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VMware’s First Accessibility Hackathon
May 22, 2024
The first week in February 2020, marked VMware’s first accessibility week which consisted of an accessibility summit followed immediately by an accessibility...
Want an employee who is a natural problem solver? Hire someone with a Disability
May 22, 2024
Dark convoluted maze with cartoon person standing outside of the entrance Why are problem-solving skills desirable in business? The ability to troubleshoot...
Want to add value to your startup? Be accessible
May 21, 2024
Most startups don’t even know what accessibility is. Here is why it could be the most important business strategy you ever invest in Two hands shaking in...
Website copy says more about your company than you think
May 21, 2024
A LinkedIn connection posted a critique of the following language in a press release. To protect the guilty, I have deleted the company name, exec’s name,...
We don’t all “have the same 24 hours
May 21, 2024
By itself, the statement “we all have the same 24 hours” is an empty maxim. Commonly followed up with by “What you do with it is up to you,” or “Successful...
What do American employers owe their employees with mental health conditions
May 21, 2024
Photo by Stormseeker on Unsplash This article will start with a general discussion on accommodations and then move on to the specifics of a mental health...
What does an “accessibility flywheel” look like?
May 21, 2024
A simplified estimated example of an Amazon flywheel A business flywheel is an alternative to the more traditional “funnel” that graphically portrayed...
What executive administrators need to know about making events more accessible to people with disabilities
May 17, 2024
Photo by STIL on Unsplash When I was growing up, my father always said, “If you want to know who runs the show, ask an executive assistant.” He is rarely...
What great accessibility managers want from their leadership
May 17, 2024
Accessibility managers are frequently perceived as contentious troublemakers Accessibility, by its very nature, creates friction, and friction in turn can...
What it’s like to be a liberal, female, disabled archery competitor
May 17, 2024
23 months ago, we had a group of teammates visiting from Austin and the Pacific Northwest. We wanted to do a group bonding event, only there were some...
What MacKenzie Scott is missing in her donations
May 17, 2024
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”
May 17, 2024
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
May 16, 2024
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
May 16, 2024
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)?
May 16, 2024
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?
May 16, 2024
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?
May 16, 2024
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?
May 16, 2024
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?
May 16, 2024
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
May 16, 2024
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?
May 16, 2024
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
May 16, 2024
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
May 16, 2024
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
May 16, 2024
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
May 16, 2024
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
May 16, 2024
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
May 16, 2024
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.
May 16, 2024
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
May 16, 2024
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 . . .
May 16, 2024
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’...
Your first attempt at making anything accessible will be awful
May 16, 2024
My primary goal in life is to convince people to make things accessible, which is defined as making products and services work for people with disabilities....
You should NOT be able to resell accessible seating tickets.
May 16, 2024
Tickets for Rent: ADA tickets are $56 even though non-ADA seats next to it are $106 and seats a couple of seats more to the center are $200 In the US, public...
Accessibility and Whistleblower Lawsuits - Bashin v. Conduent settles
May 14, 2024
Golden three-dimensional human cartoon figure blowing into an oversized whistle attached to a neckloop while standing on a gavel pad with a gavel behind it....
Accessibility and Usability
May 14, 2024
ice cream cones with fresh fruit Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash I saw a post on LinkedIn this week that said “You can’t have usability without...
Accessibility and Open Source
May 14, 2024
More and more companies are either consuming or producing open-source software. However, very few of them are thinking about accessibility. That creates a...
Accessibility and Online Survey
May 14, 2024
Accessible surveys come from combining an accessible survey builder with an accessible survey Surveys are like design systems. Even if you have an accessible...
Accessibility and Online Education Materials
May 14, 2024
An empty lecture hall Each day, there are at least a dozen new articles in my LinkedIn feed on converting dead-tree, in-person course materials to online...
Accessibility and Disability Blogging — one year anniversary
May 14, 2024
A donut with a candle In April 2018, I considered writing a book on accessibility. Blogging, I thought, would be an excellent way to meet my writing goals...
Accessibility and Motion
May 14, 2024
“Moderation in all things is the best policy.”- Roman comic dramatist Plautus (c.250–184 BCE) While Plautus never had to deal with motion in the context of...
Accessibility and Kobe
May 14, 2024
a sign that says be kobe Photo by Weichao Tang on Unsplash I know nothing about basketball and very little about Kobe Bryant. Wheelchair basketball wasn’t a...
Accessibility and Design Thinking don’t work together automatically
May 14, 2024
Alt: Six-step methodology for design thinking from NNGroup.com. Empathize and Define (belonging to the “understanding” phase) Ideate and Prototype (belonging...
Accessibility Abbreviations and Acronyms
May 13, 2024
ACA: Affordable Care Act or Accessible Canada Act depending on context. “The ACA must comply with the ADA, not the ACA” is actually a legit sentence. ACR:...
7 Things that Turn good Accessibility into Great Accessibility
May 13, 2024
grand canyon photo by Jad The difference between good and great is a chasm the size of the Grand Canyon— Rob Light, Creative Artists Agency (speaking about...
10 Tips for More Effective and Accessible WFH Communications
May 13, 2024
a desk with a laptop, an open book and pen. Pick the Appropriate Method of Communication Email, Slack, text message, phone, chat, conference call there are...
10 Reasons to Switch to Centralized Budgeting for Accessibility
May 13, 2024
an image of a hand holding a phone on a desk filled with paper It is the second half of April, and in the accessibility world, that means three things: IEP...
Canadian Summer
May 7, 2024
View of the Northumberland Strait at summer sunset from my deck in Point du Chene, New Brunswick, Canada
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January 17, 2024
Cartoon lightbulb with the words “Treat Everyone Equally” on a blue background I just read yet another article, this time quoting a New York state government...
Seven 2024 Accessibility Projections
$ · December 28, 2023
Here are the topics I think will be in the forefront of disability inclusion and accessibility next year
This Week in Accessibility: Griffin v. Dept. of Labor Credit Union
$ · December 28, 2023
Another rare defendant’s victory, but really not substantially different than Diaz v. Kroger
Life Before the ADA
December 24, 2023
The ADA turned 29 last week. These are things that people thought were acceptable before the ADA passed.
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