Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. 6 years ago, at age 35, Wendy became the Queen of Social Distancing when she became a disabled chronic Lyme disease fighter. Feeling exhaustion, pain and like daily flu with autoimmunity issues that makes Wendy catch what sicknesses others have when in groups — meant she couldn’t travel on a plane, go to work meetings or even go with her boys to their school events. In 2015 from her recliner, she invented the YES to SEX app, a safe way to le...
Aug 03, 2020•38 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. Lorena Julio is a human rights advocate with a Master in Compared Public Policies and a degree in Social Communication. She worked for more than 14 years in the promotion and protection of human rights in Latin America and the United States. She participated in multiple high-level events as a speaker on human rights, youth and disabilities in the United States, India, Israel, and many countries in Latin America. Lorena worked for the Governm...
Jul 25, 2020•35 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. Disabled/Wild/Hot AF Exploratory Storyteller and Adventurer. Creating relationships, stories, and magic. A Continual WIP. Sulaiman is an independent consultant, speaker, and writer on Divergent Leadership, Creativity, and Equitability (characterised by equity or fairness; just and right; fair; reasonable: equitable treatment of all citizens). The igniter of hearts creatively, a disabled wheelchair user exploratory storyteller and adventurer,...
Jul 17, 2020•35 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. This Week’s chat is about authoring tools. When we produce content for the web we use authoring tools to publish. How these tools can help produce accessible content can have a profound impact on the overall inclusiveness of the internet. Mike Gifford is the founder of OpenConcept Consulting Inc, which he started in 1999. Since then, he has been particularly active in developing and extending open source content management systems to allow p...
Jul 10, 2020•44 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. Thea Kurdi has nineteen years of experience consulting and teaching accessible architecture with a specialization in universal design. In her role as an accessibility consultant at one of Canada’s oldest and leading specialty firms, Thea has assisted design teams to realize the benefits of universal design and achieve higher levels of accessibility on projects within the education, health care, justice, institutional, commercial, residential...
Jul 03, 2020•34 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. Vernon Sankey is a Leadership Coach and Author. He has been in business for many years during which time he has been the CEO, Chairman and Board member of major international corporations including Reckitt & Colman plc (now Reckitt Benckiser), Pearson plc, Zurich AG, Taylor Woodrow (now Taylor Wimpey), Cofra AG, Firmenich SA, Gala Group plc and Atos SE, where he is a Board member, Chairman of the Audit Committee and Board Member of the C...
Jun 26, 2020•46 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. David is a Costa Rican Political Scientist with his MBA and masters in diplomacy. He is also a leader, advocate, social media specialist, and communication strategist. David has experience in public policy implementation, development, and evaluation as well as consultancy services for NGOs like UNESCO and others linked to the European Union. David´s professional background is mainly in work with minorities, ensuring they have access to their...
Jun 22, 2020•38 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. E.A. Draffan trained as a Speech and Language Therapist working with those who have complex communication needs and disabilities, before specialising in the use of assistive technologies and issues of digital accessibility. Recent research at the University of Southampton includes ‘AI and Inclusion’ as part of the Alan Turing Institute’s work. This work includes AAC symbol set mapping which links to the work of the W3C WAI WCAG cognitive tas...
Jun 12, 2020•40 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. Marcie Roth is Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer for the World Institute on Disability (WID), WID is a highly regarded global public policy centre WID works to advance the rights and opportunities of over 1 billion people with disabilities worldwide by disrupting exclusion and accelerating radical social justice. Marcie has served in senior and executive leadership roles for national and global disability advocacy and public pol...
Jun 08, 2020•46 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. Rajen Nair about himself: I am semi deaf freelance photojournalist cum writer from Mumbai. I had contributed to Guardian UK and many Indian newspapers. Past 11 years teaching Photography to deaf, disabled and from 7 yrs to cancer kids. Imparted photography skills to more than several thousand students. Also conducted photo workshop over many places in India. Took photo class to underprivileged children of Dharavi. Won award from corporate BP...
May 31, 2020•33 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. James Partridge is the Director of Face Equality International, a Guernsey charity which he launched in November 2018. Face Equality International is an alliance of NGOs and charities around the world — already 35-strong — which work together to campaign for ‘face equality’ and challenge disfigurement prejudice and discrimination. The alliance’s website is here: www.faceequalityinternational.org . Previously, he was the Founder (in 1992) and...
May 23, 2020•29 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. Zara is proud to be Accessibility Director at HeX Productions and Influencer of Accessibility Nottingham. Living the dream and trying to make the world a better place. Nurturing businesses in best practice use of the internet through strong foundations of accessible web development. I aspire to be a top business change leader and change the perception of web accessibility in our industry, whilst supporting, teaching and leading others on the...
May 15, 2020•37 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken Sarah Simcoe is an experienced business leader who held several positions within the private sector before embarking on her own business, DMS (Wirral) Ltd, early in 2018; and Sarah may be familiar to you for having previously worked at Fujitsu where she led the conversation around disability networks and accessibility. Passionate about responsible inclusive practice that is inherently accessible and collaborative, Sarah now supports organisat...
May 08, 2020•38 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken Chris Grant is AbilityNet’s Area Coordinator in Scotland, or “King of Scotland” as he is affectionately known by the central team. Since starting in May 2018, he has completely transformed their free services in Scotland, generating huge growth in the number of volunteers and the hours of free tech support provided to older people and people with disabilities. He has recruited and now manages a team of 25 volunteers who provide telephone, rem...
May 01, 2020•33 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken Cordelia McGee-Tubb ( @cordeliadillon ) is a web accessibility specialist and cartoonist. She is a Principal Accessibility Engineer at Salesforce and previously led Dropbox’s accessibility program. She’s passionate about making technology accessible and enjoyable to all, regardless of age, ability, or circumstances. Cordelia currently co-hosts 13 Letters, the accessibility podcast by Be My Eyes, where she has the extreme pleasure of interview...
Apr 24, 2020•36 min
#AXSChat – 21st of April – Kate M. Sonka & Larry Goldberg Hosted by Antonio Vieira Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. Kate M. Sonka is the Executive Director of Teach Access and the Assistant Director of Academic Technology at the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University. She holds a M.Ed. in Bilingual/Bicultural Education and a TESOL certificate from DePaul University. She improves teaching and learning with technology through course design and support, experiential lear...
Apr 17, 2020•42 min
Nabil has held several positions and worked with numerous INGOs, civil society networks, UN agencies, governments, private sector, and grassroots organizations to successfully create positive change at global, regional, and national levels. 20+ years of experience in disability inclusion strategies. Providing counselling, coaching, researches, evaluation & monitoring and ICT accessibility solutions and assistive technology services. Develop policies in the field of development, rehabilitatio...
Apr 13, 2020•32 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken Mark Bullock – Inclusive Sports Development Advisor Delivering workshops, seminars and guidance to a wide range of stakeholders in inclusive sport & physical activity utilising more than 25 years of experience in Paralympic/disability sport, sports development & the broader social impact of sport. Former Wheelchair Tennis Manager for the International Tennis Federation. Travelled to more than 80 countries developing wheelchair tennis....
Apr 03, 2020•27 min
Hosted by Antonio Vieira Santos , Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken Judith Ellen Heumann "Judy" (born December 18, 1947) is an American disability rights activist. She is recognized internationally as a leader in the disability community. Heumann is a lifelong civil rights advocate for people with disabilities. Her work with governments and non-governmental organizations , non-profits, and various other disability interest groups, has produced significant contributions since the 1970s to the developme...
Mar 30, 2020•37 min
Before starting the Runway of Dreams Foundation (RoDF) in 2014, Mindy Scheier spent 20 years working in fashion on the design team for the INC collection and as a stylist for Saks Fifth Avenue. Mindy was inspired to start RoDF after her son Oliver, who has Muscular Dystrophy, dreamed of wearing jeans like everyone else. After using her design skills to adapt a pair that met his needs and increased his confidence, she went on to conduct extensive research to develop modifications that would meet ...
Mar 27, 2020•36 min
A podcast hosted by Antonio Santos, Neil Milliken and Debra Ruh. Martyn Sibley Envisioning an inclusive world through digital influence, Martyn leverages his unique story of disability along with the Disability Horizons community he Co-founded, all to support brands with inclusive influencer marketing campaigns. He's also been voted Britain’s third most influential disabled person, authoring the travel memoir Everything is Possible, and co-founding an accessible travel business which sold to Air...
Mar 20, 2020•40 min
Hosted by Antonio Santos , Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. David Bara has a degree in BA Business Technology and a Master’s in Education. He is a former special needs teacher and is currently a Senior Lecturer in Special Education. David has spoken at international conferences, published articles and written recommendations for the Secretary of State for Communities for the UK Government on issues surrounding childhood and adolescent health care issues. His work has been aimed at improving the life...
Mar 13, 2020•35 min
Joseph was born Deaf and is a native of Glasgow. He is one of the most widely-recognisable faces within the Deaf community for the work he has done, as a BSL presenter, on flagship television programmes like Coronation Street and Emmerdale. Joseph is currently the Head of ITV SignPost, Scotland. Joseph has worked for ITV for the past 19 years; he’s a highly experienced performer /presenter and has mentored Deaf people looking to pursue a career in Media both in front of and behind the camera. Jo...
Mar 06, 2020•29 min
Hosted by António Vieira Santos , Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. The Ramble Tag was invented and designed by two friends and neighbours – Laura 39yrs and Tom 65 yrs, Tom himself is blind. Both Laura and Tom have creative backgrounds and a love for dogs. Tom and Laura Tom lost his sight gradually over a period of 20 years through Type 1 diabetes, so Laura would help walk him walk his dog when needed, acting as his guide when his partner wasn’t around. They soon became great friends, shared laughs, ...
Feb 29, 2020•28 min
AXSChat is hosted by Antonio Santos , Neil Milliken and Debra Ruh. Al Etmanski is an author, community organizer, social entrepreneur, and parent activist in the disability world. He is an Ashoka fellow which is a global network of social entrepreneurs and a member of John McKnight’s Asset Based Community Development Institute (ABCD) . He conceived and lobbied into existence the world’s first savings plan for people with disabilities, the Registered Disability Savings Plan. Collective RDSP depos...
Feb 22, 2020•40 min
Hosts. Antonio Santos , Neil Milliken and Debra Ruh Rick Williams is the CEO of Freeney Williams Ltd, one of Europe’s leading specialist disability consultancies which provides strategic advice and guidance on employing disabled people and ensuring their access to goods and services. He has a strong and proven combination of skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications. He is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, an Associate of both the Business Disabil...
Feb 15, 2020•27 min
Sarah Lewthwaite (PhD, FRSA) is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Southampton’s Centre for Research in Inclusion where she leads a major new UK Research and Innovation study ‘ Teaching Accessibility ’ as Future Leaders Fellow and Principal Investigator. Sarah and her team are researching the teaching and learning of digital accessibility in universities and the workplace, to build an evidence-based understanding of how accessibility can be taught more effectively. The 4-year study re...
Feb 07, 2020•39 min
LaMondré Pough is the Chief Sustainability Officer for Ruh Global IMPACT and host of the podcast 5P with LaMondré (5Ppodcast.com) where he combines both his personal and professional missions to “create environments where all people have a sense of belonging- where their insights, experiences and perspectives are truly valued.” LaMondré began his career in Disability Inclusion as a college student in central South Carolina where he became the leading advocate at The Disability Action Center, the...
Feb 03, 2020•47 min
As Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Victor Calise tirelessly advocates for the disability community in all City decision-making. Commissioner Calise chairs the Accessibility Committee of the City Building Code and leads efforts to integrate people with disabilities into the workforce through the NYC: ATWORK employment initiative. He also ensures that disability is at the forefront of technological developments including smart cities, autonomous vehic...
Jan 24, 2020•37 min
Interview with Caroline Casey. Last year at World Economic Forum in Davos Caroline Casey Officially launched the Valuable500. One Year on we interview her as she returns to Davos to report on the progress that she has made to get global business leaders to engage on the topic of disability. AXSChat is a Valuable500 partner and we are proud to support her work. Support the show Follow axschat on social media. Bluesky: Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.com Debra https://bsky.app/profile/debra...
Jan 17, 2020•31 min
