• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

COOL BLIND TECH

YOUR SOURCE FOR THE BEST ASSISTIVE TECH NEWS, REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS FROM TOP BLIND AND LOW VISION EXPERTS. AN ENTERTAINING AND TRUSTWORTHY DISCUSSION ON EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

  • Subscribe
  • NEWS
  • Shows
  • How To
  • Apps
  • Reviews
  • CoolMunity
  • Contact
  • About

How a Deaf, Blind Disability Rights Lawyer is Influencing Apple

March 23, 2018 7:24 pm

Disability rights lawyer Haben Girma with The Female Quotient CEO Shelley Zalis and dog Maxine at The Girls' Lounge during SXSW 2018

For Haben Girma, communicating with keyboards is simply a necessity. Girma, 29, is deaf and blind; she was born that way. But none of that prevented her from speaking at two packed panels during South by Southwest last week.

Girma had been part of an official SXSW panel titled, “Y35 W3 C4N: Innovations in Accessibility.” Girma, along with Betsy Furler of Bridging Apps; Richard Ellenson of the Cerebral Palsy Foundation; and Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s accessibility director, spoke about the need for more commitment to accessibility in tech by businesses and entrepreneurs.

“The biggest [issue] is awareness,” Herrlinger said on the panel. “I could go do a presentation in front of 1,000 people about accessibility and people would come up and say you should talk about this more.”

The week prior, Apple had hosted its first in-school coding class for students at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Each of the participants wrote code that helped them fly drones, Austin American-Statesman reported.

Herrlinger told Mashable after the SXSW panel that Apple plans to do more events under its initiative “Everyone Can Code,” which could include Apple stores and more specialized schools. (Apple will be hosting an event in Chicago on education March 27.)

For Girma and Herrlinger, talking about and working directly with accessibility in the tech industry is a part of their daily lives. What they both want is for everyone to be a part of the disability conversation.

Apple has a website dedicated to accessibility. But that doesn’t mean people can easily find the site and may not think it’s achievable or worthwhile to add that type of technology to their code.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE  Vaux Turns Your Echo Dot in to a Portable Battery Powered Device.

“One of the biggest obstacles is the attitude that accessibility is charity. ‘Oh, I’ll deal with it later because we don’t have time.’ Disability tech is an investment in you. All of our bodies change,” Girma said. “Design it with access in mind.”

At SXSW, the tech giants and startups come to show the latest gadgets, such as Bose’s augmented reality sunglasses or Sony’s augmented reality air hockey. Film and TV studios, including HBO’s Westworld, Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Ready Player One, try to impress attendees with experiences.

SXSW can be a visual and audio overload with installations at every corner and local bands playing throughout the week. When speaking at The Girls’ Lounge, an oasis run by The Female Quotient during business conferences, Girma referenced the poster behind her that read, “Confidence is beautiful.”

Girma explained that when she walks into a new space she often has her interpreter tell her, via text, what the room looks like. In the case of The Girls’ Lounge, that included the feminist posters on the back wall.

  • Share via Twitter
  • Share via Facebook
  • Share via Google
  • Share via Email
  • Share via Reddit
  • Share via LinkedIn
Advertisements

About Nelson Régo

Nelson Régo is the owner and founder of the Cool Blind Tech website since November of 2012. Nelson launched the first show on March 14, 2013. He also directs the website as a whole, hiring staff, originating new shows, and approving all content.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

FEATURED PODCASTS!

CBT Logo

Are These iQ Podz the AirPods Killer?

Cool Blind Tech logo

Spotlight with Gilles Pepin – CEO of HumanWare

Turning On VoiceView and Setting Up Fire 7 Tablet 7th Generation

CBT Logo

Braille Mail: The Sequel to the Prequel

CBT Logo

Google Home Mini for the First Time

More...

  • Google Pixel 2 XL Unboxing Day
  • VIP: Get a Good Dongle
  • Ultimate Ears ROLL 2: Designed to Take Your Music Where it Shouldn’t Go!
  • Diving Into GarageBand Part 3
  • Diving Into GarageBand Part 2
  • Diving Into GarageBand
  • Monster Adventurer Bluetooth Speaker Drop Test!
  • Victor Reader Stream New Generation First Impressions
  • Essential PH-1, A Premium Phone Without the Premium Price
  • Fanmail: November 27, 2017
  • VIP: Moving On Up with BCAB
  • New Gestures and Button Controls for the iPhone X Using VoiceOver
  • Setting Up the iPhone X with VoiceOver
  • The New iPhone X Unboxing and First Impressions
  • VIP: How To Unbutton the Google Assistant Button
  • Bubble Level: Creative Ways in Balancing Your Home
  • Fanmail: October 25,2017
  • Cranking Up the Volume on the iPhone 8 Plus!
  • VIP: The Naked Truth About Pixels
  • Wireless Charging Comparison for the New iPhone
  • Realtime Speed Test! iPhone 8 Plus vs the iPhone 7 Plus
  • Reviewing the Braille Coach, a perfect companion to a label maker
  • New Siri Voices on the iPhone 8 Plus
  • Fanmail: October 6, 2017
  • Spotlight with Kirk Adams: President and CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind
  • iPhone 8 Plus Unboxing
  • Belkin Boost Up Wireless Charging Pad Unboxing
  • Mophie Wireless Charging Base Unboxing
  • Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE Unboxing
  • VIP: Picking Apple Watches from Jeff’s Tree
  • Cool Picks: September 19, 2017
  • VIP: Hey Google, Get Off My Lawn
  • Fanmail: September 16, 2017
  • Cool Picks: September 12, 2017
  • VIP: We are Taking You to the Movies
  • Fanmail: September 6, 2017
  • Cool Picks: September 5, 2017
  • VIP: It’s Better to Look Good Than to Feel Good
  • Cool Picks: August 29, 2017
  • VIP: The Braille Bananza!
  • Cool Picks: August 22, 2017
  • VIP: Those Who CeekTechnology, Shall FindTechnology
  • Spotlight with James Teh: Former Director at NVAccess
  • VIP: If I Had a Hammer
  • Cool Picks: August 8, 2017
  • VIP: Keeping it Clean
  • Fanmail: August 2, 2017
  • VIP: Happy 1 Million Birthday!
  • Spotlight On LoganTech: Opening Doors Through Braille and Communication for All
  • Cool Picks: July 27, 2017
  • VIP: Hands Free Podcasting
  • Cool Picks: July 20, 2017
  • Spotlight On Embro: Travel Like A Pro with the Walk Pro
  • CBT Live! Partying it up with the Braille Sense Polaris
  • VIP: Getting Back to Work
  • Artificial Intelligence and Text Recognition unite in Microsoft’s Seeing Ai iPhone App
  • Cool Picks: July 12, 2017
  • Spotlight ON Right-Hear: Indoor Navigation Made Accessible One Spot At a Time
  • CBT Live! Giving People Information with Innovative Products That Change Lives Every Day
  • CBT Live! Megastore for the Blind and Low Vision
  • CBT Live! Talking Between the Sheets with Distinctive Beddings
  • VIP: Drawing the Short Straw
  • Unboxing and Setting up the Aira Glasses for the Visually Impaired
  • Cool Picks: July 5,2017
  • Spotlight On Computers for the Blind: Nobody Should Go Without Access To Technology
  • VIP: Let’s Go To the Movies!
  • Cool Picks: June 28, 2017
  • Accessibility Settings in iOS 11 Beta
  • Spotlight with Stephen Ewell: Executive Director of the CTA Foundation
  • Now Available In Narrator! AI-tagged Image Descriptions
  • Introduction to TWBlue
  • VIP: Let Me See You Work It!
  • Customizable Control Center on iOS 11 Beta
  • Cool Picks: June 19, 2017
  • VIP: Let Me Change Your Mind
  • Cool Picks: June 11, 2017
  • Enhanced Siri on iOS 11 Beta
  • VIP: Recapping Apple’s 2017 World Wide Developers Conference
  • Cool Picks: June 8, 2017
  • Cool Tip: How to: Make an iPhone Ringtone Using Reaper with Help from GoldWave
  • Spotlight with Brad Turner: VP of Global Literacy at Benetech
  • Protecting Your Computer from Viruses and Threats
  • VIP: A Is for Apple, B Is for Braille
  • Cool Picks: May 31, 2017
  • VIP: In With the New, Out With the Old
  • Android O: New Accessibility Features in TalkBack 6.0.0.
  • Cool Picks: May 21, 2017
  • VIP: Are You Ready for Prime Time?
  • Cool Picks: May 15, 2017
  • Spotlight Interview with Andrew Lahart: Head of Accessibility, Enablement, and Competency at IBM
  • VIP: Can’t Touch This! Hands-Free Tech Meets Fashion, and More!
  • Cool Picks: May 1, 2017
  • VIP: From Biotech to Personalized Assistants, To frying Up Cookies
  • Cool Picks: April 24,2017
  • VIP: Beaming Directly in to Your Brain
  • Cool Picks: April 16, 2017
  • Spotlight with iMerciv: Creators of the BuzzClip
  • VIP: I Got a Feeling Somebody’s Watching Me
  • Cool Picks: April 10, 2017
  • A Demonstration of the Google Home Voice Activated Speaker

TOP TRENDING!

  • Cloverbit Creates Audio Game for the Blind
  • New Stem cell Therapy is Now FDA Compliant in the United States
  • ELIA Launches Kickstarter Campaign for Tactile Reading System
  • Korean Company Makes Braille Socks for the Visually Impaired
  • Leading Accessible blood glucose Meter Pulled from Market
  • Walkity Uses Haptic Feedback On Your Feet to Notify You the Direction While Walking
  • Are Autonomous Vehicles Ready to Help the Blind?
  • Visually Impaired Woman Designs a Buggy That Has Technology Used in Self-Driving Cars
  • Google AI Can Pick Out Your Voice by Looking at Faces
  • Former CBT Team Member Remembers Broncos Hockey Player as Humble, Honest, Hard-Working

LISTEN TO CBT Live from Studio 5 Friday Mornings at 9:00 AM ET

Read More

📱

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Email
  • Subscribe via RSS

BROWSE…

ARCHIVES……

Copyright © 2018 · Cool Blind Tech Inc. · All rights reserved.