According to the World Health Organization
(WHO), the more than 750 million individuals with disabilities
worldwide comprise one of the largest and fastest growing minority
groups. However, they are often overlooked as candidates for meaningful
employment – not anymore if Debra Ruh has anything to do with it. In 2000, she founded TecAccess
to help government, higher education and private employers deploy
electronic and information technology accessibility solutions that
enable employees with disabilities to contribute and succeed in the
workplace. As Debra explains, “Technology is the great equalizer that
allows us to look at all people as potential employees regardless of
disabilities,” and TecAccess proves this to its clients every day.
With 70% of its 60-person staff comprised of individuals with
disabilities, TecAccess uses itself as a case study when helping
clients realize the benefits of an accessible workplace. TecAccess is
also uniquely positioned to take on the challenge of developing
creative accessibility solutions because its staff lives with
disabilities themselves. Working and speaking from experience, the
company provides testing and assessment, training, engineering, policy
review and consulting for clients that need to meet Section 508
accessibility compliance or want to leverage technology to open up a
whole new pool of viable job candidates. Because budgets are tight,
they also offer return-on-investment reporting to help clients measure
success.
Case-in-point: Rosemary Musachio, a TecAccess employee, has cerebral
palsy and cannot speak or use her hands. Because of technology and a
specially designed head pointer used to navigate a keyboard, Rosemary’s
disabilities have not prevented her from attaining success. As a key
contributor to TecAccess’ new Disabled Veterans Training Program (DVET)
designed to help find high-quality jobs for our nation’s heroes,
Rosemary uses her life experience coupled with tremendous writing and
communication skills to both identify with and train disabled war
veterans through online classrooms.
“Without advancements in technology, TecAccess could not exist,”
said Debra. “Because technology has come so far, it allows us to make
the impossible possible for so many people.”
If you are in the IT or accessibility industry or are interested in TecAccess’ services, please comment here or contact Debra or her staff directly.
