What MacKenzie Scott is missing in her donations
Love Amazon or hate them, no one disputes that MacKenzie Scott is very well off, owning 4 % of Amazon stock. Ms. Scott has taken the huge step of committing...
What one wheelchair user thinks about being called “wheelchair-bound”
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 make a...
What people should know BEFORE writing articles or creating products about accessibility
Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash I read a lot of articles about accessibility. Some of them (and not just the ones I write) are very, very good. Others are...
What people with disabilities hope to see in a Biden Presidency
Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash My first presidential countdown clock started on January 20, 2017, the day President Trump took office. My expectations...
What’s in a name (sign)?
Books have always been an enormous part of my life. I’ve always been a voracious reader. Being in a wheelchair in the 70s for four years continuously in...
What’s more expensive than getting sued over inaccessibility?
Photo by exploration # on Unsplash One of the most interesting new findings in the annual Usablenet accessibility lawsuit report is that 21 % of...
What types of media representation do people with disabilities want to see?
Media representation of people with disabilities is at an all-time high. But the numbers don’t tell a complete story. For starters, that “all-time high”...
When does a disability accommodation become a personal benefit?
As I waited upfront for the pre-boarding with an airline notorious for not having assigned seats, a woman said *VERY LOUDLY* “I wonder what I have to do to...
Where is the best organizational location for Accessibility?
Wooden sign post showing three directions: This Way, That Way, and the Other Way Accessibility is the little red hen of the business world. Almost everyone...
Where to go for accessibility help when you are stuck
It happens all the time, even to people as experienced in the field of accessibility as I am. You are brainstorming about how to solve an accessibility...
Who tests the ADA testers?
Testers are individuals who have no intention of ever buying the product or visiting the location the website revolves around. Testers only visit websites or...
Why accessibility bugs are a good thing and how to handle them
It is incredibly common when I do accessibility podcasts, I am asked, “What does accessibility success look like to you?” I, perhaps oddly, count beginning...
Why COVID-19 contact tracing apps *must* be accessible
COVID-19 coronavirus: Tracing app ‘unusable’ for the blind and those with low vision No one in accessibility was surprised by this headline. The contact...
Why doing an instant ADA website compliance review is a terrible idea
Three vendors’ instant ADA testing options, screenshot on December 21, 2021 This article is not legal advice. This is a general opinion article and should...
Why ERG volunteer work is both important and masochistic
It’s July. And if you aren’t in the US or don’t eat, live, breathe, and sleep disability as I do, you might not know that means it’s “ADA month.” I’ve talked...
Why I seldom turn on my video for Zoom calls
a young woman looking at herself in the rear view mirror of a car I am Sheri Byrne-Haber, a wheelchair-using, no-nonsense, CS degree-holding geek who also...
Why US law effectively mandates all software design be responsive
Photo by Obi Onyeador on Unsplash Smashing Magazine defines “responsive design” as an approach where design responds to the user’s behavior and environment...
“Work as usual” after COVID-19 will be different. Get over it.
Screenshot from an email received by Sheri Byrne-Haber at her private email address (typo is theirs) Even though I have the “not searching for work...
You don’t get a “pass” to discriminate against people with disabilities in an emergency
At 2 pm yesterday, I got the expected call from PG&E notifying me of an impending power outage at 8 pm. In their long list of recorded instructions, someone...
You might be #Diversish if . . .
Cartoon with six identical white men with the first one saying to the second “Diversity is Good. Pass it Down” (with apologies to Jeff Foxworthy) ‘Diversish’...