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Advertise Accessibility

Posted on by BIT

By Cala Estes

I have been working as the Director of Candidate Services for the Blind Institute of Technology for a year. Before that, I worked in Human Resources for the Agricultural Research Service, an agency under the US. Department of Agriculture. While those might sound like impressive titles, I have also been on the other side of the office door, figuratively staring at a job description and wondering if I should bother applying. Since the age of eleven when I lost the remainder of my vision, I’ve been navigating a world that doesn’t always advertise itself to me.

Networking is the key to opening doors in the professional world. Making contacts, handing out your resume, and meeting recruiters face-to-face is what job fairs are all about. Making my way through large event halls while avoiding crowds and trying to pick out the voices of recruiters from the milling conversation is a challenge for me, even with all the assistive tech I have at my disposal. How can I make a good impression on a recruiter with my stress levels at max and a stack of resumes in my hand that I can’t read? Most recruitment and outreach personnel probably don’t expect to see a blind person showing up to apply for a job, so part of my short contact time is spent demystifying the “wow factor.” And by the way, I hope to hear from you soon regarding my candidacy for this position! Somehow, the fact that I’m actually looking to apply for the position gets forgotten in the melee.

The advent of virtual job fairs and LinkedIn has changed the way we network. Assuming the website hosting the job fair is accessible to screen reading software, I have the same shot as everyone else without the stress of moving through a physical space. I can now reach out from my end, but I’m always left wondering if companies are genuinely interested in reaching back. “Equal opportunity” and “reasonable accommodations” are buzzwords in the professional world. “Applicants will be considered regardless of disability” usually appears along with the other disclaimers at the bottom of the job description. I have read those words, applied for a position, and been pulled out of a group interview to speak with HR about how exactly I would be able to use a computer and operate a phone. It leaves me feeling quite skeptical when I see those words now.

So how does a company move beyond the template and really welcome all applicants? If they’re taking part in a physical job fair, how do they attract the deaf web developer or the blind marketing consultant?

When it comes to advertised company values, accessibility is as much of an attraction as sustainability or innovative technology. Knowing that a company has designed their internal systems to work for all user groups shows me they value talent and will break down the accessibility barriers to find it. Still working on internal accessibility? Posting news that your company hosted an accessibility workshop shows that leadership cares about bringing everyone to the table. How about advertising an accessibility coordinator at your next job fair, ready to assist applicants in making contact with your recruiters?

We look for signs all around us advising us of gluten free options or directing us to press 9 for Spanish. Those of us with four-legged friends light up at a sign reading, “Pet friendly establishment.” These make us feel seen and welcomed in whatever space we find them. Accessibility is my welcome sign!

Don’t let accessibility become just another buzzword. Let it be an attraction. Solicit the opinions of various user groups as you coordinate events.

Posting in online groups to fill a position? Check out the wealth of groups full of job seekers with disabilities and let people know you’re looking for an individual, not a diversity quota.

Accessibility is great in theory, and it doesn’t have to mean big expenses or long trainings. It does mean letting people know you’re open to learning alternative ways of achieving productivity. It does mean empathy. It does mean working to include the edge cases rather than exclude them.

Be open to talent and advertise accessibility!

Image from Jil Wright: Retrieved from flickr.com and used according to a Creative Commons Attribution License

Announcing the Diana Ferguson Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award

Posted on by BIT
Diana Ferguson

BIT’s Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award, presented yearly at our Dining in the Dark gala, seeks to recognize, celebrate, and honor an individual or organization’s exceptional commitment to the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace.

Diversity and inclusion initiatives are happening all over corporate America, primarily targeting 4 pillars of the minority population:  gender, veterans, LBGTQ and ethnicity. The disabled community, although the largest minority group, is widely being left out of the conversation.

To take on the D&I battle for the disabled community, it takes a compassionate and tenacious person. It requires strategy, patience and gumption to convince all levels of an organization, from the C Suite to HR, to turn a D and I initiative that is inclusive of people with disabilities, from an empty company promise to an embraced and effective culture.

Diana Ferguson is 100% that person. When she joined our Board of Directors in 2016, her first order of business was to inform me that she would be a “roll up your sleeves” type of Director. I almost cried at her declaration. She followed this up by walking the walk.

Diana had those hard conversations within her own organization, Oppenheimer Funds, creating an award-winning program within a historically conservative financial institution. Her influence helped us develop BIT’s model of leading with education for both our employer partners and candidates. She coached me on how to evolve our business to one that can work within the Fortune 100 space.  The manner in which we present BIT to corporations today derived directly from Diana’s guidance.

Nothing I could say or do would express the gratitude I have for Diana’s leadership. It is with much regret to announce Diana will be leaving our Board of Directors.

To honor Diana and her importance to BIT, we will be changing the name of the Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award to the Diana Ferguson Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award.  Diana may no longer be on our Board of Directors, but her contributions will impact BIT forever.

Thank you, Diana.

Mike Hess

A Look at 4 Assistive Tech Innovations That Enhance BVI Productivity for Blind Americans Equality Day

Posted on by BIT

By Kristy Schenderlein

Today, we observe Blind Americans Equality Day, also known as White Cane Safety Day. Congress, in 1964,  set aside October 15 to observe the achievements of people who are Blind or visually impaired (BVI) and to call attention to the importance of the tool and symbol of blindness. It was President Obama in 2011 who changed the name to Blind Americans Equality Day.

Just as the Liberty Bell is a sound of freedom for the United States, the tapping of a cane is the sound of independence for the blind. This simple innovation from the 1920’s allows blind and visually impaired individuals the opportunity to move and travel safely and independently to work, school and around the community.

Not unlike the rest of the world, technology has changed the lives of BVI people everywhere. Many BVI use assistive tech to perform productively in their daily lives and in business. In tribute to the White Cane, hear is a look at a few pieces of clever technology that assists the blind community to be successful in the workplace and their everyday lives.

  1. Screen Reading Software – Screen readers such as JAWS and NVDA allow blind and visually impaired users to quickly and efficiently navigate through the computer and perform the same tasks as their sighted peers. In many cases, screen readers have even made a BVI more efficient. Take for example, reading a corporate memo. Average reading speeds for adults is around 200-250 words per minute, while experienced screen reader users will set the reading speed to 300 or more. Many operating systems are building screen readers directly into their systems like Microsoft Narrator and Google ChromeVox. Other programs can be downloaded for free or purchased for download.
  2. Smart Phones – Screen readers now exist on all Apple and Android phones. VoiceOver (Apple) and TalkBack (Android) are built directly into smart phones and can be installed with one click. This technology allows users to use their phones just as their sighted peers can. Simple swipe and tap movements can be used to read and write texts, use apps to conduct business and even use the phone for what it was designed for – to stream music, videos and games! While sighted colleagues are battling traffic, with the use of their smart phones, BVI can continue to be productive, while commuting on mass transit or in a ride share!
  3. Refreshable Braille Displays – A braille display is a device that can be used on its own or hooked up to a computer. Once downloaded to the display, a document can be read and edited on the braille display, which produces lines of braille using electro-mechanical pins. You can even take notes, type documents or read books and magazines on your display. Braille displays are small and portable so when creativity strikes, a BVI can take a note down anywhere!
  4. Seeing AI App – Seeing AI is a free app from Microsoft that harnesses the power of AI to describe the world to the Blind and visually impaired. The app uses AI and the phone’s camera to describe objects, people and text. A user can quickly capture a document, and have it read back to them or use the short text feature to immediately read snippets of information, like the address on a piece of mail. Seeing AI helps people with visual impairments complete everyday tasks in the office, at home and in the community.

Technology like these and the white cane have allowed the blind and visually impaired to fully participate in society. Unfortunately, however, an estimated 80% of the blind and visually impaired are unemployed or underemployed (US Bureau of Labor Statistics) in large part due to a lack of understanding on how BVI can perform the essential functions of a job productively. In observance of the day, take the time to educate someone or to gain some education from a BVI. Ask a colleague or friend what technology they use to get the job done. Or, instead of shushing a child asking about the white cane or guide dog that just went by, feed that curiosity with information. It makes the world a more inclusive place when we can take the time to learn about one another.

Can smart cities work for the visually impaired?

Posted on by BIT

The good news is I’m not going away, this is my passion. And this isn’t some philanthropic thing to help the poor people. No, I’m saying be inclusive to all community members.

Mike Hess, Founder, Blind Institute of Technology

The Denver-based Blind Institute of Technology is taking its message of inclusion in employment to smart cities planners through founder Mike Hess. In his two decades as a self-described “IT and network nerd,” Mike Hess has become accustomed to being the only blind employee at his companies. That’s why six years ago, he struck out on his own to found the nonprofit Blind Institute of Technology (BIT), with the goal of getting visually impaired people into tech and business jobs, and making sure more blind workers wouldn’t be relegated to “token” status. Read the article >>

LGS and BIT: “Blind Person Running” Project

Posted on by BIT
blind man running on a track

LGS Innovations and a talented team of students from the University of Denver have teamed up to create some amazing assistive technology that enables people who are blind or visually impaired safely run around a track. This video proves it!  BIT’s own Founder and Executive Director, Mike Hess, gives the hardware a trial run.

Recap of our 1st BIT Technology Symposium

Posted on by BIT

This conference wan’t like other conferences focusing on technology in the BVI space. This was a “how to get it done” event. Presenters outlined exactly how to make impact changes and proved that the effort involved is less than most expect. Attendees walked away armed with knowing what changes can be made and how to make them and how to do it with their own organizations. Now you can benefit from the same information shared on our recap hosted by Pagedip.  To see summaries, presentations, and source code, read more >>

Shedding Light on Disability

Posted on by BIT

The Pueblo City-County Library District hosted an awareness event to shine a light on obstacles faced by those with disabilities and allow people without disabilities to get a sense for what it is like.  Our Executive Director, Mike Hess, was there to host a “Blindfold Box Luncheon” where guests had to eat completely blindfolded.  During his presentation, Mike encouraged those with disabilities to realize the value they might bring, not only to an organization, but to society as a whole.  “Part of my job is to flip the perception within the job seeker to understand that you do have skills and talents and you should be proud of the work that you bring,” he said. Read more >>