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Accessiversity Blog

Michigan Business Beat interview with Chris Knapp | What Is Accessiversity?

On July 21, 2020, I was granted the opportunity to speak to Michigan Business Beat’s Jeffrey Mosher about the work we are doing at Accessiversity Labs. While the highlight of the interview was being able to showcase the important things Accessiversity is doing to level the playing field for the disability community, it was also an opportunity to share my own experiences as a blind individual, navigating this increasingly digital world. Thank you to Michigan Business Network’s Michigan Business Beat and Jeffrey Mosher for highlighting the work we are doing to make this world a more accessible place for all. Check out the audio and transcript of the full interview below, and don’t forget to visit the Tales of the Reluctant Blind Blog and the Accessiversity Facebook Page for additional information.

Jeffrey Mosher has a conversation with Chris Knapp, Accessiversity CEO & Managing Member, Knapp Strategic Projects & Consulting LLC, Lansing Area. Their discussion centers around “What is Accessiversity?” This is followed by why this is an important issue that businesses should be paying attention to. As a business, the minimum threshold should be to make sure your web site and systems are accessible, but really, what businesses should be striving for is to make their web sites and systems more usable for everyone. Accessiversity can help them do that through a holistic assessment that combines accessibility and usability testing and focuses on the “accessibility experience” of individuals with disabilities who might be using assistive technology to interact with their web site or system. Jeffrey also finds out how Chris got into this line of work. Chris shares a little background about his disability, never planning to become disabled, let alone becoming an advocate for the disability community, but somehow life chose me, and now that I have a platform for helping advance the important conversation about different accessibility and disability-related topics through my work with Accessiversity and my “Tales of the Reluctant Blind” blog, that is exactly what he is going to do. Then Chris sums it up, “This is all about leveling the playing field for people with disabilities. Whether it is working with a business to conduct an accessibility/usability assessment of their web site, or blogging about some aspect of disability employment, or just working to build awareness of different disability topics, we’re focused on improving lives by making the world a more accessible and inclusive place for all of us. For the wrap-up, Chris directs businesses to his Accessiversity page for more information. Below we share links to “Tales of the Reluctant Blind” blog and more. “Tales of the Reluctant Blind” Blog: (this is a link to our introductory blog post) https://www.knappstrategic.com/accessiversity-blog/tales-of-the-reluctant-blind-introducing-the-accessiversity-blog Accessiversity Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/accessiversitylabs/ LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-knapp-/ Accessiversity Page: https://www.knappstrategic.com/accessiversity Knapp Strategic Home Page: https://www.knappstrategic.com/

Jeffrey Mosher: Welcome to the Michigan Business Beat on the Michigan Business Network, Jeffrey Mosher, sitting in for Chris Holman, on the road while recording remotely as we are all tending to do so these days, and reaching out to an individual who was interviewed several years ago – actually a couple of times for the Michigan Business Network by Chris Holman – and it is Chris Knapp. He is Accessiversity CEO/Managing Member, Knapp Strategic Projects & Consulting LLC out of the Lansing area. Chris, welcome back to the Michigan Business Beat.

Chris Knapp: Hey Jeffrey, it’s great to be speaking with you again today.

JM: Excellent, excellent. Now, I’d love to find out, what is Accessiversity?

CK: Accessiversity is an innovative accessibility and usability testing and learning lab. We offer businesses a safe, proactive way for them to dip their toe in the water to assess how well they’re doing when it comes to accessibility. What makes us different is that we use actual individuals with disabilities to perform these assessments to provide for an authentic accessibility experience so that businesses can understand how individuals with disabilities, who oftentimes use assistive technology to access digital content, will be interacting with their web site or systems.

JM: Excellent, and thank you for that explanation. Why is this an important issue that businesses across Michigan should be paying attention to?

CK: For businesses, the minimal threshold should really be ensuring that their website and systems are accessible, but really, what businesses should be striving for is to make their websites and systems more usable for everyone. Accessiversity can assist in this regard, by performing a holistic assessment that combines both accessibility and usability testing, and really helps the customers to get a better understanding of how individuals with disabilities will be interacting with their website or systems. The Accessiversity assessments go beyond the kind of technical elements that satisfy the Federal Section 508 standards and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. And those technical assessments are important, but you can have a website that is technically compliant, and still not usable for large numbers of individuals, especially individuals with disabilities.

JM: Indeed, and we were familiar with you, especially during your time serving with the Capital Area IT Council, how is it that you got into this line of work?

CK: So, I suffered late onset blindness in my early twenties as a result of an auto-immune disorder that attacked the retinas in my eyes. The recurrent vasculitis, retinal detachments, and countless procedures and surgeries left me with a prosthetic left eye, and 8/200 vision in the lower periphery of my right eye which resulted in me becoming statutorily blind. Starting with my undergraduate studies at MSU, and then all throughout my 15+ year professional career, I’ve had to use assistive technology to access information, effectively communicate with others, and compete on a high enough level with all of my non-disabled, sighted peers. I never planned on becoming disabled, let alone becoming a disability advocate. But now, as an accessibility consultant, and through my Accessiversity Facebook page and Tales of the Reluctant Blind blog, I realize that I have a platform for helping advance the important conversation about accessibility and disability-related topics, so that is exactly what I am going to do.

JM: Great, and yes, an important conversation and important work. And actually, let’s dive a slight bit into the nuts and bolts of it. Where exactly is your office and how would people go about being in contact with you if they wanted to learn more about this topic?

CK: So, folks can visit our website, knappstrategic.com, to learn more about Accessiversity and check out our Tales of the Reluctant Blind blog. I would also encourage people to visit our Accessiversity Facebook page, and you can  help us out by sharing and liking the content that we post.

JM: Super. I’d love to turn the microphone back over to you to kind of sum up what we’ve been discussing today.

CK: If I had to sum it up, I would say this is really about leveling the playing field for people with disabilities. Whether it is working with a business to conduct an accessibility and usability assessment of their web site, or blogging about some disability employment topic, or just generally helping to build awareness of different disability issues, we are trying to improve the world by making it a more diverse, inclusive, and accessible place for everyone.

JM: Wonderful. Well Chris, thank you again so much for spending some time with the Michigan Business Beat today.

CK: Thanks again Jeffrey, I really appreciate the opportunity.

JM: Once again, we’ve been speaking with Chris Knapp, Accessiversity CEO & Managing Member, Knapp Strategic Projects & Consulting LLC in the Lansing area. We’ll be back with more, on the Michigan Business Beat, on Michigan Business Network.


“Tales of the Reluctant Blind” Blog: (link to introductory blog post)

https://www.knappstrategic.com/accessiversity-blog/tales-of-the-reluctant-blind-introducing-the-accessiversity-blog 

Accessiversity Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/accessiversitylabs/ 

LinkedIn Profile:

www.linkedin.com/in/chris-knapp-/ 

Accessiversity Page:

www.knappstrategic.com/accessiversity

Knapp Strategic Home Page:

www.knappstrategic.com/

Andrea Kerbuski