Speaker and accessibility marketing consultant
This article uses the musical 1776 to show how leaders can strengthen communication, handle disagreement, include diverse perspectives, and make better decisions. The Continental Congress faced many of the same challenges teams face today, and their process offers five practical lessons: check the facts, compromise when needed, respect dissent, include people with different lived experiences, and…
Every organization has a communication problem they think is small. A tiny annoyance. A glitch. Something that only happens sometimes. But communication problems rarely start big. They start as little frictions that pile up until someone finally says, Why is this so hard? My favorite simple example came from a Starbucks marketing email. I opened ... Read more The post Why Communication Breaks When…
YouTube changed how creators add captions and descriptive audio to videos. The old “Subtitles” tab is gone. Now you'll find everything under “Languages” in YouTube Studio. This post shows where to find the new tools, how to use them, and why they matter for accessibility. It also explains how these changes affect your workflow and what to do to keep your content inclusive and easy to understand.…
As an accessibility advocate and professional, I aim to walk the talk and roll the roll by ensuring I create accessible experiences. Adding captioning and subtitles to videos is easy. I ve got that process down pat. But audio descriptions? I couldn t figure out that process. While figuring out that process, I added the visual descriptions ... Read more The post How to Create Audio Description VTT…
The captions faltered when I went to see MJ: The Musical on my last visit to New York City in January 2023. That s why instead of being excited about a second chance to see a Broadway show captioned, I approached it with cautious optimism. The original post about seeing a captioned Broadway show reveals what ... Read more The post Was A Deaf Person s Dream of Seeing Captioned Broadway Show Finally…
I love this shirt from Knowbility that states: I am a [blank] and accessibility is my responsibility. Someone asked me why I hadn t filled it in. I explained that I left it blank because I wanted others to see themselves in the statement. I want others to realize accessibility is their responsibility. Knowbility Executive Director ... Read more The post Accessibility Is Everyone s Responsibility…
I was watching a mesmerizing international film from Korea with English subtitles. It had me on the edge of my seat. Then, I ran into a problem that spoiled the experience for a moment. The characters scrambled around the room frantically. Suddenly, they all froze. They stopped moving. Their faces turned frightened. What the heck ... Read more The post Captions vs. Subtitles: Leave No Viewer…
Yes, there s a month for everything. Whatever the theme is, the people behind it think about it every single day of the year. Month-long awareness raising can and does make a difference. So, what s July? July is Disability Pride Month. It s inspired by the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law on ... Read more The post Disability Pride Month: What You Need to Know appeared…
It s hard writing about topics like ableism, microaggressions, unconscious bias, and stereotypes. Ignoring uncomfortable topics gives power for them to continue. Hence, we need to learn about them, understand them, talk about them, and know how to address them. Otherwise, change will not happen. Ableism Most people know what racism, sexism, and ageism are. They ... Read more The post Ableism and…
Trigger warning: Disability language I know I know Many folks are tired of political correctness. This includes knowing which words or phrases to use without offending someone. Disability language is a tricky thing. First, when it comes to disability language, there are two sides. One applies to disabled people and their allies. They ... Read more The post Disability Language and Navigating Its…