accessibility
Celebrating 31
Positivity changes hearts and minds and culture. We still have a long way to go. But as we celebrate the 31st anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act, I wanted to step back and celebrate how far we’ve come.
National Disability Employment Awareness Month
This October is the 75th year America has observed National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). Like other “awareness months,” NDEAM spotlights a disparity in the workforce—in this case, the lower than average employment rates of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
Proactive inclusion is everyone’s responsibility
It’s now 30 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law in the United States. This important legislation sets out the rights of United States citizens with disabilities to access workplaces and communities. The ADA covers higher education, including access to conferences where academic research is presented. Accessibility for a large […]
IBM contributing back to the community on Global Accessibility Awareness Day
Today is the ninth Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). Over the years, IBM has held numerous events and activities to bring awareness to the digital access and inclusion of people with disabilities internally at IBM and externally. It is more critical than ever to blend the technical aspects of creating accessible solutions with the empathy […]
Harnessing the Power of Video Remote Interpreting in Professional Space
In a typical interpreting scenario, there are three main actors: Deaf user, sign language interpreter, and hearing non-signer(s). When the deaf user signs, the interpreter would voice, so the non-signer hears the conveyed message. When the non-signer speaks, the interpreter will sign accordingly, so the deaf user receives the communication from the speaker. With the […]
Diversely Deaf IBMers Work to Create An Accessible Future
This past August, I started my position as UX designer at IBM Accessibility. I was new to the team, and relatively new to the world of inclusive design—but only from a designer’s perspective. Born profoundly deaf, I brought with me a lifetime of experiences with accessibility (or lack thereof, in many cases). My second week […]
AI Fairness must be considered as part of National Disability Employment Awareness Month
Two days ago, Gartner released its top ten technological trends for 2020 of which business leaders need to be aware. Their third item, “Democratization of Expertise,” caught my eye. I have seen that idea many times tied with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI’s ability to enable users to make decisions without being experts themselves. I […]
IBM Celebrates Global Accessibility Awareness Day – May 16
On Thursday, May 16, IBM site locations and iX Design Studios across the U.S. will celebrate the eighth annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) – a worldwide observation to raise awareness of digital access and inclusion issues for people with disabilities. As an IBMer with a disability, and a founding member of IBM’s Team Able, I am […]
IBM at John Slatin AccessU 2019
Anytime is a good time to visit Austin, TX. Be it for the Austin City Limits Music festival (ACL), South by Southwest® (SXSW®) or most importantly the Web accessibility training program, John Slatin AccessU. AccessU is named after a pioneering leader in web accessibility, the late John Slatin, a professor at the University of Texas. […]