Ruh Global is excited to announce that Debra Ruh is the newest addition to the Huffington Post’s Blog Team. In her first blog, How Much Should We Value a Person With Disabilities? A Tribute to Jean Dewar, Debra introduces her daughter, Sara Ruh and Jean Dewar, a woman born with a disability at the turn of the century. It was a time where wide-spread use of sign language was very limited and when those with disabilities were treated quite differently. Debra Ruh addresses the similar opposing factors that Sara and Jean have faced, being women with disabilities. Ruh does so, while providing insight on the injustice that people with disabilities were challenged with.

Read the complete article at Huffington Post.
For all blogs by Debra Ruh visit her Huffington Post Profile.

Press Contact:

Debra Ruh, CEO
Ruh Global Communications
18122 Vontay Rd.
Rockville, VA 23146, USA
(804) 986-4500
Debra@RuhGlobal.com
www.RuhGlobal.com

25th Anniversary of the ADA Series: Marketing to Persons with Disabilities is a Business Advantage

Making it possible for stakeholders with disabilities and age-related limitations to access your goods and services is not only an important part of complying with federal – as well as international — accessibility standards but also a strategic aspect of any organizational management plan.

– To see the full article by Debra Ruh, visit G3ict

I am very interested in the idea and taboo of tattooing as I have many myself. I am also part of the community of persons with disabilities.  To me they blend together to create an easy crossover. Most of the responses have been about the empowerment that one feels when they fully express themselves in the ways they like. Getting a tattoo is definitely not for everyone. Simply having a disability does not denote that you would never want to get a tattoo. Some have a stigma of both tattoos and disabilities. Some believe you must be a criminal to have a tattoo. Some also believe that those with disabilities are not capable of deciding a decision like getting a permanent tattoo by themselves. Unfortunately there is a lot of ignorance out there. Fortunately we can dispel this ignorance through immersion and teaching. People are not sure what to think sometimes and need a context to be comfortable.

When you see a person who has a tattoo on the street, chances are they did not get that tattoo for you. It was a decision they made for themselves to make them look how they wanted. Those with disabilities are simply people and why the heck should they not be getting as tattooed as they feel like? If it makes you uncomfortable to think of someone with a disability choosing for themselves, then you must learn to open your mind.

 My sister has a tattoo on her ankle of a dolphin jumping out of a wave. I have over thirty, and not all are as cool as my sister’s dolphin. My sister also has down syndrome, no one told her to want to get a tattoo, she just wanted a tattoo because she thought they were cool. She went with our mother to a local tattoo shop and they felt out the comfort level of the artists around tattooing someone with down syndrome. My mother thought there may be some who would feel uncomfortable, but found the opposite. The artist they first spoke with was totally up for the tattoo. Not even the bat of an eye, because he understood that she was simply a client just like any other. The only thing that was any different was that my sister was having to get permission from her mother before getting a tattoo. Most of us just come home one day with ink in our skin, much to the dismay of our parents. My sister still visits her tattoo artist when she is near the shop to show off how well it healed on her. He is always happy to see her and is very kind. So before you pass judgement on someone who has a neck tattoo, think about how you may be the one with a closed mind who is not seeing the book beyond its cover. Things are not always as black and white as they seem and simply expressing yourself is no crime.

Our country needs to be educated on how to deal with one another on a personal basis. Hearing stories of police that have shot and killed someone who is mentally ill or seeking help for a mental health issue scares me horribly.

The recent incidents of people like Kristiana Coignard have weighed heavy on my mind. I hate to think that if our police forces were better able to talk people down rationally we would not have arrived at outcomes where emotion and violence have taken over a situation.

Coignard’s story is one that should not have ended in her death. Family says that she was simply seeking mental health help from the police. Instead she was seen as a threat, she was a slender 17 year old girl, and shot dead in the lobby of the police station. Hearing about this and other similar stories such as the schizophrenic man in dallas who was killed by the police after coming to the door holding a screwdriver and the man who had down syndrome who was killed by police in a movie theatre.

Imagining my sister with down syndrome in a public place, afraid, yelled at by police officers, I can only imagine her reacting in an erratic way. I hope to god that she would not be gunned down for not obeying orders screamed at her in the heat of the moment. She processes stress differently and slower than most. This should be considered by police when dealing with anyone.

People have all types of different processing methods in their own minds. Especially those who have a mental disability, invisible disability, so many ones we cannot see. Wheelchair users are an example of those with visible disabilities, but there are many many invisible disabilities. If we are to trust in our police forces and not fear their presence then we need to train them to deal with any situation. Dealing with someone with emotional disabilities can be tough, but is not impossible, nor should it be treated as impossible.

I would love to hear from the readers of this as well. I have asked my followers on Twitter to give me feedback or opinions to discuss on the podcast. If you have any tips, ideas, opinions or concerns please feel free to e-mail me at kevin@ruhglobal.com I think discussing these topics further will help us all. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, I hope to hear from you soon.

To learn more about Ruh Global Communications, please visit www.RuhGlobal.com

The changing landscape of accessibility across the globe will be a huge factor that influences technology advancements. The World Health Organization has identified persons with disabilities as the fastest growing minority group. With the Baby Boomers reaching the age where mobility becomes tougher and tougher we will see a huge shift in accessibility. There is no way that things can remain the same, with such a large  part of the population needing accessibility in a way they have not before. We need to make our city streets wheelchair accessible, even this task sounds daunting.

While the changes may seem to be difficult to make, never the less, we need to make them and soon. This is just the tip of a very large iceberg that we are viewing from the surface of the water, unfortunately the hidden part is just as important as the visible part. With everyday changes and preparations we can be ready for mobility in the world even if our bodies have trouble with some difficult tasks. The world view on disability needs to shift into one that we consider in our day to day operations. With the world becoming more digital by the second and with things like the digital-divide to consider technology is under the scope for scrutiny. Technology is a part of life and has enriched life for most of the population. We simply need to consider who has been left out of thought, if anyone has, and then help them to join in. This can be done with simple technology like phone keyboards that are predictive and user friendly. User-friendly becomes very important and if we consider all different users it becomes easy to make accessible. ”Technology is accessible if it can be used just as effectively by people with disabilities as it can by those without.” Debra Ruh writes.

This is so true and accessibility is vital, but it should be part of our thinking while designing and not an afterthought. After all, we create minorities that are not represented when we leave some as an afterthought. We can be a prosperous global society that includes all communities, because everyone working together adds value in a way that working against one another we never could.

I am an advocate of using social media to bring awareness about the community of people with disabilities (PwD) and accessible Internet, Communications and Technology (ICT). I believe that the community of PwD is starting to find their voices via social media. However, there are some significant accessibility problems with social media. There are leaps in accessibility that have been made and are in progress. Yet we find that many social media tools and applications are not blending accessibility into their products and when they are, it does not seem to be a priority. PwD are often left out of the social media conversation and movement because the devices are less accessible.

We find that many social media tools and applications are not blending accessibility into their products. PwD are often left out of the social media conversation because they apps are inaccessible. This is difficult to deal with due to the fact that most don’t seem to have accessibility in mind until there is a problem, instead the devices and applications need to be thought of as opportunities for universal access.
Social media has to be accessible or we continue to widen the Digital Divide, it is as simple as that. As long as there are access problems we run the risk of alienating a portion of our community.
The Internet has opened up many opportunities as well as greatly improving the quality of life for these users, but there are still barriers. Many people think of disabilities in extreme terms such as blindness and deafness, but it also includes many others with visual or hearing impairments that are increasingly common in our aging population, and other challenges such motor and cognitive impairment. The spectrum of ability for all users is variable.

Can an organization really afford to lose this audience?

I think not, and this community is chattering on more accessible platforms, about the good and the bad. If social media tools are not accessible those platforms stand to lose out on major benefits, or risk being singled out as not worried about the less able part of the population and their advocates.

Sometimes we hear that it is too hard to make an application or platform accessible. This makes sense only if the organization wishes to put forth the message that their customers are not worth a re-tool of an app. Accessibility should be built into the system similarly to building in privacy, security or usability. The second thought of accessibility as “not an easy add on” and will be noticed by those left out.
The good news is that Social Media applications can be made fully accessible allowing everyone to use them; all aspects of use just need to be considered.

In years past, developers were afraid that making the application accessible would make a system less creative or innovative or other security issues. The good news is we have seen amazing strides with accessible social media and now it is innovative developers take pride in blending accessibility into the process level. This seems to be the future of technology and it should be our end goal to reach universal access.

Is participation for all out of the question? If we don’t make social media accessible than we continue to widen the “Digital Divide” and according to the World Health Organization (WHO) one in seven people are impacted with disabilities worldwide. Plus 1 out of 3 households in the U.S. are impacted by disabilities, there for this is an issue that affects family and community. Worldwide, this group numbers 500-750 million people and is a key influencer of the public’s perceptions.

There is no excuse to not make your Social Media applications fully accessible so that everyone can use them. In years past, developers were afraid that making the application accessible would make a system less usable or “dumbing” the system down. Once again, ridiculous – we have seen amazing strides with accessible social media and now it is BAD design if you do not blend accessibility into the process level.

Finding new aspects to accessibility within the new devices that are forthcoming is exciting and sometimes troubling if accessibility has not been consider. With the recent release of the Apple iPhone 6 questions loom about the added features that make this new device unique and innovative can also cause accessibility concerns.
The screen is slightly larger for the new edition of the iPhone. A larger screen is good for users with a visual impairment as it is simply easier to see. A person with fine motor impairment can make navigating a tiny touch screen accurately very difficult. In that case a larger screen can be an upside to the user. Users that manage the small motions fine may find the larger strokes create a challenge and find it cumbersome. Limited motion due to size has caused some users to criticize the iPad.
The battery life has been improved on the iPhone 6. This is usually seen as a positive to all users. Especially when the user uses their device as communication device or as assistive technology. Longevity is also a huge benefit to everyone but is especially helpful to consumers with disabilities and anyone that needs the device to be accessible.

iPhone 6.0 1
iOS 8 has strived to be an accessible operating system and has accessibility features that previous iOS’s versions inspired. The new iPhone 6 will run iOS 8 when it is released which many hope will include access features that have not yet been announced.
The new OS also promises to run the new Apple Pay, which is a new type of program that is striving to replace credit cards entirely. The accessibility implications of this are numerous. The idea is to use your iPhone to securely transfer money is one that is astounding and would allow many of us easier access to monetary transactions. When the iWatch is released it may too have many accessibility accomplishments that we have yet to imagine. These devices show that accessibility can be a great way to widen the use of mobile technology for all.

Apple has been a leader in accessibility and their innovation has change lives. I hope they continue to blend accessibility into every device, app and service that is offered.

Building accessible mobile technology is becoming more and more a topic of discussion and with good reason. The world is affected by disability; if you do not have any form of a disability then it is likely you know someone who does, so this is a topic that comes very close to home for many of us. As the number of people connecting through the internet grows and people begin to share more and more it become easier to see that even if you don’t have anyone in your life affected by disability, you need only look a short distance to find thousands of stories about how much people care about one another and how awareness can spread, this is the beauty of the internet, and to take this power and harness it for good is forward thinking.

Apple is undoubtedly the leader in accessibility on mobile platforms. Many visually impaired users say that Apple is unmatched at the moment in this regard. One only needs to look at Siri or the iPhone’s voice control options to begin to comprehend the steps taken and with more of Apple’s third party Apps striving to bring themselves up to the bar of Apple’s accessibility standards. Just being in the App store is driving developers to consider wider access.

This is a great accomplishment to say the least. If this is the future of development across multi platforms, as we have seen with things like the accessibility features of the Microsoft Surface, which have given a boost and Microsoft is collaborating with others to unlock the full potential of that device. We need make sure there is not a demographic left out, but where we always have the mindset in development that accessibility is integral, it is the lifeblood of our industry and of the future.

The internet is still inaccessible to a large portion of the world just due to the troubles of lines not reaching far enough. These wires that are necessary to connect until we can active the global wireless network. With such a thing in the future shouldn’t access for all be one of the top concerns of this innovation?

The recent discussions that have been going on across the internet on the #A11Y is interesting because with a hashtag comes internet awareness. If you agree with the A11Y hashtag or not, it looks as though it has been embraced and is becoming part of the internet culture. With awareness and discussions abounding I believe right now is a very important moment in our history, and that it will be seen as a turning point towards access for all. Perhaps not today or this year, but soon, and with the strides that are continuing to be taken it’s not too far around the river bend.