13 Letters

Colleges and universities are proving grounds for digital and physical accessibility. With disabled students living on their own in many cases for the first time, these institutions need to be fully compliant, ADA literate, and not just accessible, but highly accommodating –– and if they're not, students are left out. With the cost of education on the rise and remote learning now a norm,, many are taking a hard look at college and asking if it's even the right path for them. Therefore, we need our institutions of higher education to be more accessible and inclusive than ever. In this episode, Will and Cordelia sit down with accessibility leaders from the University of California, Harvard and the University of Cincinnati to hear about where they're at in their accessibility journey and what they're doing to make sure everyone can get a good college education.

Here at 13 Letters, we talk a lot about inclusive design and accessibility – but these terms mean nothing if we don't keep in mind the stories of the listeners who are most affected by bad design and most assisted by good design. That's why we're starting a new feature called "Meet the Letterheads," where we introduce you to a 13 Letters listener whose life is highly impacted by accessibility and everything surrounding it. Paul Parravano is the co-director of Government and Community Relations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has been blind since birth. Listen in as he shares stories about everything from growing up in mainstream schools to meeting Andrea Bocelli. And tune in next week for a full new season of 13 Letters!

This week on 13 Letters – we take you to the land down under. Sarah Pulis and Andrew Arch are big names in a vibrant and thriving accessibility scene in Australia. Hailing from Sydney and Melbourne, respectively, the two live and breath accessibility at Intopia, a digital accessibility consultancy that Sarah co-founded. You may have seen Andrew and Sarah giving presentations at CSUN, at A11yBytes meetups frequented by Aussie accessibility enthusiasts, or on the web; they're known informally as the “dynamic duo” of all things WCAG. Ultimately, despite all the hats they wear, Sarah and Andrew consider themselves accessibility practitioners. This episode is a great opportunity to get down and dirty with a11y, also known as digital accessibility, and talk about how our favorite companies (ahem.. Zencastr) can seize the opportunity to make their web presences accessible to everyone.

Accessibility is for everyone – not just people with disabilities. That’s why Jennison Asuncion and Joe Devon put their heads together almost ten years ago to conceive of an accessibility awareness day that has quickly turned into a global phenomenon. Cordelia and Will sat down with the co-founders of #GAAD this week, on the occasion of the 9th annual day, to talk about how the event got started, their proudest moments as co-founders, what they love (and what they don't love) about #GAAD, and so much more.

For full coverage of Be My Eyes’ GAAD 2020 initiatives, visit http://bemyeyes.com/gaad.

Accessibility expert Adrian Roselli comes on the show to share his story, and talk about the questionable implications of the now-popular “accessibility overlay.”