone with a disability or work in the disability/diversity/ inclusion/equality/belonging/accessibility space, you probably don’t think…
Twitter and Inaccessible “Voice Notes”
I am so <bleeping> over apologies from companies for ableist behavior. Once upon a time (in tech, this is maybe 2–3 years ago), Twitter actually cared about accessibility. For a while, they were the preferred social media platform for people…
My favorite books on accessibility and related topics
Since I’m wrapping up authoring my first book on accessibility, I’ve been reading a lot. Here are my thoughts on the most impactful books I’ve read recently What I included and what I didn’t I only included books that I’ve…