Alisa Smith/Scott Hammerstrom: Digital Accessibility Training

Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone, welcome to the show, to everyone in the United States and around the world. Hey, special shout out to my close friend Richard Roberts in Brazil. Now, Richard is with the State Department, but he is also— I'm not kidding you— disability rights leader. Love him. Gan Yang Cho in Seoul, South Korea, you know I love you also. Keep fighting the fight. To Cheryl Harris right here in the United States. Cheryl, Thank you for being so supportive. Venyamin in Kazakhstan and all the people in all the countries I've been to. The State Department is doing so much to really help me spread the news of quality of life for people with disabilities around the world. Thank you so much. Special shout out, Yoshiko Dart, I will never forget you. Yoshiko, lead on. Yoshiko, lead on. I want to have a special thanks to our sponsor, Highmark. I don't know if you heard it, but just a couple weeks ago, January 3rd, the CEO of Highmark, David Holmberg, was on the show. He was Awesome. So go back, go to my website, benderconsult.com, go to voiceamerica.com, or go to Spotify podcast Disability Matters with Joyce Bender on voiceamerica.com. So today I have Alyssa Smith, the Accessibility Evangelist. Boy, do I love that title. That is so good. Accessibility evangelist at AudioEye. And Scott Hammerstrom, who I frequently call Kang, but today we'll call him the manager of programs and partnerships for the Bender Leadership Academy. Welcome to the show, Alyssa and Scott. Scott, Love having you with us today.

Thank you.

Thank you, Joyce, for— yeah, for having me on the show. And congratulations on your 20th anniversary of the radio show.

Oh, thank you. And thank you so much. And thank you to all of the listeners. Can you believe it? 20 years. Thank you all, or I wouldn't be here doing the show. Uh, and Alyssa, I've got to tell you, I love working with AudioEye. Love this company, and I'm so excited to have you as our guest. So, would you mind first sharing your story? Because, you know, as you just heard, we have listeners around the world, across the country, and my listeners always like to know about the person first. So, would you mind, like, talking about yourself, you know, how you got started, where you grew up, what you're doing now.

Sure, of course. It's such a pleasure to be here. Thank you so much for having me. I grew up in the Northeast. I was born in Connecticut, which was a wonderful place to grow up. I moved to Georgia around the time the Olympics came to Georgia. Which there was a big influx of people at that time to the Atlanta area. And that's actually when I started to learn the technical aspects of accessibility. I wanted to teach myself HTML. It seemed like a fun thing to do. I was a stay-at-home mom, and I wanted to share my son and my interests and things with other people. Most of all my family who was far away. So I sort of accidentally stumbled upon some accessibility parameters when I was learning using the HTML validator from the W3C. And we're talking, you know, back in the '90s, right after the ADA had passed and the internet was becoming something that was a little bit more than, you know, sort of an edge case. It was something that people were actually starting to pay a little bit more attention to. So over time, as I became more interested in the technology, I began to look at this hobby as maybe more of a job. And so I became a technical support agent at a small internet service provider and then a webmaster at that same service provider, eventually becoming a user interface engineer. So that's when accessibility really became part of my day-to-day. I started at a financial services technology company in the early 2000s. and we were making bill pay software. And the clients had requested accessibility updates because ADA lawsuits that had been targeting banks were more prevalent. So I would say about over the next 10 to 15 years, that really became my sole goal. I moved from development to a strategic contributor, creating a community of practice at that company to implement accessibility across their design and their development and quality assurance function. Uh, and then in 2017, I met the AudioEye Atlanta team. They invited me to their Global Accessibility Awareness Day event. I was absolutely taken with them, and I really made it my mission to work with a group of people like them They were kind and talented accessibility professionals really focusing on a scalable accessibility solution. Where I was in my little corner of the financial services world, I was affecting our clients, but it was just a small subset of the internet. So by the fall of 2017, I started as Director of Quality Assurance at AudioEye.

That is amazing how you were intrigued from the beginning and turned this into a life's work. That, that is really amazing. I've got to tell you, that is an amazing story. And now that you are at AudioEye as the accessibility evangelist, and I see why you have that title, how about if you share with our listeners AudioEye, like what do they do? What is AudioEye? And then after you explain that, like, what are some of the services?

Sure, sure. So AudioEye is a software-as-a-service company. We provide software and services that combine to a comprehensive accessibility solution for your digital assets. We have automation that acts on your website to find and fix and monitor its accessibility every time a page is viewed. We have a team of certified experts who provide manual testing and bug fixes in concert with that automation so that we can make not only websites but also digital documents as accessible as possible. So we do that You know, as I said, through a combination of things, we have our automations, which has about 400-ish results that we can share with our clients to help them understand what issues of accessibility they have on their website and the issues that AudioEye fixed. Maybe there are one or two things that are source feedback that the client has to fix, so we make sure we talk to them about that too and give them tips and tricks on how to fix those. And then we also offer other ancillary services like foundational accessibility training, mobile app auditing, like that.

Wow, that, that's pretty across the board, pretty comprehensive, and certainly needed today since I heard Tony Coelho speaking, talking about how 98% of websites are not accessible. And every time I talk to a company, they'll say, "Oh yeah, we're accessible." And it ends up, no, they aren't. But I guess that's because, you know, it's not a full understanding of what accessibility means across the board. But Scott, um, how about if you talk about— and Scott is with the Bender Leadership Academy. What is your role and what are the programs and the mission of the academy?

Ah, thank you, Joyce. I am the, the manager of programs and partnerships for Bender Leadership Academy, so I'm responsible for all the programs, any special events, initiatives, and the development for the organization. And I've been with Bender Leadership Academy Full-time, I guess, since 2020. But Joyce, I've been working with you and Bender Consulting since 2007. But my passion is helping young people with disabilities and get them ready for the world of work. And that's what we do. That's our mission is to get students with disabilities ready for the world of work. So we have numerous programs that do just that. So we have a student leaders program. We have a work readiness program. We have an advanced student leaders program. And of course, we have a Digital Access at Work program. So the students learn various amounts of different things from empowerment, resume building, interviewing skills, public speaking, independence. We put in there healthy mind habits, advocacy, community engagement, and so much more. Our goal is for our students to be very well well-rounded student and ready for the world of work. And, you know, we are partnering up with the Pittsburgh CLO. We're going to be having some classes where our students will be taught the arts, and that's going to be coming up in March. And a lot of fun and different things that we'll be doing throughout 2023.

Oh, that is awesome. And you were talking about preparing people for the world of work. I have some exciting news. I know that in a minute, Scott, we're going to be talking about, after the break, about digital access at work and how that influenced someone in reference to our partnership with AudioEye. And we'll talk about that as soon as we come back. You just joined us. We're talking to Alyssa Smith, accessibility evangelist at AudioEye, and Scott Hammerstrom, manager of programs and partnerships at the Bender Leadership Academy. We'll be right back. Don't go away.

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Are you currently receiving SSDI or SSI and wanting to work? Did you know there is a free Social Security program called Ticket to Work to help you try work without risking your benefits? My Employment Options is an authorized SSA Employment Network specializing in work-at-home and local job placement in 47 states. Our clients receive a personal counselor to help find the best job fit and staff-certified benefits counselor for help with Ticket to Work protections. Ready to try working? Apply for free job placement help at myemploymentoptions.com.

Since 1985, Bender Consulting Services has served as a national leader in advancing employment of people with disabilities, including veterans with disabilities, with private sector companies and federal government agencies. Bender assists customers with achieving their diversity and workforce inclusion initiatives by tapping into a talent pool of individuals seeking professional positions, including those in the STEM fields. In addition, Bender Services include disability employment consulting, training, and technology accessibility through their HI-TEST line of service. For more information, please visit www.benderconsult.com.

Get the news on our shows and other happenings by following us on Twitter. Find us @VoiceAmericaTrn or twitter.com/VoiceAmericaTrn. Voice America, TRN. You're listening to Disability Matters. If you have a question or comment, call in toll-free at 1-866-472-5788. That's 1-866-472-5788. Now, please welcome back the host of Disability Matters. Here's Joyce Bender.

Hey, welcome back, everyone. We're talking to Alisa Smith, Accessibility Evangelist at AudioEye, and Scott Hammerstrom, Manager of Programs and Partnerships at the Bender Leadership Academy. I have to tell you, Scott and I have something in common, and that is our love and passion for the students in the Bender Leadership Academy. I mean, it's really like a gift to me. After you're with these students, you feel, wow, what a great thing. Scott, do you feel like that?

Oh, totally agree. Our student leaders class, for example, we have 7 classes and the progress that they make from class 1 to graduation on class number 7. It's just amazing and just in awe of these students and how much they learn and grow and get that confidence from the class.

Well, I have some special news to tell you. Today was one of those classes where each of the students give a speech because I'm very big about teaching public speaking. I feel after you learn how to speak publicly, you'll be a better interviewer, you'll communicate better, and it builds confidence. So today, all the students, they each gave a speech on initiative. And when we got to this one young lady, she says, you know, I try to show initiative at work. I love technology and accessibility. And I said, wait, hold on a minute, hold on. You must, Angelina, have gone through our Digital Access at Work. She said, yes, I have. And she went on the interview with the internship with AudioEye. And here's what I want to tell you. She said, going through Digital Access at Work helped influence me on my career choice. How about that?

Accessibility. That is incredible. And she was on, like you mentioned, our— we had a webinar, Alicia was on there, and she is a high school student with disabilities. I think she's a junior. But one of the things that blew us away, that she said she loves bug reports. You know, very technical and just blew us away. Is that right, Alicia?

Yes, yes.

We—

it was a delight to meet Angelina, as well as the other students. But yes, she showed a special affinity for wanting to report bugs. And we love that enthusiasm.

I mean, but how about that this impacted her so much that now that's the direction she's taking, wants to pursue in her career. I mean, when I told that to a couple members of our leadership team, they said, "I hope you're going to tell that on the show today." And I said, "Of course I'm going to." I mean, it's so awesome. And when I told them, by the way, specifically her, that AudioEye was on the show today. She's so excited. I mean, she's gonna go listen to this show, um, and she's either gonna listen to it live or on demand. So wherever it is, Angelina, thinking about you. Great job. Lead on. Keep working in this area. Just so excited when she told me that. So, Scott, how about if we talk about that, about the partnership with AudioEye and also what is Digital Access at Work?

Oh, absolutely. We are so excited to be partnering up with AudioEye. But first, I want to start with what Digital Access at Work is. It's designed to teach digital accessibility understanding and testing skills to students with disabilities. So we've already— we started this in 2020, in the summer of 2021. And then we did one in the summer of 2022. So we've had two different classes. But this year we are partnering with AudioEye to provide Vendor Leadership Academy alumni with employment and networking opportunities as part of AudioEye Alliance program, which offers individuals with disabilities various employment opportunities, including website accessibility, testing, quality assurance, and training. So it's a perfect place for vendor students who have an interest in digital access at work to practice the skills that they learn in that that program so they can gain professional experience and build those connections that could lead to more opportunities.

Oh, that is so exciting. That is wonderful. I just want to say again, AudioEye, I endorse this company and product, and you know how I am about this. Takes a lot for me to say that. A great company, a great product, and look what they're like. Doesn't this say it all that they're doing this partnership with, with us, which I think is so awesome. And I want to also— yeah, I want to also mention that you probably may be talking about this, but Alyssa, Digital Access at Work. Will create employment for people with disabilities. And I also wonder if you could talk for a minute about the gig economy and how that could also, you know, be a way till someone gets going that they have this opportunity.

Sure. So what we really wanted to do here is, you know, as you are well aware, Joyce Bender and Scott Shuler, you know, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is skyrocketing. It is twice as high as the national average. And that's not going to change unless, you know, we find some way to create some opportunities. We're looking to create those opportunities for people with disabilities with them in mind in a way that they can create their own destiny, as it were. We ensure that the programs that we're creating for our Alliance group are barrier-free for people who use assistive technology. We ensure that they can work independently if they choose to, or with a moderator if that is more desirable. Uh, we are really interested in welcoming these graduates because we understand that not everybody can, um, work on a 9-to-5 schedule. We all have lives, we all have other things going on, and we want to be as flexible as possible. So what we do with the Alliance opportunities is ensure that folks can self-serve if that's what they want to do. We also make sure that we pay a competitive rate so that people are making real money, being compensated just as somebody who is a professional in this— you know, in our— I was going to say disability employment, but really around accessibility employment. We are anticipating bringing on folks from the Digital Access at Work program because they already have some of the skills built in, but we also can give them a welcoming place to grow.

And there are people today that until they get work experience, A company will call them and say, hey, we have this small project for X amount of hours for you to work on, which all is part of this new gig economy that is impacting so many people, especially in IT, or people that have retired, not just in IT now, you know, in different areas where someone maybe is looking for some project, whether it's accounting or wherever, for X amount of time. They put their resume out there and people are calling them. And I'm thinking until you get experience, this is all something, you know, you could do with AudioEye that would give experience to the person until you have, for example, a full-time opportunity, which is what I would prefer for our students to work for a great company like AudioEye will be such an honor for them. Scott, how about you? How do you think digital access at work will impact creating employment for people with disabilities?

Yeah, I mean, just with our two classes, just to get the excitement of a few people who want to change their career because of this, because they're learning about this, it just is so exciting. And, you know, when you have students with disabilities, high school or college, or, you know, we have some students or people who were in a class who work, With this gig economy, they can— they're going to get paid. They can do it on their own time, as much or little as possible, and get additional training. I think it's— and you mentioned it, what, 98% of the websites you said are not accessible. That's going to be a big demand moving forward because you see more and more companies are trying to make their websites accessible. So I think this is just a wonderful career opportunity, and for our students to get some of that knowledge and the experience is only going to help them.

Yeah, I agree. You know, that technical experience, you cannot beat this with the, as you said, incoming opportunities as websites must be accessible. And I know Senator Tammy Duckworth is working on that right now, so I'm all excited about that. So, Alissa, explain what AudioEye Alliance is and how the students from Digital Access at Work can benefit from participating in this.

Sure, sure. So, our— what we were really looking to do with AudioEye Alliance is to build a community of people with disabilities who want to actively contribute to AudioEye's mission, which is to eradicate all barriers to digital accessibility. So we offer opportunities for folks to contribute through a variety of paid activities, as I mentioned. So one of the things we do are moderated sessions where the end user, in this case it would be a Digital Access at Work student, would get together with us one-on-one. We would do a website audit together, like in a Zoom meeting, screen share. And we would press on certain areas of the website to make sure that either AudioEyes automation has done what we expect it to do, or that our manual fixes from our developers are performing optimally. Another way they can contribute is through doing independent site QA and bug retesting. So they can come into the system and pick up a ticket that has has some pages on it that need to be tested, they can go test those pages, report the bugs, as Angelina is so excited to do in our platform. And those bugs go directly to developers who then create remediations to fix those bugs. And then the team actually gets those bugs back so that they can retest them to be sure that they've been remediated in a way that's effective. We also run focus groups, so we'll get a group of folks together and discuss a particular topic. Maybe we're talking about e-commerce shopping experiences. Maybe we're talking about educational experiences. So, it's really what's top of mind for us to be able to optimize the accessibility of the type of sites that we're working on. So, we want to be sure that folks with diverse abilities and experiences' perspectives get heard so that we can ensure that we have all facets of accessibility covered. And it's a great opportunity for folks like those who have graduated the Digital Access to Work program because they already have some of these baseline skills. And so, we'll be able to really build upon that to give them more confidence in their skills, to be able to even leverage that skill set they then build to perhaps go and find either full-time employment or continue to work with the Alliance if they want to continue to do that into their future.

Awesome. What a great opportunity. Well, hey everyone, we're going to talk more about this after break, but we are on the half hour. Time for our news break with my favorite, Perry Jude Radesik, the CEO of Disability Rights PA, a national disability rights leader, and my news anchor for how long now, Perry?

5 years, Joyce Bender.

5 years! 5 great years! And so you all know, you know, I do get calls and messages about Perry and, you know, how much you love that news, and I really appreciate that. And keep on listening to the show and keep on telling people about that because no one else does this. No one else. And Perry, can you believe it's my 20th anniversary?

Joyce Bender, I cannot, but really kudos to you. This is an incredible program that you put on every week for the disability community and, and communities that employ people with disabilities, and we're just so grateful for what you do every week.

Oh, thank you. Well, I'm grateful for you And with that, Perry, let's hear the news today.

Thanks, Joyce Bender. So the, the Biden administration started to distribute another round of free COVID-19 test kits in December. If you remember, for the last couple years, the administration has been providing these free COVID-19 test kits in winter. It usually happens as COVID-19 cases peak through the winter months when we're gathering with friends and family, spending more time indoors. So here comes winter again and COVID-19 is on the rise. And so for the week that ended the beginning of January, January 4th, there were 470,000 COVID-19 cases across 640 counties in the U.S. That's, that's pretty high, Joyce Bender. So we want to make sure that people with disabilities get access to a free COVID-19 test to be able to test themselves. And the other important thing is to always try to prevent a serious infection of COVID and that is to mask when we are out in indoor spaces and to get our booster shots. So every single household is eligible to receive an order for free at-home COVID-19 test kits. Now, if you go to disabilityrightspa.org, you're going to find a link, very important, to the U.S. Postal Service order form. That's who's going to be sending you your free COVID-19 test kits. There's another way to get these test kits. Oh, and by the way, Joyce Bender, for those who need an accessible test kit, that is for people who are blind or low vision, there is an accessible test kit out there. Now, to get that test kit, You have to call DIAL, which is the Disability Information and Access Line, at 888-677-1199, or the U.S. Postal Service has a special online accessible order form for that accessible COVID-19 test kit. So it's important that you go to disabilityrightspa.org to get all of this information Order your free at-home COVID-19 test kit. If you don't have a way to get to the U.S. Postal Service online, it's easy. Call 800-232-0233, and the Postal Service will send you your free test kits, Joyce. And that's what we have this week.

That's great. I'm going to change the subject one moment. You probably have been hearing the show is about digital accessibility, so I have a couple questions. Joyce Bender is in Rev Up. What happens if a person who is blind or vision impaired goes to vote and it is not digitally accessible?

Well, they are required— the states are required to provide an accommodation. So there are a couple of things. One, here in Pennsylvania, we do have an accessible, to some extent, an accessible online voter form. It's like voting by mail, but you do it online, and you have to still request your mail-in ballot and then tell the Department of State that you want the accessible ballot, and then they will send you a code and access to the online form.. Not every state has this, but many states do, and it's important that if people don't, don't have an accessible version of voting, that they contact the department, their Department of State, or their protection and advocacy system in their state so that we can resolve these issues with Secretaries of States across the country.

But what happens if someone in a rural area, they don't know that, that, you know, you have to request that online, and they go to vote thinking there will be some way they can vote. Then what?

Yes, so every precinct— this was included in the Help America Vote Act back in 2002— every precinct in the United States must have at least one accessible voting machine where someone can use a touchpad and be able to vote in that way. So, there are, there are different ways counties have— there are different ways that happens in different counties across the country, but it is important that everyone have at least one accessible means of voting in each precinct across the country.

Because here's what a listener asked: if they go to vote and that device is not working, what should— and they don't want a stranger going into the voting, uh, box with them— should they then call Disability Rights PA, or what would they do?

Yes, we would try to resolve that issue immediately. Oftentimes, if that machine's not working, counties have extra machines, and they will dispatch a machine that works or send a technician over. So we ask people to just wait, call Disability Rights PA or your P&A in your state, and let us try to resolve that issue with your county elections department. Sometimes it's the poll workers didn't set the machine up or didn't know how to set the machine up. Again, we can call the county on your behalf and get someone dispatched to your precinct as soon as possible so that you can vote privately and independently.

So, Perry, would this take an executive order or legislation to enforce companies to be accessible?

You know, it always helps when there is voting reform to make sure it gets spelled out again and again that accessibility is in the law. That always is helpful. An executive order, the, in Pennsylvania, Secretary of State guidance is just that. Guidance. So, it could be different in every state, but in Pennsylvania, the guidance that comes out from the Elections Division of the Department of State is what we call guidance. But there are things that are required by law, and required by law is to have an accessible machine in every precinct. So, another executive order, I don't think in Pennsylvania would resolve the issue. The issue issue is making sure poll workers are trained and that people have— that people know how to get a hold of us and let us— just give us about half an hour to try to resolve the issue.

Well, I know that Senator Duckworth is working on this to include digital accessibility as part of the ADA. And that will be a great thing when that happens. So that—

Joyce, that would go a long way, absolutely, in helping.

Yes. Yeah, that— I mean, that will be a great thing because, you know, if you can't access your own healthcare through the website, how terrible is that? And there are many other examples, you know, that I could come up with. But you'll have to keep your finger on the pulse of that for us.

Peri.

Absolutely, Joyce.

I will check out, uh, uh, Senator Duckworth's legislation and report on it.

Okay. All right, thanks, Peri. Have a great day.

Thanks, Joyce.

Bye-bye. Wouldn't that be a great thing, Alyssa, if Senator Duckworth would get this through?

Because yes, I would love to see some clarity in that area, Joyce.

I heard Eve Hill speak, and Eve Hill is a national disability rights leader in the mental health area. And when she— during the Obama administration, she's an attorney— she was appointed to a position at the Department of Justice. And when I Joyce Bender, uh, was invited to the White House and I heard her speak. She said, if you want to hire people with disabilities but your website is not accessible, how do you think that would ever happen? And she's right, because guess what, the front page may be accessible, but then there's the career page and all those other pages, uh, that are possibly and frequently not accessible. So I'm sure you see that a lot, Alyssa.

We do, we do, absolutely. Um, just the home page is not enough. Uh, the, the, the clarity that comes when people understand the activity that it takes to become an employer of people with disabilities, it can really help them clarify accessibility across the board as a strategy for their company, right? They can see that digital accessibility is important, but it's really just one prong of an accessibility program. For a company at large.

Well, I hope that will happen sooner than later, and I believe that it will, especially with advocates like former Congressman Tony Coelho also working with Senator Duckworth on this whole thing. So, you know, I'm very excited about that. And Scott, we probably would have more students interested in this. I'm sure we would. Think how many would be interested in this if suddenly websites had to be accessible.

Oh, absolutely. Totally agree. And, um, and as we progress with this, I hope more and more students have this interest and want to participate in this class.

Well, what are the biggest changes you have seen, Scott? In this digital access at work with students?

Just the young people, they know about computers from kindergarten or first grade, and they just, they're easily able to figure out things or able to, they're not afraid to touch anything or to do anything. So They just have the knack for this. And, you know, I know we've had 2 successful classes, and a majority of our students loved it and learned and want to continue doing more things with us.

Alyssa, what do you see as the future with the Bender Leadership Academy and the Audio Eye Alliance?

I want to see these students come in, become a part of our community, build the skills that they want to build in order to become the professional that they desire to be. Not everybody wants to necessarily go into testing. Some people may want to understand requirements or design. They may want to understand content. Better. What we hope to do is give them the tools that they can use to understand the different parts of the life cycle of software development and accessible development so that they can take that skill wherever they hope to go in the future.

Me too. Me too. And hey, I realize I haven't asked this So when we come back from break, you can give our listeners the website for AudioEye, the URL, so that we can get more people interested and understanding what you do at AudioEye. And Scott, the same with the Bender Leadership Academy. But right now we're gonna go to break and then we'll come back. And when we come back, we'll close the show. With these two great guests. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at voiceamerica.com. We'll be right back.

Ask the experts. Call toll-free right now, 1-866-472-5787, and ask our all-star team to answer your question. That's 1-866-472-5787. Thank you for calling VoiceAmerica.com.

Since 1985, Bender Consulting Services has served as a national leader in advancing employment of people with disabilities, including veterans with disabilities, with private sector companies and federal government agencies. Bender assists customers with achieving their diversity and workforce inclusion initiatives by tapping into a talent pool of individuals seeking professional positions, including those in the STEM fields. In addition, Bender services include disability employment consulting, training, and technology accessibility through their high-tech line of service. For more information, please visit www.benderconsult.com.

Are you currently receiving SSDI or SSI and wanting to work? Did you know there is a free Social Security program called Ticket to Work to help you try work without risking your benefits? My Employment Options is an authorized SSA Employment Network specializing in work-at-home and local job placement in 47 states. Our clients receive a personal counselor to help find the best job fit and a staff-certified benefits counselor for help with Ticket to Work protections. Ready to try working? Apply for free job placement help at myemploymentoptions.com.

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You're listening to Disability Matters. If you have a question or comment, call in toll-free at 1-866-472-5788. That's 1-866-472-5788. Now please welcome back the host of Disability Matters. Here's Joyce Bender.

Hey, welcome back! And if you just joined us, we're talking today to Alyssa Smith, the accessibility evangelist from AudioEye, and Scott Hammerstrom, manager of Programs and Partnerships at the Bender Leadership Academy. High school students with disabilities getting digital access at work, working with AudioEye. It's all about employment. It's all about technology. How great it is. Alisa, say someone would be interested in AudioEye and maybe they wanted to talk to someone. Wanted a demo of the product, what is the website?

It's audioeye.com, spelled just like it sounds, A-U-D-I-O-E-Y-E dot com.

Would they just go to contact? Absolutely. Okay, they just go to contact. I just want to say it's hard to understand how great this product is without seeing it. So, audioeye.com. Scott, what about the Bender Leadership Academy? We have so many great programs. We have the Mary Brocker Mental Health Initiative at Work, the Not Ashamed. Oh my God, is that awesome? We had an NFL star and we had Valerie Jarrett from the Obama administration. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go to benderleadership.org. We are doing a massive national campaign for high school students with disabilities with mental health issues to be #NotAshamed. If you have a mental health disability or if you just support a high school student with a mental health disability, please go to the website and it will tell you directions on how to participate. 30 seconds with your cell phone. Scott, am I right, the directions are on the website, right?

Directions are on the website, absolutely. Or if you have any questions, feel free to email me. It's, uh, shammerstrom— that's H-A-M-M-E-R-S-T-R-O-M as in Mary— at benderleadership.org as well.

And we have congresspeople country star, Valerie Jarrett, NFL star. I mean, you have so many great people, but the greatest are the high school students themselves that have done these videos. But that also talks about the Linda Dickerson Scholarship and so many things, but this partnership with AudioEye is just So awesome. So, Scott, how do you apply? What do you do if you're listening to the show? What do you do to, to be part of Digital Access at Work?

So if you are a high school student or a college student, or if you know somebody who is a student with a disability, any type of disability, somewhere between ages 16 and 21, if you think you have an interest in statistics or math, marketing, graphic design, or IT development, Somebody who's self-motivated and detail-oriented. If this is something of interest, you want to learn a little bit more information, you can go to our website, which is benderleadership.org, and that's B-E-N-D-E-R-L-E-A-D-E-R-S-H-I-P dot org, or you can give me a call at 412-446-4448. I'd be glad to explain or talk a little bit more about the program, or again, you could just email me at hammerstrom@benderleadership.org.

I would encourage everyone, and if you're listening right now, you're saying, oh no, I wish my friend had heard this, or this other parent had heard this for their child with a disability, or high school student, or teacher, whatever. No worries. Go to Spotify, go to voiceamerica.com, Go to benderconsult.com. You can listen to any of the old shows, and oh my God, Temple Grandin was just on. If you, if you didn't hear that one, you got to hear that. And you can hear this, share it with other people, spread the news, please, because we want more students to know about this great opportunity. So Alyssa, what message do you have for our listeners?

Well, you know, I would say that I think we recognize that technologies and digital experiences that so many of us take for granted are rife with errors and issues that prevent people from disabilities from equal access. Investment in that technology is a really great way to break down those barriers. We can deliver sustainable solutions. But at the same time, we need to understand that technology alone isn't the whole answer. And I think that's really what we're here to talk about today, which is that the knowledge and the empathy and the expertise of people who are dedicated to supporting that technology are going to make that solution the best it can possibly be. It always takes people to really round out the solution. Technology alone is never going to get it.

Amen. I agree with that 100%. Scott, what is your message?

Well, first off, I just want to thank Alissa and everyone at Audio for this wonderful partnership with Bender Leadership Academy and Digital Access at Work. But if you have any questions or want to learn more about our programs, please go to our website. There's a lot of different stuff on there. We do a lot of different things to help young people with disabilities and get them ready for the world of work.

Benderleadership.org. Thank you so much, Alyssa and AudioEye. I thank you so much for the great thing you're doing. I really mean it. You're helping us change lives. Scott, you are the best leader we could possibly have for the Bender Leadership Academy, and I can tell you he has the passion. He has it every single day. Thank you both for being with me today.

Thank you, Joyce.

Thank you.

And we end every show with a quote. I love this one. This is from the Chief Accessibility Officer Jenny Lay-Flurry from Microsoft, and she said, "If you say you have to think if you are accessible, then that means you probably are not." And in the words of Mary Brocker, remember, choose joy. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters at voiceamerica.com. Join us next week with my guest, Ted Kennedy Jr.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific time and 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters right here on the Voice America Variety Channel. We are The leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.