Meryl Evans, CPACC (deaf)’s Post

It's almost time for Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Is it going to be more like Angry Day? Attitude Day? Or will it focus on education? Last year felt more like Global Accessibility Anger Day. It wasn't one person. Multiple folks commented about large companies failing to add accessibility. This is despite making progress with accessibility. I get it. You're tired of people hawking "We're accessibility allies" but not showing it in their actions. In other words, performative allyship. It bugs me too. By the way, overlay companies are a different animal. Jan M. gives examples in this post! Wow! The lengths some of these companies go. https://lnkd.in/gupu7yCR Anyway, I posted a thread on social media about Global Accessibility Angry Day in 2023. It turned out that others noticed the same thing. Here are some of my favorite replies. "We definitely need some honey with the vinegar, don't we? I did a keynote for a group today and really impressed upon them that this is iterative. Do what you can today. Grow each time you ship. Have a plan to put out fires when they're blazing, but this field is always changing," says justinromack. "Thank you for posting this - I agree it should not be Global Accessibility Anger Day #GAAD is a big tent event we should be welcoming of everyone and forgiving of mistakes. It’s ok to help people in the right direction it’s not OK to pile on," says Neil Milliken. "I think it's important to remember, that literally no one will ever change their mind because you get in their face and scream at them, shame them, or try to change their mind by making them feel bad or guilty. It will have the opposite effect of causing them to double down. It's important that we advocate in a way that actually leads to positive change, and I sincerely believe that the tweets I'm seeing today is not the play to help the people we aspire to help," says Jody LeCompte. "This makes me think of an amazing 508 Manager for a federal agency that I worked with. She did really detailed audits, but was always celebrating 'how do we make things better NOW w/ the constraints we have?' and documenting and working on systems issues. Less stick, more carrot," says Amanda Makulec. Several mentioned giving less grace to large companies. But these companies have made progress somewhere in their business. That's why I push progress over perfection. Educate ... don't berate. It's not all or nothing. If you go for all or nothing, change will never happen. Besides, there's no such thing as 100% accessible. Yes, it's ironic if their GAAD event or whatever isn't accessible. But it's these companies who need the message. If the Capital Crawl participants waited for the ramps, change would've never happened. Then, we might not have the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). ✉️ Want to work together? Contact me. 🔔 Tap profile bell so you don't miss the next post 👉 Follow #MerylMots to find more content #Accessibility #Communication #GAAD

Tough post ahead. It hasn't been a year since the North Texas Performing Arts Deaf Theatre's first show. Yet they always work to make progress with inclusion and accessibility. The nonprofit's first show did not have captions. It did have a couple of recorded videos in the show. Those had captions. The showcase had short scenes from different shows. Every role had a voice actor and a signing actor. Some of the actors were deaf and hard of hearing people who spoke their lines. And some used American Sign Language (ASL). I remember one of the first rehearsals worried me. Everyone was signing, including hearing people. I couldn't follow anything. Though not intentional, I couldn't help but feel the emotions I have whenever I'm excluded. My spouse (board member) and I talked to the board and director. Next time, it went better. They're great about listening and making progress with inclusion. The next show was in ASL. Of course, they would let me speak my lines. They'd provide me with a shadow who would interpret my part. This sounds doable, right? Not quite. It felt uncomfortable being the only one speaking my lines. (One kid did simcom — signed and speak.) By the way, we added automatic captions. They didn't work well because of sound issues. Progress over perfection. While I connect with all D/deaf people regardless of their preferences and backgrounds, there are social implications that no one talks about. Our experiences can bring up these uncomfortable feelings. My deaf friends who don't sign said they don't want to be involved because of bad experiences with those who sign. I've had those and they're triggering. Hence, I had a reluctance about doing the shows. Then, last week, my spouse told me I was in the show. What?! My friend who signed needed a voice. Simcom was impossible and another solution didn't work. Fortunately, I didn't need to memorize my part. So far, the experience has been positive. I ran into one upsetting situation, but it was resolved. The director has been wonderfully supportive and kind. I need to work on using my hands less. I've always talked with my hands. (Not signs.) I don't want to confuse those watching my partner's ASL. This show will have captions, voicing, and ASL. The captions process is tedious, but it costs $0 thanks to our amazing volunteers. We put the captions on presentation slides. Someone has to advance each slide. It has two advantages over human captions: cost and timing. I'm grateful for the work the Deaf Theatre has done to make progress with inclusion. If you're in the Plano / Dallas / Frisco area, come to the show this weekend! It's a comedy with audience interaction! ✉️ Work together? Contact me. 🔔 Tap profile bell 👉 Follow #MerylMots #Communication #Accessibility Image: The Brothers Grimm Spectaculaton poster with a spinning wheel, microphone, pillow, bread, magnifying glass, shoe, and poisoned apple. April 19 - 21. Brodie Copeland Theatre. NTPA.org/tickets

Brilliant article on the right way to do diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from Lily Zheng. Some organizations misunderstand what it means to do authentic DEI. It does not mean hiring unqualified candidates because they come from an unrepresented group. It means making the hiring process equitable, so they can show they're qualified for the job. For example, U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson applied as Eddie Jonhson and accepted a nursing position with the Dallas Veterans Affairs. The VA tried to rescind the job offer because it thought it hired a white male. Eventually, she worked her way up to nursing director. Applying by mail was equitable because they had no idea what she looked like or her gender. She landed the job because of her qualifications. Nowadays, phone calls can cause interviewers to make assumptions about a person's background based on how they talk and sound. Phone calls are not free of bias. And neither is the application process. If a blind engineer can't fill out the application because it's not accessible, then that's not equitable. They're not given a fair chance. Making the application process accessible for all levels the playing field. It allows candidates to get in the door and let their qualifications do the work. They summed it up in their LinkedIn article. Here's the full Harvard Business Review article. https://lnkd.in/gQ8dTajs We need to stop the flag-waving and logo color-changing. That's surface-level stuff. This is performative allyship. (Putting on a show rather than making real changes within the organization.) To do genuine allyship, read Lily's LinkedIn post or HBR article. #Inclusion #Accessibility #MerylMots

I'm super excited, honored, and humbled to be the opening keynote for Knowbility John Slatin AccessU, which is coming up fast and furious! I was so excited that I started working on my keynote in 2023! I am a planner, but not that far ahead! I typically start planning my talks about six to eight weeks ahead if I have enough information. My sister Elisa Miller can tell you how I tweaked every word to get it just right. I kept sending her updated versions to review. It's done and ready to present! I'm proud of how it turned out. Now, I need to deliver it with verve! I'd love to meet you in person. Or if you can't travel, there's an online option. The Knowbilty team gave me a promo code to share with you. Use the following code: AU24SAVE10 As an added incentive, if you want a Progress Over Perfection sticker and come up to me and ask for one, I'll give you one. (As long as I still have some left.) Need reasons to make the case to the boss to attend? Here are some. - Receive practical training for your role. - Access all 75 class recordings for 90 days. (Other than Deep Dives.) - Take advantage of community participation from IAAP and W3C/WAI. - Get discount hotel rooms while still available. - Meet incredible keynote speakers Homer Gaines, CPACC and John Samuel. You'll also learn from some of the best in the business include Reginé Gilbert, Mark Steadman, Jennifer Strickland, Karl Groves, my sister Elisa (of course!), Jeff kline, Samuel Proulx, Jennifer Chadwick, CPACC, CUA, Denis Boudreau, Adrian Roselli, Sumner M Davenport, Whitney Quesenbery, and many others that I can't begin to name them all! Link in the comments! Let me know if you'll be there! 🔔 Tap profile bell so you don't miss the next post ✉️ Want to work together? Contact me. 👉 Follow #MerylMots to find more content #Conference #Accessibility   Image: Meryl Evans, keynote speaker 2024. Circle photo of Meryl, with long curly hair, headshot with emphasis on the face. Community, Championing, and Compassion: an Accessibility Journey. Meryl is a professional speaker, trainer, author, disability inclusion and accessibility consultant. Born profoundly deaf and learning advocacy from her parents, she has been advocating for disabled people for most of her life. John Slatin, AccessU by Knowbility.

Have you heard about the LinkedIn Top Community Voices program? It's not the same thing as LinkedIn Top Voice. Here's the difference according to LinkedIn's information. 🟦 LinkedIn Top Voice (Blue badge or white in dark mode) "The blue LinkedIn Top Voice badge is invitation only, featuring senior-level experts and leaders." "Top Voices are vetted to ensure that they meet high trust standards, are consistently active on the platform, and share valuable expertise through content that demonstrates their unique, original contributions to a topic." According to one connection, only 5,000 have this badge. I have not been able to find confirmation of this. 🟨 LinkedIn Community Top Voice (Gold) "The gold Community Top Voices badge recognizes noteworthy contributors who share their expertise and experience in a specific skill or skills through contributions to collaborative articles (for example, Top Sales Voice)." The Gold badge is active for 60 days after earning it. A person must continuously comply with LinkedIn contribution policies and contribute and stay in the top 5% of contributors for the category. People have been asking if you can get both badges. I accidentally found out the answer. I'm already the lucky recipient of the blue LinkedIn Top Voice badge. When I checked my notifications, I saw "Congratulations you've earned a badge: Top Content Marketing Voice" as the image shows along with "Congratulations, you've earned a badge: Top Web Content Writing Voice," which came a few weeks later. Clicking the Top Community Voice notification took me to my blue Top Voice badge. So, yes, you can become a Top Community Voice (gold) if you're a LinkedIn Top Voice (blue). But, it won't be added to your profile. It's easy to earn the Top Community Voice badge. Contribute at least three articles in the same category. ✉️ Want to work together? Contact me. 👉 Follow #MerylMots to find more content 🔔 Tap profile bell so you don't miss the next post #InfluencerMarketing #DigitalMarketing The image shows an example of a gold badge with a light bulb "Top Digital Marketing Voice." It also shows "Congrats, you've been recognized as a Top Voice. Add the badge to your profile." The blue and white version of the Top Voice badges appear below it. M Stamp with Meryl net logo

Motion continues to be a big problem. I'd be trying to read an article. Multiple animated ads kept stealing my focus. I'd land on a website with a moving video in the background. (It's not in a video player. It's part of the background.) I'd get animated GIFs in email signatures and notifications. Every time I open the email or check my notifications with motion, it'd repeat, repeat, repeat. These are not essential and violate accessibility guidelines. They don't give users control over the motion. There's a reason "reduced motion" is an option in iOS and Windows. I have not been diagnosed as Autistic or ADHD and this affected my experience. The same goes for those with vestibular disorders (Me!), migraines, headaches, and prone to seizures. More people are affected by motion than you think. Vestibular Disorders Association says 10% of the population is more susceptible to experiencing motion sickness. Large population-based studies have found that 15 to 20% of adults experience dizziness revert year according to a "The epidemiology of dizziness and vertigo" study on PubMed. One of my biggest annoyances is a video that auto-plays, especially on my phone. It kidnaps my hearing device. My cochlear implant is connected to the phone. And when there's sound, it takes control and lowers the volume for the real world. Thank goodness LinkedIn has a setting that turns off autoplay. But really. For many reasons, video should not autoplay by default. One service has a poll to determine the best times to meet. My response didn't go through because I selected the wrong "Continue" button. (There were two and one was for spam.) That page had SO many animated ads and blinkies that I couldn't focus and select the right option. Anyone responsible for ads or the websites, please put motion in the viewer's control. It can be a serious problem for a lot of people. It takes attention away from content. I leave if I don't need the content and that's often the case. This clip shows my LinkedIn notifications. The post has an animated GIF. Every time someone comments, I'd see multiple notifications with the same animated GIF in each. p.s. Want a talk that educates, entertains, and encourages action? Contact me. 👉 Follow #MerylMots to find more content ✉️ Want to work together? Contact me. 🔔 Tap profile bell so you don't miss the next post #Accessibility #Video

Guess what? You won't believe it ... I published a new blog post! 😮 Three months in a row! Will wonders never cease? 😎 I've written about ableism, microaggressions, unconscious bias, and stereotypes. Based on feedback, y'all appreciated it and said we need to talk about these hard topics. The new post is on these tough topics. I've recently dealt with lateral ableism. (When a disabled person is prejudiced against another disabled person.) For me, it's worse than ableism by non-disabled people. The post also covers benevolent ableism, crab mentality, and how to prevent ableism, microaggressions, unconscious bias, and stereotypes. https://lnkd.in/dihZDNGJ It was hard wrapping my head around these terms. It may not be perfect. Please post your thoughts in the comments to help clarify them and add examples if you'd like. If you want to know when the next blog post comes out, be sure to subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/g7f3THfQ p.s. Have you gotten your ticket to Knowbility AccessU? I'm honored and humbled to be the opening keynote! https://lnkd.in/dKx7avvY p.p.s. Want a talk that educates, entertains, and encourages action? Contact me. 🔔 Tap profile bell so you don't miss the next post ✉️ Want to work together? Contact me. 👉 Follow #MerylMots to find more content #Language #Communication #Inclusion

When I was younger, I went to restaurants far more often than I do now. One of the reasons I don't like going out for meals is because it's hard to listen. If I can't listen, then what's the point? I certainly don't want to do all the talking. I rarely learn from myself. Daniel Fink, MD's article in The Hearing Journal confirms I'm not imagining things. Restaurants have gotten noisier in the last 30 years. The summary states that at the busiest time of day, the average restaurant noise ranged from 55 to 68 decibels. This sound level is about equal to speech. It turns out it's hard to find a restaurant at that level today. What changed in 30 years? What makes restaurants noisier today? Fink explains: "In the past, many restaurants were furnished with heavy curtains, upholstered banquettes, and linen tablecloths, with a door separating the kitchen from the dining area. Nowadays many contain hard surfaces, loud background music, big-screen televisions, and open kitchens." The article goes on to say that ambient noise affects more than those with hearing disabilities. It mentions hyperacusis, autism, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). That's why this is a disability rights issue. People go to restaurants for the food and company. Rarely do people go there to eat without any interaction. Most importantly, the abstract states, "Hearing loss is associated with social isolation and loneliness." That's one of the biggest challenges for me as a deaf person. Many others can relate. I went to an event where the captions didn't work. The sound wasn't good enough for the captions on my phone. Lipreading the speaker didn't work. I felt so isolated sitting at the table surrounded by friends. After a few minutes, I left the room to take a walk. The experience dampened my spirits for the rest of the day and not just because of the pouring rain. Back to restaurants. What can be done? Unfortunately, some of the things that work will sacrifice aesthetics (looks). Moreover, the industry operates on razor-thin margins and must consider cost. One option is to turn down the volume of music. Those that have multiple rooms could make one room quieter. Fink writes that making restaurants quieter will lead to revenue gains. The article uses smoking as an analogy of how quieting restaurants can prove fruitful. "Quieter restaurants will contribute to a quieter, healthier, and better world for all," Fink writes. I'd add networking events, meetings, and social events. Amen. 🔔 Tap profile bell so you don't miss the next post  Want to work together? Contact me. 👉 Follow #MerylMots to find more content #Communication #Inclusion #Accessibility Image: Illustration of a bunch of people gathered around a table filled with food and drink. Credit: PaliGraficas on Pixabay