Archive • Access * Ability • Buttondown

Deconstructing Accessibility Statements

November 13, 2024

Glasses on a blurry piece of paper. Photo by Mari Helin on Unsplash This is MY interpretation of the accessibility statement legal-ese. I am not your lawyer....

Accessibility is mmm, mmm good. The Campbell's Soup Case Sudy

November 6, 2024

Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup can from https://turnerduckworth.com/work/campbells For over 50 years, Campbell’s Soup used the same old labels on their...

Reducing Digital Accessibility Litigation Risk

October 30, 2024

The word “inaccessible” on a piece of paper, with the letters “in” being rubbed out with an eraser Let’s talk about something every business owner,...

Six things NOT related to accessibility that will improve your disability inclusion efforts

October 23, 2024

Emphasizing inclusion, flexibility, and growth is essential for empowering employees with disabilities.

Diverse or Just Pretending? Why Your Stock Photos Need Authentic Disability Representation

October 16, 2024

A picture from the TommyHilfiger.com website shows adaptive clothing for people with disabilities. One model has a prosthetic arm, and another is in a manual...

Perfect attendance records in the US: Legal or Discriminatory?

October 9, 2024

Shadows of people in a business setting talking in small groups with social media loves, likes, and comments showing up in bubbles above them I belong to a...

How to identify a Toxic Accessibility Culture, and what you can do about it

October 2, 2024

A real dumpster fire (from which the term “dumpster fire” was coined) Urban dictionary defines “Dumpster Fire” as: 1. A complete disaster.2. Something very...

Transforming Experiences for Neurodiverse Individuals through Sensory-friendly Hours and Quiet Spaces

September 25, 2024

Child wearing noise-canceling headphones in a very wide and long hallway (blurred) with other people around them. In our noisy, complicated world, it can be...

Fight Club, Parent Edition

September 18, 2024

Wheelchair-using student in 1:8 resource room setting with a one-on-one aide. When you are expecting a child, your mind fills with visions of a picture-...

The Biggest Headaches Job Hunting While Disabled

September 11, 2024

Woman interviewing man in wheelchair Job hunting is stressful for everyone. But for people with disabilities, the process is often fraught with additional...

Why People with Disabilities Are More Vulnerable in Emergencies and How We Can Achieve Societal Equity

September 9, 2024

People with disabilities die at substantiallyhigher rates in natural disasters, police interactions,and mass casualty events.We will not have achieved...

We don’t all “have the same 24 hours"

September 4, 2024

Wooden hourglass “We all have the same 24 hours” is an empty maxim. Commonly followed by “What you do with it is up to you” or “Successful people just...

Diversity Managers — Here’s what you need to know about Disabilities

August 28, 2024

Circle split into thirds showing Diversity flowing into Equity with the word Knowledge appearing in the overlap, Equity flowing into inclusion with the word...

Essential Special Education Planning (Back to School edition)

August 21, 2024

Scrabble letters spelling out Back To School on a yellow legal pad of papre. Image by Image by WOKANDAPIX from Pixabay August marks the end of summer...

What people should know BEFORE writing articles or creating products about accessibility

August 14, 2024

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash I read a lot of articles about accessibility, and also try out a lot of accessibility-related products. Some of them are...

Essential Special Education Planning (Back to School edition)

Scrabble letters spelling out Back To School on a yellow legal pad of papre. Image by Image by WOKANDAPIX from Pixabay August marks the end of summer...

Is "Blind Barbie" really inclusive?

Screenshot from Sheri Byrne-Haber’s laptop showing the Barbie Fashionistas website with an overwhelming amount of pink. The page view is a specific Barbie...

Why repeal a law when you can covertly suppress its impact?

AI-generated image of male appearing partial face looking through a single brick removed from a brick wall Imagine a scenario where a law that has...

All Accessibility is Political: Understanding the Intersection of Accessibility, Disability, and Politics

Photo by Parker Johnson on Unsplash You can’t talk about accessibility without talking about disability because accessibility is inherently tied to the...

Project 2025's threat to Disability Rights

Black, white and red image with the text “Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project” with a red circle and a slash running through it over the text The...

Why Litigation is Essential for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Compliance

This article is NOT legal advice. If you find yourself in a situation where you are either considering filing or possibly defending accessibility litigation...

ADA Coordinator and Accessibility Manager - What's the difference?

Photo by Robert Ruggiero on Unsplash In the bustling world of accessibility in the United States, two titles often emerge: ADA Coordinators and Accessibility...

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...

John Maeda’s 2020 CX Report and Accessibility

Photo by Stephen Dawson on Unsplash Read John’s Medium article here with links to his short, medium, and long videos delivering his report. John Maeda is the...

Job Hunting while Disabled

Photo by Elevate on Unsplash Note: every “bad” HR behavior listed in this article, I have had personally happen to me, or heard about first-hand from the...

I’ve got my accessibility certification — Now what???

Note: I am not endorsing any of the classes below, I have not taken any of them personally. But I’ve had generally good educational experiences with the...

I’ve given up on the ADA to protect my rights as a person with a disability

The ADA turned 30 on the day I published this article. Anyone who views the ADA as a complete success doesn’t understand the problems facing people with...

Is there a bias against disability in your Unconscious Bias training?

Blurry picture of 4 individuals wearing business clothes and a pair of eyeglasses What is Unconscious Bias? Unless you have been hiding under a rock, if you...

Is an “identity model” replacing the charitable, medical, and social models of disability?

Image custom created by the author cannot be reused without permission and attribution Part one of a three-part article. See part two on language choices...

Interview Questions Accessibility Professionals should ask

Businessman in wheelchair interviewing with business woman A couple of months back, I wrote an article listing questions and behaviors that I thought were...

International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) position statement on overlays

Last fall, IAAP established an Overlay Task Force after increased concern from their membership about the activities of Overlay companies in the context of...

“Informal accommodations” are worth the paper they are printed on

In an earlier article, I wrote about how mental health conditions have to be accommodated like any other disability. Immediately my inbox was flooded with...

Inaccessible Third-party Content and Code — Why it is Important, and How to Address it

Cardboard with post-it note — Time for New Content In the United States, various parts of the federal government have made it painfully and consistently...

Inaccessibility is a disease. Why aren’t we doing more to cure it?

In the carbon-based lifeform world, herd immunity is achieved when the majority of a population is immune (either through infection or vaccine) to an...

Improving Native App Accessibility via Haptics

If you are interested in haptics, you might also be interested in the predecessor article on Accessible Motion Consider the following mobile native app error...

Impostor Syndrome, Stereotype Threat and Disabilities

Haven’t heard of “Stereotype Threat” before? Me neither until a few weeks ago. The impact of understanding how stereotype threat shapes my actions on a...

I’m Broken and It’s Beautiful

Japanese pot on a wicker repaired using Kintsugi technique with gold joining the broken black pieces together Image By Gugger— Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,...

I love Electric Cars. But I will never, EVER buy a Tesla

Photo by Andreas Dress on Unsplash Elon Musk reopened his Tesla manufacturing plant in Fremont earlier this week in violation of California law. If someone...

I got a restraining order against my COVID-denying next-door neighbor

I will call my assailant, “Mr. Covid.” His actions had already generated two separate police calls (from others) for assault in the previous three months. My...

If somebody can use it, somebody can misuse it

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash There is a portion of the American legal system under the category of negligence called “strict product liability,” also...

I am an accessibility badass

An email request came in, ending with: Please sign the letter with all those letters after your name. You know, BSc JD MBA CPACC BADASS After I stopped...

How to Stop People from Filing Repeat ADA Lawsuits

Name tag that that says “Hello I am . . . Suing You” I have a confession to make. I am a “serial filer” Last year, the US Department of Education’s Office...

How to make organizations aware of an accessibility issue

You’ve found an accessibility problem, in a website or app from someone we are going to refer to below as “OffendingCompany”. Maybe you have vision loss and...

How to lose a customer in 10 seconds

In the modern digital age, where so much of our lives revolve around online platforms, ensuring accessibility for everyone is critical. However, widespread...

How to identify a Toxic Accessibility Culture, and what you can do about it

A real dumpster fire (from which the term “dumpster fire” was coined) Urban dictionary defines “Dumpster Fire” as: 1. A complete disaster.2. Something very...

How to discuss accessibility during a design/UI/UX interview or portfolio review

Portfolio reviews are the penultimate step in the design/UI/UX interview process. It’s a chance to show your work, defend your decision-making, explain your...

How the Gig Economy impacts People with Disabilities

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last five years, a gig economy engagement is defined as a full-time or part-time contract as...

How the focus on Digital Employee Experience is leaving out People with Disabilities

Blurry image of man shown from the shoulders down holding a tablet with various types of digital symbols overlaid — mobile, cloud, email, electronic...

How Tech has Changed Disability

Occasionally, when I find myself in one of those “dammit why is my life so hard” holes and am trying to struggle my way out of it, I think about how if I had...

How people with disabilities can be ableist

Greg Abbott is a wheelchair user, only the third wheelchair-using governor in United States history. What happened that caused him to need to use a...