Accessibility is about people.
Today as part of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I want to share a story about one of these wonderful people.
David is one of our expert accessibility advisors. Back in June, when Patrick and I were only getting DevAlly off the ground, we jumped on a flight to San Francisco to get ourselves in front of as many different accessibility experts as we could.
We reached out to David, an internationally-renowned software engineer and accessibility expert with a lived experience with disability. David invited us out to dinner in his home in Dublin, California. After a week of existing exclusively on mission burritos, nothing was more welcome than a home-cooked meal.
His wonderful wife Mary and their two children greeted us like family, and throughout the evening, David shared profound insights about living with blindness, not as a limitation but as a different way of experiencing the world. David shared stories that were not told with frustration, but with a remarkable sense of humor, wisdom, and hope, highlighting how we can leverage technology for change. But then David said something that I’ll never forget.
“Without accessibility, I can’t work, and I can’t provide for my family.”
Here we had been sitting with one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met, and yet still so much of the digital world is built to exclude and prevent his contribution.
How many incredible people like David have we excluded from the one place that was supposed to be built without barriers?
We have to do better, and we will.
With brilliant people like David at our side we have the power to make digital products work for everyone. So today, let’s recommit to building a digital world that includes everyone. Because with accessibility, we’re not just removing barriers, we’re unlocking potential.
#InternationalDayOfPeopleWithDisability #Inclusion #Accessibility #IDPWD
