Some sighted people assume screenreaders and other disability tech does all the work for blind people. Instead of saying “Carla wrote the report”, her manager simply says “she used a screenreader”, as if credit for the report rests with the screenreader. This kind of messaging impacts our hiring and advancement opportunities.
When discussing disabled people and tech remember to recognize our talents and creativity. Daniela Rubio Trujillo is an accessibility expert based in Barcelona who intentionally combines high tech and low tech elements in her engaging presentations.
Descriptive Transcript
Haben and Daniela sit together inside a restaurant. Daniela has short brown hair, blue eyes, light skin, and wears bracelets on one wrist and an Apple Watch on the other. Her hands rest on a keyboard. A Braille display is on the table in front of Haben. Haben speaks with an American accent, and Daniela speaks with a Spanish accent.
Haben: Hello, Haben speaking! I’m with Daniela Rubio. She is an accessibility expert, an Apple certified educator, and she knows all about tech and accessibility. She’s also a mom.
Haben turns to face Daniela.
Haben: And you have a story you want to share about being a mom and blind?
Daniela: Well, hi, everyone! I just wanted to share a small story about my kids. They asked a school activity that we needed to do with them. My husband and I are blind.
Photo: Haben, Daniela, and her husband José stand together on a sunny sidewalk. Haben wears a blue dress, Daniela wears a green shirt and jeans, and José wears a Navy blue shirt, khakis, and an Apple Watch. Next to German Shepherd Mylo is Rosie, a black lab, and beside José sits a yellow lab sweetly looking at the camera. Behind the smiling group, across the street, is a warm restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating.
Daniela: My husband is a musician. He created a song about emotions, and we, we ended up dancing all over the room. Technology helped us, but actually, the creativity was ours. We didn’t want the kids to– to just look that everything was techy. We wanted to show them that also the important thing was our heart.