Interactive Accessibility

South Fork Bakery only hires people with special needs and is the only bakery of its kind on Long Island. Shirley talks about what inspired her to start the bakery in 2016, and her employees Scott and Sarah chat about how working for the bakery has made an impact on their lives. Scott admits that even though their chocolate chip cookies are one of the items he makes every week, he has not tried one in the five years he has worked there!

Mark Miller, the host, and his producer Marissa speak with Steve Sawczyn, Principal Digital Accessibility Engineer at Optum (part of UnitedHealth Group). Steve talks about how, although “It’s a great time to be blind,” he still runs into accessibility challenges that can be mildly embarrassing (how do you ask someone to tell you if you’re standing six feet away from them to abide by social distancing rules?) to potentially dangerous (information on Covid-19 is overwhelmingly found online, ideally on accessible websites). The three discuss Steve’s favorite aspect of working in accessibility, the innovation mindset, and how different accommodations for individuals with disabilities have ended up creating a better experience for all users.

Mark Miller, the host, and his colleague Todd Waites speak with Jeff Steinberg, an entertainer/ministry singer/speaker/author/motivational entertainer and ADA consultant. Jeff elaborates on how he likes to focus on positivity during his motivational speaking events, describing how optimism helped him through his challenging childhood. Todd opens up about becoming as a one-armed keyboard player and Jeff lets it slip how he likes to flaunt political correctness by standing up for himself as a person with a disability. How he never sees his life as handicapped, so why should he dwell on things he doesn’t have?

Mark Miller, the host, his producer Marissa, and colleague Todd Waites, chat with Morten Bonde, senior art director at LEGO. Morten describes a stressful 14-year phase during which his eyesight deteriorated due to retinitis pigmentosa and he couldn’t bring himself to accept what was happening. He recounts his “death” of who he was before he embraced his visual impairment and who he transformed into, after months of dedicated meditation and self-improvement training. Morten also discusses how his role at LEGO changed after he openly disclosed his condition and what gave him the motivation to write a book about his experience.

Though he was born with spina bifida, a defect of the spinal cord that made it impossible for him to walk with the assistance of crutches, Aaron "Wheelz" Fotheringham soon found that his wheelchair could do a lot more than just get him from point A to B. Mark and Aaron chat about what inspired Aaron to start using his wheelchair as a surrogate skateboard, and how his mindset of making the most of what he was given has enabled him to live his life to the fullest.

Mark Miller, host of the IAP, and Todd Waites, Head of Business Development at TPG, chat with Sha Yao, the entrepreneur behind the assistive tableware products, EatWell. Sha’s inspiration came from her grandmother, who had Alzheimer’s, and the trouble she encountered when trying to feed herself. Sha, Mark, and Todd all discuss her background as an industrial designer and the research she conducted herself to create her products, as well as her vision for the future of her company.

Rebecca Bridges is a project manager at The Paciello Group who also happens to be blind. She and Mark and his co-hosts discuss how COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into her already challenging life and how she's coping.

The host, Mark Miller, talks with Karen McCall, who currently works for Open Access Technologies, a company that helps make documents accessible. Their discussion emphasizes the very real dangers of an inaccessible internet and covers the multitude of ways Karen (who is legally blind) has been impacted by COVID-19.

Mark Miller, the host, and Marissa Sapega, podcast producer, speak with Tony DePalma about the many ways COVID-19 has significantly impacted people with disabilities.

Victor regales the host, Mark Miller, with vignettes on how he and his team work to accommodate the almost one million people with disabilities living in New York City in all boroughs...

Mark chats with Kevan Chandler, a non-profit founder, author, and adventurer to the core.

Joe Devon joins Mark for his second appearance on the Interactive Accessibility podcast to discuss the history of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) and how the landscape of accessibility has changed since GAAD’s inception, over eight years ago.

Mark interviews Peter Slatin, former Editorial Director of Real Capital Analytics and current head of Slatin Group.

Mark has a lively discourse with Susan C. Robinson about her inspiring Ted Talk (How I fail at being disabled), the mindset of viewing a “disability” as an opportunity to develop unique and innovative skills, and her utter disregard for the term “disabled.”

Mark chats with Maura Horton, founder and CEO of MagnaReady, an adaptive clothing line that uses magnets in place of buttons and zippers.

Mark chats with Elaine Katz from the Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability

Mark and Derek speak with Mick Ebeling, founder and CEO of Not Impossible Labs, where the emphasis is on technology for the sake of humanity.

Mark and Derek interview Daniel Castro, VP of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Earlier this year ITIF published a report benchmarking federal and government sites on eight factors including accessibility, security, and mobile friendliness, among others. All three discuss the results of the study as well as reasons for the wide variabilities between the state ratings. The podcast concludes with Daniel’s broad recommendation to states for improving the accessibility of their websites.

Mark chats with Sassy Outwater-Wright, director of the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. They discuss such topics as the need to support people with multiple disabilities and the right way to approach a conversation focusing on the concerns of people with disabilities. Sassy talks about the mission of MABVI and how it impacts the lives of the visually impaired people it supports.

Mark introduces two new podcast hosts (Todd Waites and Derek Bove) and one producer (Marissa Sapega) from Interactive Accessibility’s parent company, The Paciello Group. Todd discusses his experience living with only one arm but explains why he has never considered it a disability. All three talk about how they got into the field of accessibility, which leads to a discussion on National Disability Employment Awareness Month.