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Building a stronger, more innovative accessibility community I Axe-con 2026 — Transcript

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0:03Hello everyone, welcome. Thank you for
0:06being here. My name is Habin Germa.
0:10I'm Zimeian from California.
0:13I am going to start with a visual
0:16description.
0:17I'm a woman with medium dark skin,
0:21dancing hazel eyes, black hair, and I'm
0:25wearing a teal dress, and there's a blue
0:28curtain behind me.
0:30Now, I'm going to pause and reflect. Why
0:34did I do a visual description? Some
0:37people might be thinking, "This is a
0:39conference about digital accessibility.
0:42Why are we talking about appearance?"
0:45I have a story for you many years ago.
0:51I met an acquaintance.
0:55He was blind and we were getting to know
0:58each other. And he asked me, "Have you
1:01ever traveled outside the United
1:03States?" And I told him, "Oh yes, I was
1:06recently in Sweden visiting visiting
1:08family
1:11all summer long." He assumed I was a
1:15white woman with blue eyes, blonde hair.
1:19And at the end of the summer, his wife,
1:22who is cited, met me and helped him
1:26realize those assumptions that were
1:29going on.
1:31A lot of us
1:33live in societies that teach us to make
1:36assumptions.
1:38Part of accessibility is unlearning
1:41those assumptions.
1:43When we post content online,
1:47photos, videos, those have visuals and
1:52blind people should have equal access to
1:55visuals.
1:57I post a lot of photos and videos on
2:00social media to teach people about
2:02accessibility.
2:05I add visual descriptions.
2:08I actually do not describe myself every
2:12single time.
2:15Context matters.
2:17How much you describe and when you
2:20describe it depends on context. My
2:24photos and videos are for my audience.
2:28And many people know me, know my
2:31appearance,
2:33but I also get new followers, new people
2:37who are learning about me. So, every few
2:41posts or so, I'll add in a self-
2:44description
2:46just to help new people to help people
2:50unlearn assumptions
2:54for your own work.
2:56Think about the point, the message you
3:01want to communicate with a photo or a
3:04video and allow that message to guide
3:08how you describe it. What details you
3:11describe depends on context. So if it's
3:15for a fashion audience, you might go
3:18into great details about the outfit and
3:22the jewelry.
3:24If it is a mathematical and science
3:27conference, you might go into more
3:30detail about the equations on the board
3:33rather than just saying there's math on
3:36the board. So context matters and for a
3:41lot of people describing your work for
3:44the first time can feel overwhelming,
3:47but it gets easier over time.
3:51During this presentation, I'm going to
3:53be sharing photos and videos,
3:57and I will be describing them so you'll
4:00get more examples of how to build your
4:04descriptive skills. It gets easier with
4:08practice.
4:10I've learned a lot about this because I
4:13myself am deaf blind and I can't see
4:17photos and videos. I access the
4:20information through descriptions
4:23and I also know many talented disabled
4:28people and non-disabled allies who are
4:32doing a wonderful job describing
4:35their content. So if you increase the
4:38number of disabled leaders and allies
4:42you follow, you could also learn how to
4:46increase those skills.
4:48Deaf blindness is a spectrum of
4:51different levels at vision and hearing.
4:54And we all access technology in
4:57different ways.
4:59Some people have some vision and will
5:02use large print magnification software.
5:08Other people might use assisted
5:10listening devices, hearing aids.
5:15And when we are designing for
5:18accessibility, we need to make sure we
5:21give people many different options to
5:24access information.
5:27I felt there weren't enough options when
5:30I was growing up as a kid. It was really
5:34hard to get access to information,
5:37even just conversations around me. How
5:40would I access those conversations?
5:44That led me to think about what can I do
5:49to create the solutions I need in my
5:52life.
5:53My sense of touch is excellent. I was
5:56lucky enough to have been taught braille
5:59as a kid. My teachers taught me braille
6:02and braille technology has evolved over
6:06time. One year a new piece of tech came
6:09out that had Bluetooth support and
6:12braille.
6:13It had me thinking, what if we connected
6:17this to an external Bluetooth keyboard?
6:21And I started trying that for
6:23conversations. I would read what people
6:26were saying on my braille computer and
6:29they would type their words on a
6:31keyboard.
6:32At first, some people said, "No, that's
6:35weird. That's different. We're not going
6:37to do that."
6:39But more and more people said yes. Let's
6:43give this a try. Let's make this work.
6:46And I want to share a photo of one
6:48person who said yes. Photo, please.
6:54This is a photo from the 25th
6:56anniversary of the Americans with
6:58Disabilities Act. It's a scene from the
7:02White House where I am standing
7:06by a table reading from the Braille
7:08computer. Across from me, President
7:11Obama is typing on a keyboard
7:15on the same table where my Braille
7:17computer is. We're having a conversation
7:21and also visible is President Biden,
7:26Valerie Jared, all watching the
7:29conversation.
7:31When I met the president, I told him I
7:34can't access information
7:38visually
7:39or through sound. But if he typed, I'd
7:44be able to access his words.
7:47Normally, President Obama communicates
7:50by voice, but he graciously switched
7:54from voicing to typing so I could access
7:57his words. He chose to make that switch.
8:02And when we have
8:05these examples of representation,
8:08it helps more people feel comfortable
8:11adapting, adjusting to meet everyone's
8:15different communication styles.
8:20Since sharing my work online through
8:24photos, videos, my website,
8:28I've been able to teach more deaf blind
8:31people to use different types of braille
8:34computers with external keyboards. It
8:38gives us the flexibility to interact in
8:41many different kinds of situations.
8:44And through the internet, I met a deaf
8:47blind friend in Australia who also uses
8:51a similar system. When I was in
8:54Australia,
8:56we found our sign languages are
8:59different. Australian sign language is
9:01different from American Sign Language.
9:05So, we learned a little bit of each
9:08other's signing languages, but the
9:11easiest way for us to communicate was
9:13through technology. We would use our
9:16Braille computers and keyboards and pass
9:18them back and forth to to chat and and
9:22connect in person.
9:25Technology
9:28has opened so many doors. Death
9:32blindness is not my barrier. My biggest
9:35barrier is abbleism. Abbleism is a set
9:39of beliefs and practices that is that
9:43train us to think disabled people are
9:46inferior to non-disabled people.
9:49Ableism shows up in technology
9:54in so many different ways. It's the
9:58decisions that decide not to prioritize
10:00accessibility.
10:04And it's also the decisions that
10:08hold back talented disabled people who
10:11want to be able to work in tech
10:13companies or study computer science in
10:17schools and are told by professors or
10:20hiring managers that they can't do the
10:23job.
10:24But we have more and more allies who are
10:28saying yes you are talented you belong
10:31here and our technology gets better more
10:35accessible when we have diverse teams.
10:39When I was in college I was struggling
10:42to find work. So many employers as soon
10:45as they realized I'm deafb blind would
10:48assume no she can't do the job.
10:52And I shared this frustration with a
10:55friend that it was so hard to get work.
10:59And my friend told me, "I know where you
11:01can get a job."
11:04Alaska.
11:06Well, I really wanted a job.
11:10So, we went up to Alaska.
11:12And before I even set foot in Alaska, I
11:16was hired to work as a tour guide for
11:19the Capitol building.
11:22in Chunau, Alaska.
11:24I studied Alaskan history. I memorized
11:27the details and facts for the Capitol
11:30building. I was ready that first day to
11:34give tours of Juna's capital. And during
11:38that first day, the manager pulled me
11:41aside and said, "It was a mistake to
11:43hire you."
11:45I was shocked. They knew about my
11:49deafness. I told them in advance and
11:51they seemed so supportive.
11:54What happened?
11:58Over time,
12:00many of us who live with multiple under
12:04represented identities develop a six
12:08sense for sexism, racism,
12:12abbleism, and other forms of oppression.
12:16But when we're younger, it's harder to
12:19know. You're still figuring out is this
12:23abbleism? Is this racism?
12:26And I I was struggling to understand
12:31what was going on in Alaska.
12:34So I asked the manager,
12:38"Are you firing me because I'm blind?"
12:41She said, "No, it's because you're from
12:43California.
12:48Once again, I was looking for work, but
12:52this time I was stuck in Alaska.
12:56And there were many job openings because
12:59of the tourism industry.
13:02Lots of people go up to Juno to see
13:04whales, eagles, the glacier.
13:09So, there were a lot of openings. I sent
13:11in applications. Employers were
13:14impressed with my resume and they'd call
13:18me in for interviews as soon as they
13:20found out I had a disability. They'd
13:23come up with all kinds of excuses not to
13:26hire me.
13:28And many of those jobs were tactile
13:30jobs, jobs that don't require sight.
13:35washing dishes in restaurants, folding
13:38laundry in hotels, those are tactile,
13:42but a lot of employees assumed you have
13:44to be able to see to do dishes or fold
13:48laundry.
13:50Those assumptions are ableist and they
13:54hold back talented disabled people. They
13:58also limit employers because they miss
14:02out on talented disabled people.
14:06I found a wonderful manager. She asked
14:10me, "How would you do the job?" I told
14:13her, she listened, and she hired me to
14:18work the front desk of her small gym in
14:22Juno, Alaska.
14:25That summer, I learned a lot about gym
14:27equipment.
14:30One day, a woman came up to the front
14:32desk and she said, "A treadmill isn't
14:35working." I followed her to the
14:37treadmill. I felt the machine from top
14:40to bottom and near the bottom there was
14:43a switch. I flicked the switch and the
14:46machine were to life.
14:49She told me, "Oh my goodness, I didn't
14:51see that switch."
14:54I told her I didn't see it either.
14:59Sometimes tactile techniques, be it
15:02visual techniques,
15:04there's so many ways to access
15:07information
15:08by touch, by smell, by taste. And if you
15:14can access it by sight and sound,
15:17we have more than that. There are
15:19additional senses.
15:22And science is starting to to gain more
15:25information about
15:27our senses beyond the main five senses.
15:33So when we design our technologies for
15:37multiple different senses, create
15:40multiple different access points, more
15:42people can share their talents. And when
15:46our teams are diverse, our teams are
15:48able to solve more problems.
15:53Disabled people have been contributing
15:56to society all throughout history all
16:00over the world. We are often the
16:02helpers. We may not get credit for this.
16:06The mainstream society might not notice
16:10but all throughout history disabled
16:12people have been there creating,
16:15innovating, solving problems in many
16:18different ways.
16:21If you cannot hear language,
16:25you can create other forms of language.
16:29And many deaf communities around the
16:31world have developed visual languages,
16:35sign languages.
16:38I have a video from Mexico.
16:42Video please.
16:45This is a video from a university in
16:47Mexico. In the video, we're in a
16:51gymnasium
16:53and I'm signing with a young man named
16:56Ya Alejandro. He was a student back
16:59then. He since graduated and now is a
17:03teacher.
17:05He knows
17:08American Sign Language,
17:10Mexican Sign Language,
17:13English and Spanish. He's deaf and
17:17sighted. So, in this video, he's
17:19watching my signs. We're signing in ASL,
17:23American Sign Language. And to read his
17:27signs, I hold my hands over his hands to
17:30feel his signs, tactile sign language.
17:35because I don't know Mexican sign
17:38language. Yay was my interpreter in
17:42Sonora, helping the bridge communication
17:46between me and the deaf community.
17:50Some people are surprised to learn that
17:52deaf people can serve as interpreters.
17:56It's not just in Mexico. All over the
17:58world, deaf people are bridges and
18:02interpreters supporting different
18:05communities.
18:07Blind people are also guides. I've had
18:12so many people ask me for directions all
18:15throughout my life.
18:18And many different disability groups are
18:22helping and supporting their communities
18:24in different ways.
18:27Some people argue that the word disabled
18:31is inherently negative because it has
18:35the word it has the phrase dis d i s.
18:41And in English they say that every word
18:45that has d i s in front of it is
18:49something negative.
18:51But that's not true. We actually have
18:55words in the English language that are
18:58positive or neutral and start with
19:01discover
19:06display.
19:12So language
19:14evolves.
19:16We can use the word disabled with a
19:20sense of pride. It does not need to be
19:23something negative. And many disabled
19:26advocates are taking back that word,
19:30giving it an infusion of pride and sense
19:33of community.
19:36And I know this is also happening in
19:39other languages. Other communities are
19:42also taking ownership of how we identify
19:46and how we and how we define ourselves.
19:52Death blindness does not hold me back.
19:56My ongoing barrier is ableism. And I'm
20:01going to share another way it shows up.
20:04Next video.
20:08This is a video of me salsa dancing at a
20:11club in New York City. I learned to
20:15salsa dance from a blind dance
20:17instructor. She taught me there's so
20:20many different ways to connect with
20:22people. And she allowed the low vision
20:28students to come stand near the front of
20:31the class to visually watch her
20:34demonstrate the different dance moves.
20:37She described all the different dance
20:41moves for the students who listen who
20:44learn best through listening
20:46and for those of us who learn by touch.
20:49She allowed us to feel her footwork
20:53and demonstrated with her hands to help
20:56us learn the different dance moves. And
20:59I loved it. And I've continued dancing
21:03all over the world. I danced in London,
21:07in Bangalore, Barcelona.
21:11One time I tried dancing in Washington
21:14DC and they said, "No, you can't come
21:16in. No dogs."
21:19The dog with me is a seeing eye dog,
21:23welltrained,
21:25well behaved.
21:27I told the the dance club, the salsa
21:31club in Washington DC that this is a
21:34sing dog, welltrained, well behaved.
21:37Don't worry, the dog's not going to
21:40dance.
21:43We have laws protecting access for
21:46disabled people and that includes access
21:50with assistance animals like guide dogs.
21:54And
21:56still people make assumptions and we
22:00need more allies, more advocates. I was
22:04able to eventually get into the salsa
22:06club because I had allies with me. A
22:10friend was there with me witnessing what
22:12was happening,
22:14supporting my advocacy and explanation
22:17to the salsa club. We had a line of
22:20bystanders watching and witnessing. And
22:23that audience eventually persuaded the
22:26club to let us in.
22:29We need allies. We need people to
22:34to voice, stomp, wave, and advocate in
22:39any way you can for access in all forms,
22:43online and offline.
22:47I'm an advocate for accessibility now. I
22:50was not always an advocate. I used to be
22:53very shy and the idea of standing out of
22:59of making a scene outside a club that
23:02would have been very nerve-wracking.
23:06But I've started to change because I
23:08realized it's not just about me. If I
23:12can make access at this one salsa club,
23:16it could help make things easier for the
23:18next disabled person with service
23:21animal.
23:24I learned that when I was in college, I
23:27went to Louiswis and Clark in Portland,
23:30Oregon.
23:32They'd never had a braille reader
23:33before. I was their first braille
23:35reader.
23:37and they purchased translation software.
23:41They purchased a braille embosser. The
23:44reading specialist trained herself to
23:47convert print to braille.
23:50So all my books were in braille. I got
23:54my exams in braille.
23:57There was just one problem. The
23:59cafeteria menu was only in print.
24:03sighted students could walk in, look at
24:06the menu on the wall, and then go on to
24:08their station of choice.
24:10I couldn't do that, not because of
24:13blindness, but because of the design of
24:16the menu.
24:18So, I went to the manager and I
24:20explained,
24:22"There's a braille embosser on campus.
24:26They've already bought translation
24:29software and if you could send them the
24:32menus ahead of time, they could emboss
24:35the menus for you. And the manager said,
24:39"We're very busy. We don't have time to
24:42do special things for students with
24:44special needs."
24:47Just to be clear, eating is not a
24:50special need.
24:52Everybody needs to eat.
24:56There's this myth that non-disabled
24:58people don't need help, but non-disabled
25:02people have millions of supports all
25:05throughout society.
25:08Just in that college cafeteria, there
25:10were tons of supports. You walk into the
25:13cafeteria and there are chairs all
25:16around the cafeteria.
25:18The schools spent thousands of dollars
25:21on chairs for students who needed to sit
25:25down and didn't bring their own chair.
25:29Students with wheelchairs rolled in with
25:32their own chairs.
25:34They didn't ask the school to buy all
25:37those chairs scattered around the
25:39cafeteria.
25:41So that is an investment
25:44the school made for non-disabled
25:47students to accommodate non-disabled
25:50students. Another example is also in the
25:54cafeteria along the ceiling were lights.
25:58The schools spent money to install
26:01lights for sighted students.
26:04Blind students didn't ask for the
26:07lights. In fact, the school would have
26:10saved money if they turned off the
26:12lathes.
26:14We have so many supports for
26:16non-disabled people. The only difference
26:20between supports for non-disabled people
26:23and supports for disabled people is
26:26ableism.
26:29Once we learn to notice ableism,
26:33we can help in removing it from our
26:36communities.
26:38When I was in college, I was still
26:41figuring out how to do that.
26:45When the manager said no,
26:48I I felt I had to tolerate it. There
26:52were so many things happening in the
26:54world.
26:56Who was I to complain?
26:59At least I was getting an education
27:02when so many blind students don't get
27:05the chance to go to college.
27:07Who was I to complain? Maybe I should
27:11use this as an experience to practice
27:15accepting
27:17that we would always be treated as
27:19secondclass citizens.
27:22I tried to ignore it.
27:25But the problem followed me day after
27:28day, three times a day.
27:31After a few months, I mentioned to my
27:34friends the frustration of not having
27:37access and they told me,
27:40"It's your choice.
27:43We can choose to accept unfairness
27:47or advocate for justice."
27:50I did research online.
27:54I found accessible websites, the
27:57detailed civil rights protections for
28:00students
28:02that helped me gain the information I
28:05needed to go back to the manager and I
28:08told him, "The Americans with
28:10Disabilities Act prohibits
28:12discrimination against students with
28:14disabilities. If you don't provide
28:16access to the menus, I'm gonna take
28:19legal action."
28:22The next day, the manager apologized
28:27and promised to make the menus
28:29accessible. They started emailing them
28:32in formats I could read. And using
28:35email, I could also use my Braille
28:38computer and read the menus.
28:43That was exciting.
28:45Suddenly, I had choices and I can go to
28:47the station that was serving the food I
28:51wanted.
28:52life became delicious.
28:55The next year there was a new blind
28:58student at the college.
29:00He gained access to the menus. My
29:04advocacy even for something small like
29:07menus made a difference. And that taught
29:11me when we advocate
29:14even for seemingly small things, it
29:17still makes a difference in our
29:19communities.
29:21All around the world, there are many
29:24different barriers.
29:26And sometimes we tell ourselves to
29:28tolerate the small things. But when you
29:32take the time to address a small
29:34barrier, you build up your skills to
29:38master the larger obstacles.
29:43I wanted to continue building up my
29:45skills and law school would help me do
29:48that. So, I applied to law schools and I
29:53started hearing back from the school.
29:55Harvard told me, "We've never had a deaf
29:58blind student before." I told them I'd
30:01never been to Harvard before.
30:04They didn't have all the answers, but
30:07they were finally at a point in their
30:09history where they were ready to try.
30:15And the biggest barrier I encountered at
30:19Harvard was ableism.
30:23There are
30:26professors,
30:28technologies
30:29that are only focused on visual access
30:35and don't provide access in other
30:37formats and that needs to change.
30:42So, I
30:46I remember during my first semester, we
30:50were at a networking event and I was
30:54standing at a table with my braille
30:56computer and I asked
30:59like many of the other students there to
31:02be able to connect with other people.
31:05So, my interpreter was looking around
31:07the room and describing what was going
31:09on in the room. It was a job festival
31:13and we had lawyers from the Boston
31:15community there to talk to students. So
31:18to network and tell us about job
31:20opportunities.
31:22I asked my interpreter to help me find
31:27someone an attorney to talk to and he
31:32came over but he didn't want to talk to
31:35me. He only wanted to talk to the
31:38interpreter. He told her, "That is an
31:41amazing dog. Does the dog go to class
31:44with her? That must be a smart dog."
31:48My guide dog was on the floor next to
31:51me. And I explained,
31:54"We have a braille computer and keyboard
31:56on the table. Everything you're saying
31:59is being typed and I'm reading it in
32:01Braille. I know interacting in this way,
32:06meeting a deaf blind person for the
32:08first time may be confusing, but it gets
32:11easier. You can try typing. Do you want
32:13to try typing
32:15again? He would not talk to me. He only
32:18spoke to the interpreter. He told her,
32:21"I've enjoyed watching you two tell her
32:23she's very inspiring."
32:25And he walked away. He was not inspired
32:29to offer me a job.
32:31When a lot of non-disabled people feel
32:34nervous, they call us inspiring.
32:39In that context, it's a mask for pity.
32:43I like inspiring when it's tied to
32:46action.
32:48Someone saying, "I'm inspired to make my
32:51website accessible or I'm inspired to
32:54increase hiring of disabled talent."
32:57That is beautiful inspiration. So if
33:00someone calls me inspiring, I ask, "What
33:04are you inspired to do?" Allow that
33:07emotion to guide you toward action.
33:14I graduated from Harvard Law School and
33:17I have the photo to prove it. Photo,
33:20please.
33:22This is a photo from graduation. Dean
33:25Minnow is handing me my diploma. The
33:28dean and I are wearing academic regalia
33:31and my guide dog is wearing a fancy fur
33:34coat.
33:38After graduation, I found there's still
33:42more ableism even in the legal field and
33:47technologies designed for lawyers and
33:50others in the legal field are
33:54are also having ableism built into their
33:58technology.
34:01It's not just in the legal field, but
34:03it's it's in a lot of our technologies.
34:07I'll I'll share another example, not
34:10specific to law, but something that I
34:14think a lot of us can relate to.
34:19So, because I can't see photos, I
34:23sometimes ask for chat GPT to provide
34:28visual descriptions of photos.
34:32and I had an amazing trip to Italy and I
34:37asked Chibi to describe some photos from
34:41Italy.
34:42Before I share the next slide, I'm going
34:45to describe it a little bit. On one side
34:48of the slide is a photo. On the other
34:51side of the slide is the prompt, the
34:55text of the prompt, and its answer. And
34:58all of that is going to be read in in
35:02the slide through the audio. Next slide.
35:08Describe the image to me.
35:11>> The image shows a woman with long dark
35:13hair and a dog looking at a detailed
35:15scale model of a building that appears
35:17to be St. Peter's Basilica in the
35:19Vatican. The woman is touching the model
35:22which is placed on a table with
35:23anformational plaque in front of it. The
35:26plaque includes text in Italian and
35:28Braille. The scene is set in a museum or
35:32exhibit space with statues visible in
35:34the background. The walls are made of
35:36brick, adding to the historic ambiance
35:39of the room.
35:42That's a pretty good description with
35:45one small problem that foreshadows
35:49what's to come.
35:51On the bottom of the image is a plaque.
35:56It's pretty small, but the description
36:01noticed it. It said there's Italian and
36:04Braille. That's not accurate. Braille is
36:08not a language. Braille is a reading
36:11system. It's a tactile reading system
36:15and it exists in multiple different
36:17languages. There's English braille,
36:20German braille, and Italian braille. I
36:25was able to catch this issue because I
36:29was there at the museum and I could
36:31remember many of the details from my
36:34experience.
36:35So I asked GPT to zoom in on that plaque
36:40on that sign and give me more
36:43information.
36:44And in this next slide, we again have
36:48the prompt and the answer from GPT.
36:53Next slide.
36:54>> Translate the sign for me. The sign
36:57reads
37:08copia carloana
37:11vaticano roma mantiquat
37:13in English it translates to St. Peter's
37:16Basilica scale one bell 100 boxwood with
37:20wood and resin inlays around 1875 to the
37:231880 copy of the model by Carlo Fontana
37:27Vatican City Rome 1694.
37:32So we know the sign is not too small.
37:36GPT is able to read the Italian forward
37:40and backward even translating it to
37:43English. But it's ignoring the braille.
37:47I love braille. I want to focus on the
37:50braille. So I get even more specific
37:53this time and ask for more details. And
37:56again, this next slide will include the
37:59prompt and the answer. Next slide.
38:04>> Translate the braille for me. Sure. Let
38:07me translate the braille for you. The
38:08braille text reads, "Please do not flush
38:11paper towels, sanitary products, etc.
38:13Thank you.
38:16>> That's not what it said.
38:19I was there. I remember that sign. And
38:22that's definitely not what it said.
38:26What I'm getting from this is that GPT
38:29cannot read Braille. It can read
38:33Italian, English, even Swedish, but it
38:38can't read Braille.
38:40Visual description. The dots in the sign
38:43are white dots against a black
38:46background. So there was high contrast.
38:49It would have been a very easy situation
38:51to read it. And it's something we can
38:54teach our machine, our our AI systems to
38:59read, but
39:02the investment, the time, the
39:04prioritization
39:06hasn't happened. And this is one example
39:09of how abbleism shows up in technology.
39:14Now you know and you can help design and
39:18build technologies that are accessible
39:21to everyone. Support the different sign
39:24languages of our world. Support braille
39:28and all the many braille languages we
39:32have in our world.
39:34Uh I should correct that. not braille
39:37languages, but braille representation of
39:41languages from around our world. We're
39:44going to move on to Q&A now, and Glenda
39:49will be reading out loud questions.
39:52I have Gordon here typing what Glenda
39:57says. I'll read it in Braille and
39:59respond by voice. So you might notice a
40:02delay between when Glenda speaks and
40:05when I respond and that's because
40:07communication is coming through and
40:10patience is part of accessibility.
40:13On to you Glenda.
40:15>> Awesome.
40:17Amazing insights how attendees are
40:21loving what you have to say and they
40:25have so many questions here. Here is a
40:29first comment. when you were talking
40:32about disability
40:34being a word we can own,
40:37um, Adam suggested some other wonderful
40:41words that began with dis that are
40:43positive,
40:45including distinguished,
40:48discipline,
40:50disco, and discussion.
40:59>> Yes. Yes, disco is a fun one. Those are
41:04great examples.
41:06We should continue owning our language
41:10and choosing our words. And when people
41:13make arguments, saying, "Oh, disability
41:15should and can only be negative." These
41:19are arguments we can share with them to
41:21explain language evolves. Language is
41:24whatever we want it to be.
41:28Anna asks, "I help cities become more
41:33digitally accessible and most of them
41:36are on board with closed captions, but
41:39something new for them is visual
41:42descriptions for the videos. What are
41:45some ways to incorporate visual
41:48description without the overall task
41:51seeming overwhelming to already
41:54overworked public servants?
42:08So when I post videos, I do captions
42:16on the video. So um so people who are
42:22accessing the videos visually can see
42:25the captions.
42:27The descriptive transcripts though I
42:30usually post either in the body
42:34assoc a body of text associated with the
42:37video or a link that gives people the
42:41full access to the descriptive
42:43transcript. And the descriptive
42:45transcript is a combination of the
42:48captions
42:49and usually people have already created
42:52the captions. So it's easy to copy and
42:55paste those captions, remove the
42:58timestamps
42:59and then weave in the audio
43:02descriptions.
43:05Audio descriptions are descriptions of
43:08the audio that are usually embedded
43:11within the video.
43:14So descriptive transcripts take that or
43:17write that originally and because it's
43:20in a separate transcript you don't have
43:23the time constraints that audio that
43:26audio description has. So you can add in
43:30more descriptions that you weren't able
43:32to fit in the main video. So,
43:35descriptive transcripts
43:39are are fantastic for deaf blind people.
43:44They're great for researchers who want
43:47to be able to quote from a video or need
43:50more time processing video. In many
43:54places, it's hard to to load a video.
43:59Videos take more data. So if someone
44:02can't load a video, they can at least
44:05get the information from a descriptive
44:08transcript.
44:09So you are giving people information in
44:13multiple ways and it's for many of us
44:18it's it's an easier smoother way to
44:21access video content.
44:25>> Thank you.
44:27I think we have time for one more
44:29question.
44:31Lauren asks, "I would love to hear your
44:34thoughts on person first language. Is
44:38disabled person offensive because it
44:41puts the disability before the
44:43personhood or is it simply descriptive?"
44:56A great question.
44:58the this the disability community is
45:01very very diverse. People have different
45:04opinions and that's okay. That's part of
45:07a healthy community is having so many
45:10different perspectives and opinions.
45:14If I can say I am a woman with pride, I
45:20should be able to say I am disabled with
45:23pride. And that is embracing that term.
45:28an an identity.
45:31In person first language, we are putting
45:34the person first before the
45:39and and and re-emphasizing that they're
45:42a person. So instead of saying I am a
45:46woman, I would have to say I am a person
45:49who is a woman, which is longer and more
45:54clunky. It's more direct to just say I'm
45:58a woman.
46:00Same with disabled.
46:02Ultimately, we should be able to talk
46:05about disability in similar terms to the
46:09way we talk about other different
46:12identity groups. We shouldn't have to do
46:15linguistic gymnastics to talk about
46:19disability.
46:21And by 2026,
46:24we should all know disabled people are
46:27people and shouldn't have to keep
46:30reminding ourselves that disabled people
46:33are persons.
46:34So those are some of the arguments for
46:37embracing identity first language
46:41instead of person first language which
46:44can feel longer, more awkward, more
46:48clunky. But we need to embrace all the
46:53different ways people identify. So if
46:56someone tells me they want to be
46:58addressed with person first language,
47:01I'll do that for them. So respect all
47:05the different ways people identify.
47:08>> I love it. Hobin, I suspect that our Axe
47:13Con attendees would like to spend
47:16another hour with you, but we have to be
47:19respectful of your time. So, thank you
47:24so much. You've reminded us that
47:27accessibility is not just about
47:29technology. It really is about people
47:33and lived experiences and the
47:35willingness to remove barriers together.
47:39You've shown us that disability really
47:41can drive innovation and that our acts
47:44of advocacy can create lasting change.
47:49You've reminded us that this work is
47:52deeply collaborative. None of us do it
47:54alone. And to everyone here, thank you.
47:59Thank you for being part of this
48:00community as we continue moving digital
48:03equality forward. Havin, we are so
48:07grateful for your insight, your wit, and
48:10your leadership.
48:12Now to all of you, go carry this energy
48:15into the rest of your day and enjoy
48:18Axecon.

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