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.