Prove Me Wrong: CTA’s C-Level @ A Mile High is the Best Event in Tech

By Mike Hess

Industry events have changed. Post-COVID, many associations struggle with conference attendance and membership. The Colorado Technology Association (CTA) doesn’t appear to be one of them, and C-Level @ A Mile High is why. 

C-Level is an opportunity for technology buyers and leadership from industries across Colorado to meet with software and service providers. Think of it as speed dating where technology buyers — aka “Celebrities” — discuss upcoming projects with CTA members who are typically enterprise-level, b2b client services providers, from smaller agencies (like BIT), to huge conglomerates (like IBM). 

Wisely, CTA pairs each “Celebrity” with an “Ambassador.” C-Level Ambassadors keep the conversations lively. For particularly popular Celebrities, Ambassadors organize the vendor queues. And, Ambassadors watch the clock, making sure their Celebrity has an opportunity to chat with each CTA member eager to meet them.

To be clear, C-Level is not new. In fact, BIT wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for a C-Level event I attended a little over a decade ago. It was a CTA Celebrity that gave BIT one of our first opportunities. Today, I’m a C-Level veteran. I go every year. 

This year, I went with my colleague, Joe Crespo. It was an opportunity to reconnect with some old friends of BIT, and meet new ones:

• I met with technology leaders from around Colorado: the Regional Transportation District (RTD), the City of Centennial, the City of Aurora, and the State of Colorado’s Governor’s Office. These Celebrities are shaping the future of government, finding efficiencies through smart cities initiatives, and guiding AI policy. Our conversations ranged from driving forward digital engagement to driving down costs.
• I had an opportunity to catch up with Suma Nallapati, Chief AI & Information Officer for the City and County of Denver. I’ve long admired Suma’s ability to build community, her commitment to innovation — especially regarding AI — and her dedication to digital experiences that reach all of the City’s constituents.
• Joe introduced me to some of the Drupal experts at Tyler Technologies that also serve government agencies across Colorado. Many of the government websites BIT audits are built using Drupal, so naturally, Tyler shares some of the same clients with us. Tyler’s commitment to serve government runs deep, and it was great meeting their team.
• Government wasn’t the only industry providing Celebrities at C-Level. I got to reconnect with a Celebrity from DaVita who attended one of my talks years ago. And I nerded out with the CIO of the Colorado Rockies. I’m a Rockies superfan. So is he. For me, that conversation alone was worth the price of entry.

Designing C-Level

C-Level is a fantastic example of thoughtful event design. The magic of this event doesn’t require a buyer-seller dynamic. Its value is access: CTA put the right people in the same room with their members, gave everyone guardrails, and let the conversations happen organically. The results speak for themselves. BIT is here today because of this approach.

A huge thank you to everyone at the CTA for pulling off another incredible C-Level! The venue, Empower Field at Mile High, is unique, the food was amazing, and the name “C-Level @ A Mile High” is a chef’s-kiss perfect dad joke.

The Best Untapped Resource on the Job Market

Serving clients well is how we close the unemployment gap for professionals with disabilities. BIT’s Salesforce and digital accessibility expertise is second-to-none, and unlike a typical client service agency, we want you to hire our best people.

Let’s schedule a time

Salesforce Trailhead Case Study: Accessible Salesforce Customizations

By Joe Crespo

Accessible Salesforce Customizations is the first-of-its-kind Trailhead badge. Championed by Trailhead Senior Content Strategist, Kelly Hamilton, this interactive training is the latest collaboration between Salesforce and BIT. Inspired by a session at Mid-Atlantic Dreaming led by BIT Senior Salesforce Implementer, Rebecca Ledder, Kelly and Rebecca collaborated to create a Trailhead challenge badge that shows administrators how to fix common accessibility issues in an org.

Check out Accessible Salesforce Customizations on Trailhead

How accessible is your Salesforce org?

Salesforce provides a highly accessible and flexible platform, but due to its flexibility, Salesforce Implementers can inadvertently introduce accessibility and usability barriers when customizing an org.

To address this, BIT partnered with the Salesforce Trailhead team to co-develop Trailhead’s first-ever challenge badge dedicated to digital accessibility. This hands-on, interactive training shows Salesforce Implementers and Admins how to prevent, identify, and resolve common accessibility barriers in custom-configured orgs.

Problems Addressed

1. Bridge the Gap Between Theory and Practice
   Often accessibility training is theoretical, leaving Salesforce implementers without the practical skills needed to fix actual code and layout barriers in a live org.
   
2. Navigational Barriers in Custom Pages
   Custom layouts often fail to take into account the organizational principles that would allow users of assistive technology to navigate a page efficiently.
   
3. Technical Compliance Foundations
   Some implementers overlook technical essentials, such as sufficient color contrast and visible keyboard focus indicators, which are required for universal readability and navigation.

“BIT was my ideal partner for this badge. Not only do they know Salesforce and digital accessibility, they also have lived experience working in tech and using assistive technology in the real world. Mike [Hess, BIT Founder and Executive Director,] has assembled an exceptional team and I’m incredibly proud of what we produced together.”

— Kelly Hamilton, Lead Quality Manager, Trailhead Content Quality & Engineering

Solutions

1. Interactive Skill-Building
   This project provides the first-ever hands-on Trailhead challenge where learners can use a Salesforce sandbox to identify and remediate real-world accessibility pitfalls.
   
2. Intentional Structural Design
   The training provides specific guidance on restructuring page layouts and screen flows to ensure logical nesting and equivalent user experiences.
   
3. Practical Tips & Tools
   Learners are taught to use browser developer tools to audit the accessibility tree and validate WCAG 2.2 AA standards, ensuring every custom element is compliant and usable.

Book a consultation

Your Salesforce org should be a place where everyone can do their best work.

For Neurodiversity Celebration Week, BIT has handed the blog over to us at Divergent Thinking to continue a conversation that has been building for some time.

This is not a random crossover. It grows directly out of the work we have already done together — including our joint panel on Digital Accessibility & Neurodivergence in the Workplace with Mike Hess, Nat Hawley, Amy McCaw, Elliott Natale and James Warnken. That session focused on something both BIT and Divergent Thinking care about deeply: too many workplaces are still being designed around a narrow idea of the “standard” user, leaving talented blind and neurodivergent professionals to carry the burden of navigating systems that were never built with them in mind.

That conversation made one thing very clear: digital accessibility and neurodiversity are not separate issues. They overlap in practical, important ways, especially in hiring, onboarding, training and day-to-day workplace communication.

So today’s guest post is a natural next step.

At BIT, the focus is rightly on building a future where blind professionals and professionals with disabilities can thrive through accessible design, technology and employment pathways. At Divergent Thinking, our focus is on helping organizations understand neurodiversity more deeply and redesign systems so different minds can do their best work.

This week, those two conversations meet in the same place.

Because if we want truly inclusive workplaces, we need to stop treating accessibility as a technical afterthought and start seeing it for what it really is: a foundation for better hiring, better training, better design and better outcomes for everyone.

Inclusion Starts Before the First Interview

Many employers still think of accessibility and inclusion as something that happens later — after someone is hired, after someone discloses, or after someone starts struggling.

By that point, the process may already have screened out great people.

If a hiring process includes inaccessible forms, unclear job descriptions, rigid assessments, unnecessary time pressure, or interviews that reward social polish over actual job capability, organizations may be filtering out blind and neurodivergent talent long before ability has a fair chance to show up.

That matters.

A candidate should not have to fight the process just to be considered fairly.

Simple changes can make a real difference:

• write job descriptions in clearer, more direct language
  
• remove jargon and hidden expectations
  
• make sure application systems work properly with assistive technology
  
• provide accessible formats by default, not only when someone asks
  
• explain every stage of the process clearly
  
• review whether assessments are actually relevant to the job
  

These are not “special accommodations” in the negative sense. They are better hiring design.

Accessibility and Cognitive Clarity Belong in the Same Conversation

One of the biggest overlaps between blindness, digital accessibility and neurodiversity is the importance of clarity.

A blind candidate may be blocked by a system that is technically inaccessible. A neurodivergent candidate may be blocked by a system that is cognitively overwhelming. One person may be fighting poor screen reader compatibility; another may be fighting cluttered portals, vague instructions, overloaded workflows or confusing training structures.

Both are forms of exclusion.

That is why we believe organizations need to widen the lens. Accessibility is not only about whether a platform can be accessed. It is also about whether the information inside it can be processed clearly and without unnecessary friction.

If a system is technically accessible but chaotic, inconsistent or hard to decode, it is still creating barriers.

Training Can Either Unlock Talent or Quietly Shut it Down

The same applies once someone joins.

Many onboarding and training systems still rely too heavily on dense slide decks, inaccessible documents, overly verbal delivery, unclear priorities, and a “you’ll figure it out” culture. That can create unnecessary friction from day one.

For blind professionals, that may mean inaccessible content or poorly described visuals. For neurodivergent professionals, it may mean cognitive overload, inconsistent delivery, weak structure, or unclear expectations.

Again, the issue is not motivation. It is design.

Inclusive training tends to be:

• structured
  
• predictable
  
• available in multiple formats
  
• clear about goals and next steps
  
• accessible in both technical and cognitive terms
  

That means paying attention to:

• screen reader compatibility
  
• alt text and document accessibility
  
• plain language
  
• chunking information into manageable parts
  
• clear visual hierarchy
  
• consistent structure
  
• explicit instructions

time and space for processing

Good training design is not only better for employees with disabilities. It improves learning outcomes across the board.

Clarity is a Business Advantage

If information is buried in clutter, hidden in inaccessible systems, or delivered in ways that require too much decoding, people end up spending energy fighting the format instead of engaging with the content.

That is not just frustrating. It is expensive.

Accessible and inclusive design often leads to:

• fewer misunderstandings
  
• better communication
  
• stronger retention
  
• smoother onboarding
  
• more accurate performance assessment
  
• better overall productivity
  

In other words, clearer systems are not just more equitable. They are more effective.

This is one of the reasons the conversation BIT is leading matters so much. Once organizations start seeing accessibility as part of operational excellence rather than only compliance, the whole discussion gets smarter.

The Future is Accessible by Default

The organizations making the most progress are not waiting for someone to speak up after a problem appears. They are designing with accessibility and neuroinclusion in mind from the beginning.

That means building hiring and training systems that assume difference is normal, not exceptional.

It means asking:

• can people access this?
  
• can people process this?
  
• are we creating barriers we do not need?
  
• what assumptions are built into this workflow?
  
• are we measuring talent, or just measuring who fits our legacy systems best?
  

That is the shift that matters.

At BIT, this work is already helping employers rethink disability inclusion, workforce development and accessible design. At Divergent Thinking, we see the same need from the neurodiversity side: if organizations want to attract and retain strong talent, they need systems that support different minds and different ways of accessing the world.

Final Thought

Designing inclusive hiring and training is not about making things easier for a small group of people.

It is about helping organizations become better at identifying, developing and retaining talent.

Blind and neurodivergent professionals do not need to be fixed to fit outdated systems. The systems need to become more accessible, clearer and more intentional by design.

That is where real inclusion starts.

And that is where a lot of lost talent can finally be recognized.

To learn more about BIT, visit blindit.org. To explore more on neuroinclusion, visit Divergent Thinking or read the Divergent Thinking blog.

Job Title: Academy Director

Location

Remote

About Us

Blind Institute of Technology (BIT) is a forward-thinking, mission-driven organization dedicated to empowering professionals with disabilities through accessible, high-quality education and training. Our Academy programs, currently offering Salesforce Admin and Digital Accessibility Analyst certification courses, provide participants with the skills, knowledge, and practical experience needed to succeed in the workforce and advance their career opportunities. As we grow and expand our offerings, we are committed to fostering a supportive, inclusive, and dynamic learning environment that embraces diversity and drives success for all.

Due to two recently awarded grants, , we will be significantly growing our course offerings. This includes offering new subject matter, along with expanding the number of our current courses offered both within the US and abroad. All of our courses are offered virtually, are accessible for all disabilities and our complimentary to all of our Career Seekers.

Job Summary

We are seeking a passionate and proactive Academy Director to lead and shape the future of BIT’s Academy programs. As the driving force behind our Academy’s administration and development, you’ll play a pivotal role in enhancing the student and instructor experience, steering the success and growth of our Academy programs.

Your responsibilities as the Academy Director will include developing policies, managing schedules, guiding instructors, and evaluating program effectiveness to ensure a high-quality learning experience for all participants. You’ll ensure that our programs operate smoothly, effectively, and in full alignment with BIT’s mission. As BIT expands its program offerings, the Academy Director will play a critical role in shaping the direction and success of the Academy. Your strategic vision will be key to ensuring the continuous improvement, effective operation, and future expansion of our programs, contributing to BIT Academy’s overall success.
If you’re eager to contribute to BIT’s mission of providing accessible, impactful education and thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced environment, we encourage you to apply and make a meaningful impact in our growing Academy community.

Join us in making a difference by guiding a talented team of educators and helping us grow our mission of accessible education.

Responsibilities

• Policy Development & Implementation:
  •  Create and enforce policies and procedures to support the effective operation and continuous improvement of BIT Academy programs.
  • Ensure all policies are up to date, in line with industry best practices, and comply with organizational standards.
  •  Regularly review and improve procedures to enhance program efficiency and quality.
• Program Scheduling & Coordination:
  • Develop and manage program schedules, ensuring timely course offerings, instructor availability, and efficient use of resources.
• Instructor Support Leadership & Development:
  • Provide guidance, mentorship, and support to the team of Academy instructors.
  • Facilitate regular check-ins and meetings to support instructional needs and foster a collaborative teaching environment.
  • Identify opportunities for instructor development and provide resources for continuous skill-building and training.
• Program Effectiveness & Continuous Improvement:
  •  Evaluate program effectiveness through participant feedback, completion rates, and performance data.
  • Develop and implement assessment tools to gather insights into program quality and learning outcomes.
  • Analyze data to identify areas for improvement and execute necessary program enhancements.
• Administrative Oversight & Compliance:
  • Ensure that all administrative processes, including enrollment, attendance tracking, and program documentation, are managed efficiently and adhere to organizational and regulatory standards.
• Resource Allocation & Budget Management:
  •  Prepare and manage the Academy program budgets to ensure efficient use of funds.
  • Allocate resources effectively to support current program operations and future growth.
  • Monitor expenditures and adjust as necessary to align with organizational priorities and program needs.
• Stakeholder Communication & Support:
  • Serve as the primary contact for Academy-related inquiries from leadership and progress reports.
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with instructors, participants, community partners, and other stakeholders.
  • Prepare regular reports and updates for Salesforce, detailing program progress, participant outcomes, and areas for growth.
  • Promote BIT’s Academy programs to external partners and community contacts.
• Strategic Planning & Program Expansion:
  •  Collaborate with leadership to plan for the growth and expansion of BIT’s Academy offerings.
  • Identify operational adjustments needed to improve program scalability while maintaining quality and integrity.

Qualifications

• Education & Experience:
  • Bachelor’s degree in Education, Program Administration, Organizational Development, or a related field preferred.
  • Proven experience in program administration, educational leadership, or similar roles.
• Knowledge & Skills:
  • Strong project management skills with the ability to develop and implement program policies, schedules, and administrative processes.
  • Understanding of disability-related learning needs and inclusive teaching practices, with a commitment to creating accessible educational environments.
  • Excellent leadership abilities to mentor and support a diverse team of instructors.
  • Strong analytical skills to assess program effectiveness and identify opportunities for improvement and scaling.
  • Ability to prioritize, multitask, and problem-solve in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.
  • Demonstrates effective communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Proficiency in Google Suite and MS Office.
  • Knowledge of accessible technology and learning tools is preferred.

We are a team of professionals, most possessing a variety of disabilities. Professionals within the disabilities community are strongly encouraged to apply. This position is a fully remote, FTE position with a starting salary range of $65K-$75K annually with a healthy benefits package. We would like to fill this position quickly, so please don’t delay in sending your resume and cover letter to Candidates@BlindIT.org, referencing this position in the subject line.