Author: Rosemary Musachio, Chief Accessibility Officer at Ruh Global Communications

Recently, Ruh Global Communications appointed me its Chief Accessibility Officer (CAO).  In my role, I will manage internal and external accessibility projects.  I will ensure that accessibility best practices will be followed within the company and help clients meet their accessibility needs, including website and product accessibility.  I will consult on accessibility and inclusion issues that clients face from the employee to the customer level.

Every business needs to include accessibility in its fabric to become stronger.  Otherwise, it will rip and create big gaps.  Making every aspect of a company accessible and inclusive increases productivity, embraces diversity with common goals, and promotes more of a positive image to the public.  According to Frances West, CAO of IBM, “Today, it affects everyone’s use of a product or service and helps deliver information in the most consumable way possible.  Organizations that have embraced and embedded accessibility throughout the enterprise are better connecting with customers, expanding their market reach and creating an inclusive workplace environment where everyone has the best chance of success.”

Since I have cerebral palsy, I bring a personal perspective to my role as CAO.  I know what a company needs to do for employees with disabilities to feel accepted and purposeful, and what a business must do to serve customers with disabilities with consideration and respect.  Other persons with disabilities have held CAO or similar positions.  For example, Microsoft recently hired Jenny Lay-Flurrie as its new Accessibility Director.  Becoming deaf from an ear infection during childhood, Jenny will integrate her personal experiences into her new position.  As it’s inferred in the article Talk to the Hand, Lay-Flurrie’s motto “You can do anything” is helping Microsoft execute programs to assist persons with disabilities with technologies.  For instance, she helped plan Ability Summit, a showcase of products and services to empower them for the future.

Another accessibility executive who has a disability is Jonathan Avila.  His vision impairment has brought a personal perspective to his job also.  Who else better than a person who cannot see can develop solutions and innovations for users with vision, as well as other, impairments?  Avila also serves on WCAG working group and mobility accessibility task force.

You can be skilled at accessibility testing and know all about best practices and guidelines.  But the first-hand experience of facing accessibility barriers gives a CAO an extra edge.  It brings empathy to the role, making the CAO passionate about helping businesses bulldoze those barriers that other persons with disabilities have encountered.

If a company even creates a COA or a Director of Accessibility position, it is taking a smart business move.  With 15% of the world’s population having a disability and $1 trillion in aggregated spending by consumers with disabilities, appointing a skilled COA will allow a business to be more profitable and reputable.  If the skilled COA has a disability, it makes the company more credible, sending a strong message to the public that it is serious about accessibility.

Learn more about our work at www.RuhGlobal.com or follow us on Social Media @rosemusachio, @debraruh and @ruhglobal on most channels.

Ruh Global Communications, an international leader in strategic disability inclusion and accessibly policies, programs and marketing, announced that it has named Rosemary Musachio as Chief Accessibility Officer (CAO).  With over fifteen years in the arena of electronic and Information technology (E&IT) accessibility, Miss Musachio will manage internal and external accessibility projects.  She will ensure that accessibility best practices will be followed within the company and help clients meet their accessibility needs, including website and product accessibility.  Additionally, she will consult on accessibility and inclusion issues that clients face from the employee to the customer level.  Prior to this new position, Miss Musachio was the company’s Chief Strategy Officer.

“Every business needs to include accessibility in its fabric to become stronger.  Otherwise, it will rip and create big gaps,” Miss Musachio explains.  “Making every aspect of a company accessible and inclusive increases productivity, embraces diversity with common goals, and promotes more of a positive image to the public.  Since I have cerebral palsy, I bring a personal perspective to my role as CAO.  I know what a company needs to do for employees with disabilities to feel accepted and purposeful, and what a business must do to serve customers with disabilities with consideration and respect.”

“Honored to promote Rosemary Musachio as our Chief Accessibility Officer (CAO). She has been in the ICT Accessibility field for over 16 years.  She has worked with national and multi-national corporations, non-profits, agencies and organizations all over the world,” says Debra Ruh, Ruh Global Communications, CEO.  “Rosemary represents everything we want to achieve in the field.  She is a talented technologist, college graduate, tester, user of Assistive Technology (AT), published author, poet, person with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and undisputed global expert in ICT accessibility.  This woman is changing the world with her talents and we are extremely proud of her.”

About Rosemary Musachio

Since 2001, Rosemary Musachio has been well versed in the accessibility realm.  She has been an accessibility analyst and training manager.  She has worked with a number of major cooperate clients on accessibility projects and has written numerous blogs on the topic.  Before Rosemary entered the accessibility industry, she was a local monthly columnist and freelance writer.  She also edited and published resource newsletters for persons with disabilities.

 About Ruh Global Communications:

Founded in March 2013, Ruh Global Communications is a strategic digital marketing firm that helps businesses and government entities include persons with disabilities within every level of an infrastructure, from interviewing and hiring to job training and retention.  We help countries implement of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).  We also work with national and multi-national firms to help them include persons with disabilities in their workforce and developing accessibility and social media programs, providing outreach and training, and helping companies procure assistive technology.  Ruh Global has presented at conferences throughout the world about accessibility and disability inclusion.

For further information, please visit us at www.ruhglobal.com , and follow us on Twitter: @RuhGlobal  or @DebraRuh. or call: +1 (804) 986-4500

Press Contact:

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

Rockville, VA.—Ruh Global Communications, an international leader in strategic disability inclusion and accessible policies, programs and marketing, has won the Acquisition International Business (AI) Excellence Awards for 2016 as the Strategic Digital Marketing Firm of the Year.  These awards recognize and honor outstanding achievements of companies and their executives through a variety of industries that have succeeded despite the high level of corporate competition.

Ruh Global is one of the award-winning companies that have consistently shown creativity, innovation, and perseverance in building a solid business even though recent economic times have been tough.

Recipients of the AI Business Awards were determined by the number of votes cast by AI subscription members, submission of supporting evidence, and AI in-house research.

“Ruh Global Communications is humbled to win this award.  Our global efforts teach countries, agencies, and corporations to include effectively, the community of persons with disabilities into the workforce and respective cultures.  As social entrepreneurs, we focus on our efforts to make a positive difference in the world.  We are honored to be acknowledged for our efforts,” says Debra Ruh – CEO at Ruh Global Communications.

About Ruh Global Communications

Founded in March 2013, Ruh Global Communications is a strategic digital marketing firm that helps businesses and government entities include persons with disabilities within every level of an infrastructure, from interviewing and hiring to job training and retention.  We help countries implement of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).  We also work with national and multi-national firms to help them include persons with disabilities in their workforce and developing accessibility and social media programs, providing outreach and training, and helping companies procure assistive technology.  Ruh Global has presented at conferences throughout the world about accessibility and disability inclusion.  For further information, please visit us at RuhGlobal.com , and follow us on Twitter: @RuhGlobal  or @DebraRuh.

About Acquisition International

Founded in 2011, Acquisition International, Acquisition International (AI) is a publication that focuses on global corporate news, events, and opinion.  The world-known publication has 108,000 subscribers in over 70 companies.  AI also maintains an active website with the latest news in the global business world, including the Deal Diary that features 100 daily deals from companies of various industry sections.  For further information, visit Acquisition-intl.com.

Ruh Global Communications
Twitter: @Ruh Global and @DebraRuh

Press Contact:

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

Ruh Global Communications, a global leader with corporate inclusion strategies, accessibility advocacy and corporate inclusion industries, announces today it has named Richard J. Streitz Chief Operating Officer.

As COO, Mr. Streitz will have overall responsibility for the company’s growing domestic and international operations, including strategic business development, implementing global growth strategies, and overseeing the company’s recently expanded services in the North American and European regions. He will focus on continuing to build a strong, client-focused organization, while increasing efficiency across all aspects of operations. In addition, he will have day to day responsibilities over finance, marketing, logistics and information technology.

”This re-alignment strengthens our executive management team and greatly adds to our capacity to implement our growth strategy,” said Debra Ruh, CEO of Ruh Global Communications. “Richard’s proven outstanding leadership and deep knowledge of the industry coupled with his international corporate experience will be instrumental in aligning Ruh Global Communications to meet the present and future needs of the company implementing inclusionary corporate strategies worldwide.”

Ruh Global Communications recently expanded its domestic and international operations as part of its strategic growth plan to accommodate a rapidly growing list of customers exploring corporate inclusionary strategies globally. PRESS RELEASE R. Streitz – COO Ruh Global Communications

“The increasing value of corporate inclusionary strategies properly implemented has made accessibility management an essential component to developing corporate level inclusion strategies that strengthen engagement within their respective communities,” added Ruh. “With Richard leading our global operations, I have full confidence that Ruh Global Communications will continue to be a resource and a trusted strategic partner for larger corporations, institutions and governmental agencies worldwide.”

Richard Streitz first worked together with Debra Ruh in 2011 when he was president of an international resort and entertainment development company. Richard worked with Debra’s group to assist in reviewing the company’s inclusion practices through its worldwide strategic planning, project development, corporate branding and international marketing. Recently, Richard served as consulting executive director of corporate strategies for Ruh Global Communications, where he helped develop macro level planning for their new global client services.

Prior to joining Ruh Global Communications, Mr. Streitz was President of S&S Theme Parks and Resorts S.A., a Costa Rican company focused on creating universal designed living, entertainment and recreational built environments. Richard also worked for the prestigious Walt Disney Imagineering group for over a decade where he was actively involved with supervising the design, fabrication and construction efforts for their attractions, theme parks and resorts in Europe, Asia and the USA. Mr. Streitz has served on the Board of many different companies and non-profit organizations where he enjoys sharing his corporate expertise and international experience for a greater common good.

About Ruh Global Communications: Ruh Global Communications are experts in compliance and ICT Accessibility (CRPD, Section 503, 504, and 508 and ADA). We understand the unique needs of businesses and organizations and how to protect them by reducing risks, while at the same time maximizing value and ROI based on crucial accessibility initiatives. Our goal is to ensure that our clients are aware of and prepared for mounting changes in global and national accessibility and disability guidelines and mandates. We possess the inherent capability of realistically evaluating accessibility and compliance technology, as well as disability employment solutions, from the perspective of the target audience – people with disabilities. Ruh Global Communications is privately held and headquartered in Rockville Virginia.

For more information, visit Ruh Global or call: +1 (804) 986-4500

Press Contact:

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

Growing up with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic neuromuscular disease that affects all muscles of the body, can bring social challenges for anyone.  For Alice Wong, the challenges made her angry.  Rather than the anger becoming a negative impact on her adult life, she has been able to utilize it to fight for her rights and those of others with disabilities.

As she wrote in her essay Hey, Angry Girl, Alice faced a lot of attitudinal barriers while she was growing up in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Besides the usual stares and naïve questions from people, she also faced barriers in her education.  For instance, to complete her second year drama class, one of the requirements was to do a skit that required physical action.  The professor insisted it had to be done standing up, which Alice couldn’t do.  So she had to forego it.

Attending the University of California, Alice discovered ways to break down barriers that she had encountered during her youth and still was facing.  Works of disability activists and researchers such as Paul Longmore, Irving Zola, Erving Goffman, and others inspired Alice to express her ideas and voice her frustration through writing and research.  Her writings have helped people with disabilities to live as independent as possible.

For instance, Alice is the Staff Research Associate for the Community Policy Living Center at the University of California where she authors curricula for the College of Personal Assistance and Caregiving and producing reports on Olmstead-related legislation and lawsuits.  In fact, Alice is the co-author of several online courses on personal assistance care, which can be found at Direct Course Online.  She’s also the founder of the Facebook group “Self-Directed Care Discussion Group”, where members can voice their concerns and ask questions about personal assistance issues.

Besides personal care assistance, Alice also has motivated other persons with disabilities to make their voices heard.  She has launched the Disability Visibility Project, a blog-like platform so persons with disabilities can write about their challenges and successes.  These stories make our voices heard, act as a historical resource, and illustrate their diversity.  As with the Facebook personal assistance group, she also utilizes Twitter to encourage them to discuss issues that concerns the disability community.  Hopefully, agency or government officials notice these discussions and act upon what needs to be done to ensure our basic rights as humans.

Alice also promotes social media accessibility as a council member of the National Council of Disability (NCD).  In 2014, she co-moderated a series of online dialogues to discuss how social media platforms can become more accessible, such as users adding text alternatives to images and including correct captions for videos.   “{O}ne of my advocacy efforts is through community-building efforts on social media such as Facebook and Twitter,” Alice says. “I’ve come across some amazing people with disabilities all over the world and we share our experiences that seem to be universal.”

As an avid advocate for persons with disabilities, Alice offers three bits of advice.  First, don’t consider yourself the problem.  Society creates most of the barriers that you need to overcome.  Second, reach out to other persons with disabilities who have experienced similar situations that you do for guidance and mentoring.  Third, share your struggles and successes with others who may need help.

Alice turned her anger as a little girl into something positive as a woman—her passion and desire to help others with disabilities.

Follow Alice on Twitter at @SFdirewolf.

Several years ago I asked my mom’s gynecologist if she could give me a routine pelvic examination.  She said she would have to put me under anesthesia to perform the exam because my cerebral palsy would not allow my body to hold still.  Although her reply was cordial, it made me feel demeaned, as if I was a second-class citizen.   Couldn’t she have her medical assistant hold my legs while she examined me?  In fact, that would have been a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

This is the kind of treatment that women with disabilities usually face regarding their health care.  According to the Center for Research on Women with Disabilities (CROWD), we have more difficulty obtaining health care than non-disabled women.  The National Study of Women with Physical Disabilities supports this, stating that we are less likely to have pelvic exams than women without disabilities.

Besides attitudinal barriers, we also face physical obstacles in doctors’ offices and hospitals.  For example, when I get a mammogram, I have to become a contortionist.  I have to put one arm upright leaning against the mammography unit, hang on to the bar with the other hand, and rest my uplifted chin against the front of the machine.  Include the fact that my body has difficulty keeping still and this almost pain-free routine exam becomes a very uncomfortable feat.  Not only am I nervous about the mammogram results, I’m also afraid that I’ll bump my face against the machine.  My incidents are not unique.  Cases exist where women with disabilities were duct taped to mammography machines.  Besides the discomfort, an inaccessible mammography machine may cause unreadable x-ray images, for the patient may move and cause one or both breasts not to be x-rayed correctly.  Consequently, potential tumors may be overlooked.

Struggles that women with disabilities face regarding healthcare stems from several reasons.  (These reasons also can pertain to men with disabilities.)  First, many medical professionals are ignorant of who we really are.  Some think we must be asexual.  Because we cannot walk or we have muscle spasms, they assume we also cannot use our bodies to love others or procreate.  So they think our intimate organs do not need preventative or medical care. Some doctors suggest hysterectomies to eliminate the hassle of menstrual cycles, assuming we don’t have the desire to become mothers. If we get breast cancer, we may not be offered reconstructive surgery because many doctors don’t see us as having female bodies but as having disabled ones.

Lack of training also contributes to health care issues for us.  Take the GYN incident above.  If the doctor knew how to give an exam to a woman with cerebral palsy, she wouldn’t have suggested the anesthesia or refused medical care.  Medical professionals should know how to gently stretch a woman’s legs if they are spastic or place a woman with spinal conditions in comfortable positions during an exam.  These techniques should be taught in medical school.  The patient also could inform the medical professional about ways to make her feel comfortable and relaxed as possible while she is being examined.

Financial issues and logistics are other obstacles that women with disabilities have to overcome to receive proper healthcare.  Many women with disabilities are on Medicaid and Medicare, which deters physicians from accepting their cases.  CROWD reports that even if women with disabilities have private insurance, many insurance companies may not pay for specific prescriptions, procedures, therapies, or assistive devices.  As an example, insurance may not pay for estrogen therapy because it is not considered a medical necessity.

Although Title II and Title III of the ADA require medical facilities to have accessible medical equipment, many still are not complying.  It is like a double-edged sword.  Hospitals and doctors may not invest in such equipment because patients with disabilities are few, while we don’t go to these facilities because they lack accommodations.  An accessible gynecological exam table, for instance, that can be lowered for easy wheelchair transfers costs between $4,000 and $10,000.  While this is expensive, it can be offset with tax incentives.

27 million women in this country and 16% of the world’s women have some kind of disability.  As populations become older and live longer, many other women will develop debilitating conditions.  Medical facilities and professionals need to realize women with disabilities are not in the minority.  More importantly, they must know that we are needed as daughters, sisters, friends, wives, mothers, and productive members of society.  So proper healthcare is vital to help us continue fulfilling these roles.

Yet, the responsibility of obtaining health care also lies with us.  We should tell doctors, medical assistants, and nurses how they could assist us in receiving the best care possible.  If they refuse to comply, then we should seek legal or other public action to ensure that all women with disabilities get the care that they deserve.

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

The 25th Anniversary of the ADA Series: Disability Inclusion in the Workforce – Training & Finding Champions

Training will save an organization a lot of time and effort as well as reduce risks. Disability inclusion should be integrated into all corporate training, writes Debra Ruh.

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

We watched the media surrounding the signing of the ADA on television 25 years ago. My husband and I had followed the efforts being made in Washington, D.C. with great interest as persons with disabilities championed for the passage of this important legislation. It had become personal to our family. Before it became personal we believed that all Americans should have equal rights, but we did not understand all the implications and nuances.

Our daughter Sara Ruh had been born a few years earlier with Down syndrome (DS). She was not diagnosed until she was four months old, which was unusual at the time. I was 28 years old when I got pregnant with Sara and so the doctors did not recommend prenatal testing because there was no history of disabilities in my family.

I do remember that right after Sara was born a strange thought floated through my mind that she looked like a baby with DS. I immediately dismissed this because I did not know what babies with DS looked like and I did not know anyone who had it. Plus I was on pain medication because of the difficult birth.

A few months later, following some tests, a doctor diagnosed Sara as having DS. The doctor called us into the office and gave us the news that changed our lives. He doctor told us that she would be easier to raise than a child with ADHD. He also noted that she might never learn to walk or talk. He sent us to a geneticist and we were told that she might get pregnant at 16 so be careful. These well-meaning doctors were not very helpful. We decided to not listen to their negative comments with information that seemed out of place.

As we sat in the meeting room, hearing the news that our daughter’s path was going to be much different than what we had anticipated, we did not realize that people all over the United States were fighting for the rights of persons with disabilities.

The 25th Anniversary of the ADA is powerful for our family and for people all over the world. The ADA was one of the most powerful civil rights legislations of our time. The United States has accomplished so much during the 25 years of the ADA. Our family is so thankful to the people that fought for Sara and other persons with disabilities.

Sara Ruh did not get pregnant at 16 and she learned to talk and walk. Today she is an artist, a thespian, a dancer, and a motivational speaker. She has spoken all over the world to audiences as large as 5,000 at a time. She has been employed with Nordstrom’s for the last 9 years.

Sara has a good life and she spends a lot of time volunteering and helping other people. Her life matters and she has more options because of the people that fought for her rights and got the ADA passed 25 years ago.

The United Nations promulgated the Convention on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and unfortunately, the United States has yet to ratify it despite the fact that 150+ other countries have done so. There’s a perception that signing the CRPD is unnecessary as we have the ADA. However, in order to incorporate newer benchmarks of accessibility, we need to be part of a global mandate that fosters a culture of inclusion for all citizens, including senior citizens. Disability is not a narrowly defined concept, but a spectrum that is inclusive of all abilities.

Join G3ict and other leaders in helping assure that persons with disabilities have access to ICT, education, employment, and a host of services that go towards making life productive, successful and valuable.

To learn more about Debra Ruh please visit: www.RuhGlobal.com.

– See more at: http://g3ict.org/resource_center/newsletter/news/p/newsletterId_/id_534#sthash.qrCQAYZn.dpuf