Driving Accessibility Forward: 5 Insights from Meryl Evans on Innovation & Inclusivity

Meryl Evans is a true leader in the world of accessibility and inclusive marketing. As a speaker, consultant, and CEO of meryl.net, she's been a fierce advocate for disability inclusion, challenging the notion that this is a “nice to have” rather than a “need to have”. With her unique perspective as a Deaf individual and her wealth of experience working with companies to improve their accessibility practices, Meryl brings a powerful and authentic voice to the conversation around inclusive design and marketing.

In this episode of The Buzz podcast by Nagish, I dove deep with Meryl, exploring her personal journey with hearing loss and her tireless work to make the business world more inclusive. Our interview provides a holistic look at accessibility, covering everything from the importance of involving people with disabilities in product development to the potential of emerging technologies to create a more inclusive future. Through her insights and examples, Meryl paints a compelling picture of what true accessibility looks like – and why it matters for businesses of all sizes. She challenges listeners to think beyond the bare minimum and embrace inclusion as a core value that permeates every aspect of their work.

If you're looking to expand your understanding of accessibility and gain practical strategies for making your own business more inclusive, check out the full conversation above.

Here is a peak at our conversation highlighting the need to advance accessibility and inclusion through targeted efforts, technology innovation, and a progress-over-perfection mindset:

1. Prioritizing Inclusive Product Development

Achieving true accessibility in products and services requires a commitment to involving people with disabilities at every stage of the development process. As Meryl Evans explains:

"The most important and most common [mistake] for companies is not involving people with disabilities from the beginning of the product. Startups and inventors tend to bring disabled people in after they've created the product. And it's not a one-time thing. Feedback needs to be ongoing, from the start, from the middle, from after."

By actively seeking input from individuals with diverse needs and experiences, companies can ensure that their offerings are usable and inclusive from the ground up. This approach not only results in better products but also demonstrates a genuine commitment to serving the disability community.

2. Embracing Accessibility as a Company-Wide Effort

Creating an accessible and inclusive environment is not solely the responsibility of product development teams. As Meryl emphasizes, it requires buy-in and contribution from every department:

"Accessibility is everybody's job, everyone, not just the product development and web development team, everybody. Marketing included because they can make their content accessible. Not everything's technical."

By recognizing that accessibility touches all aspects of a business, from marketing materials to customer support, companies can foster a culture that values and prioritizes inclusion. This holistic approach ensures that the needs of people with disabilities are considered at every touchpoint, creating a more welcoming and equitable experience.

3. Harnessing Innovative Technologies for Accessibility

Emerging technologies like mixed reality and speech-to-text have the potential to revolutionize accessibility, but only if inclusion is baked into their development from the start. Meryl highlights the promise of Apple's Vision OS as an example:

"I'm excited about Apple's Vision OS, which is their mixed reality headset, even though it's out of my price range. The reason I'm excited about it is because it's being built with accessibility. Apple added the tools to make it accessible. It's up to the developers and the companies to take advantage of that."

By prioritizing accessibility features and tools during the development of cutting-edge technologies, companies can ensure that these innovations benefit everyone, regardless of their abilities. This inclusive approach not only expands the market for these products but also drives meaningful progress toward a more accessible future.

4. Confronting Bias in AI and Machine Learning

As AI and machine learning become increasingly prevalent, it's crucial to recognize and address the potential for these technologies to perpetuate harmful biases. Meryl illustrates this issue with an example of how stereotypes can manifest in training data:

"AI bias comes from the data that people put in, and people have those stereotypes... When people think of ADHD, they think of a male issue. But I have three children, two males and one female, and they all have ADHD."

To mitigate bias, companies must prioritize diverse and representative data when training AI models. By actively seeking out and incorporating data that reflects the experiences of marginalized communities, we can work towards building AI systems that are more equitable and inclusive.

5. Navigating the Nuances of Disability Language

Language around disability is complex and constantly evolving, making it essential to approach terminology with nuance and respect for individual preferences. As Meryl points out:

"We've got to respect a person's choice. But we cannot talk about general people and say deaf and hearing impaired. We need to say deaf and hard of hearing. That's the compromise. We need to stay away from words like impaired whenever we can, but there will be times it will come into play because someone prefers that."

By staying attuned to the preferences of the disability community and striving to use inclusive language, we can foster more respectful and empowering conversations. This requires a willingness to listen, learn, and adapt our language as our understanding evolves.