Is accessible technology the great equalizer?
What we talked about
Michael Hess is the Founder and Executive Director of the Blind Institute of Technology (BIT), which he founded in 2013 to reduce the high unemployment rate among the blind and visually impaired community by bridging the gap between talented candidates and employers. Visually impaired himself, he came from a deep telecom and engineering background (Qwest, Level 3 Communications, switch engineering, COBOL) and makes the business case that technology, and accessible technology in particular, is the greatest equalizer for people with disabilities.
Key takeaways
- Accessible technology is the greatest equalizer for people with disabilities.
- The business case for WCAG accessibility is less than 3% extra development effort for up to 15% more revenue.
- Roughly 15% of the world identifies with a disability, so inclusive design reaches a large untapped market.
- Modern JavaScript frameworks often undo the accessibility that native HTML already has built in.
- The easiest accessibility fixes developers can make today are also the most common ones they miss.
- The Blind Institute of Technology has certified and employed people with disabilities on four continents.
Show notes
Michael Hess spent over 20 years in telecom and switch engineering before founding the Blind Institute of Technology in 2013, naming it after the binary bit. Visually impaired himself, he argues that technology is the greatest equalizer for people with disabilities, and makes a hard business case for accessibility: less than 3% additional development effort can unlock up to 15% additional revenue.
Related listening from the show: Jonathan Hernandez on ethics, cybersecurity, and human dignity, JJ Friedman on engineering leadership in the AI era, and Alex Treiner on an engineer’s startup saga.
What we covered
- Why he walked away from a deep telecom and engineering career at Qwest and Level 3 to start a nonprofit, and where the idea for the Blind Institute of Technology came from.
- Why technology is the greatest equalizer for people with disabilities, and what it does for his community that nothing else can.
- The business case for WCAG accessibility: less than 3% extra development effort for up to 15% more revenue, since roughly 15% of the world identifies with a disability, and why most companies still miss it.
- From a technical standpoint, the most common and easiest fixes developers could make today, and how modern JavaScript frameworks often undo the accessibility that native HTML already has built in.
- How BIT has helped people with disabilities on four continents get certified and employed, and the plan to expand into Latin America.
- How AI is changing the landscape for people with disabilities, and what we need to get right so it helps rather than excludes.
About Michael
Michael Hess is the Founder and Executive Director of the Blind Institute of Technology, which he founded in 2013 to reduce unemployment among the blind and visually impaired community. He brings over 20 years of experience in telecommunications and technology, has been appointed by the Governor of Colorado to the Workforce Development Council, and was recognized with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Business Award.
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhess-9a4a826
- Website: https://blindinstituteoftechnology.org
Episode 162 of the PreVetted Podcast.
Full transcript
See the full v2 transcript in [[pipeline/Michael Hess]].
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