Re: Please share your accessibility story!

Yes, very helpful indeed. What a terrific story, thanks so much Peter!

On Mon, Sep 4, 2017 at 4:09 PM, Peter Shikli <pshikli@bizware.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> In response to Sharron's request, I think we have a business story about
> accessibility that might interest you.  Keeping to her 5-question outline,
> the story follows my signature.
>
> Cheers,
> Peter Shikli
> Access2online
> A Division of Bizware Online Applications, Inc.
> 29030 SW Town Center Loop East
> Suite 202-187
> Wilsonville, OR 97070
> 503-570-6831 <(503)%20570-6831> - pshikli@access2online.com
> Cell: 949-677-3705 <(949)%20677-3705>
> FAX: 213-337-7029 <(213)%20337-7029>
> www.access2online.com
> Prison inmates helping websites become accessible
>
> ================================
> Access2online
> Prison inmates helping websites become accessible
>
> As the CEO of a small software company, I was always on the lookout for
> new target markets for our flagship application, eTaskBoard, a tool to help
> manage the emerging virtual workplace, aka the gig economy, that is, simply
> folks who work from home.  Sometimes such folks just prefer to work from
> home, like house-husbands or the disabled, but I stumbled upon a huge
> target market with a far more serious commuting problem, prison inmates.
>
> A long story about navigating the criminal justice system ends with
> Oregon's state prison authorities deciding to take a chance on us, mainly
> because our application has bulletproof security and because we can provide
> inmates to be released a far better job skill than making license plates.
>
> Since an eTaskBoard implementation operates like a consulting service, we
> needed to select a specialty.  With so much website experience, I was like
> a kid in a candy store picking a specialty, but surprisingly ignorant about
> accessibility.  "Blind people can't fly airplanes," I thought, "and they
> can't see websites.  Tough break."
>
> This changed the day I sat down next to a blind person who turned off the
> monitor, set the mouse aside, and began exploring a website of interest to
> both of us.  The space gibberish coming out of the speakers was completely
> unintelligible to me, yet his fingers danced around the keyboard with
> purpose.  The amazement really kicked in when he turned to me and described
> the website, not just the salient points but important hidden details.
>
> He reduced the speed of his screen reader so I could understand some of
> the words.  "You understand that when it's zipping along?"
>
> "Yup, and I can smell better than you, too," he replied.  "All without
> anything done to my ears or nose.  It was always there.  You use 10% of
> your ears and nose.  I've pushed those to maybe 20% or 30%.  We come in
> rather astounding packages."
>
> This was when I realized I had happened upon a legacy project, the ability
> to leave behind a significant improvement in the lives of over 3 million
> Americans, 2.3 million behind bars of our making and a million behind the
> bars of misfortune.  At my tender age of 67, one's legacy becomes more
> pressing, so I launched the Access2online implementation of eTaskBoard.  I
> delegated most of my CEO duties and focused on Access2online as my top
> priority.
>
> Having completed a great WebAIM class on accessibility and leveraging the
> online educational resources of portals like W3C, I entered the demanding
> training program authored by the feds called Trusted Tester
> <https://www.dhs.gov/trusted-tester>.  After more than 200 hours, I got
> over 90% on their final exams to earn my certificate, and the ability to
> train the inmates.
>
> Months later, Access2online has won contracts from several governmental
> agencies on a competitive basis, including our state's Department of
> Education and the Portland Metro, the largest governmental entity within
> the state.  But what I'm just as proud of is how our task-based approach
> allows us to do jobs as small as a single web page, a refreshingly
> affordable option for smaller schools and towns compared to the fees of
> big-project consulting firms.
>
> Just a few weeks ago, we had an inmate paroled with happy tears in her
> eyes.  She knew she was walking out to the same job on the outside the
> moment she logged in from her home.  eTaskBoard is after all a virtual
> workplace.  She knew she had a good job and would be building communities
> instead of attacking them.
>
> And this legacy project has just begun!
> ================================
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 2:57 PM, Sharron Rush <srush@knowbility.org>
> wrote:
>
> Hey folks,
>>
>> I love to think about the entirety of WAI-IG, distributed around the
>> world,  furthering the cause of accessibility where ever you are in so many
>> different ways.
>>
>> As EOWG hones in on final plans for a relaunched, modernized WAI website,
>> we would love to share your stories with others around the globe who
>> struggle to make the accessibility business case. Your story may help
>> someone convince their organization that designing for full inclusion makes
>> good business sense as well as being the right thing to do.
>>
>> If you have a story to share, please send to the WAI editors list wai-eo-
>> editors@w3.org  and we will try to include as many as we can on the new
>> WAI website!
>>
>> Use these questions if they are useful but please do not feel constrained
>> by them:
>>
>> - What kind of business/organization do you represent?
>> - How did your commitment to accessibility begin?
>> - How did the journey unfold?
>> - What were some barriers/surprises/easy wins?
>> - Were there unanticipated benefits?
>>
>> Thanks a million for helping us make the case and spread the word about
>> the organizational benefits of digital accessibility.
>>
>> Onward!
>> Sharron Rush
>> co-chair Accessibility Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG)
>>
>>
>


-- 
Sharron Rush | Executive Director | Knowbility.org | @knowbility
*Equal access to technology for people with disabilities*