Blog – Meryl.net home

Accessibility: Why You Need to Work Toward Progress Over Perfection

May 7, 2022April 14, 2022 by Meryl Evans

Three circles tracking progress with first at 75%, second at 50%, and last at 25%

In August 2017, I had unexpected emergency surgery. This was going to make it difficult for me to train for my second half marathon the following December. The doctor told me to take it easy for two weeks. And then slowly ramp up my workouts based on how I feel. In other words, make progress, … Read more

6 Ways to Make Your Online Video Meetings Accessible

December 15, 2021September 20, 2021 by Meryl Evans

Illustration of monitor with person wearing headset and captions

When it first hit, the pandemic was a curse. For everyone, of course. But I’m talking about it being a curse in a different way for me as a deaf person. You know. With a mask-mask here. And a mask-mask there. Here a mask, there a mask. Everywhere a mask-mask. Sorry. Got carried away there … Read more

Captioning Videos FAQ

March 22, 2022August 26, 2021 by Meryl Evans

Thank you for your interest in captioning videos! When you caption videos, You’ll be rewarded with more video views because those with captions reach more viewers than those without captions. Here are the answers to frequently asked questions about captioning videos. ContentsWho uses captions on videos?How do I create captions for videos?1. DIY: Do-it-yourself2. Caption … Read more

Deaf FAQ: My Perspective

August 26, 2021May 5, 2021 by Meryl Evans

Meryl looks up with a finger on her chin giving a look that she's thinking

When I give a presentation, I always preface it: “I can only share my experience as a deaf person because we’re all diverse.” We’re all different. Some of us are born deaf. Some are late-deafened. Some of us wear hearing devices. Some don’t. Some of us learn to speak and read lips. Some of us … Read more

Does Your Video Make These 6 Common Caption Mistakes?

April 6, 2021April 2, 2021 by Meryl Evans

You review your captioned video one more time for caption mistakes. It contains no typos. The captions sync up with the audio. They have a blackish background with a whitish font. The captions show no signs of any leftovers from automatic captions aka autocraptions. That means it’s captimized right? Captimize is my term for captions … Read more

6 Reasons Why Automatic Captions Are a Big Problem

June 16, 2021March 2, 2021 by Meryl Evans

Problem with Autocaptions slide. Captions say "Thanks for capturing Russian traction Valium concentration happened crippling."

Would you publish an article on your website if it has typos and other errors? Well, then. Would you publish captions on your website if it has typos and other errors? That’s what automatic captions are and why I call them autocraptions. Automatic captions are like a person or synthesized voice speaking flatly without inflection … Read more

Why and How to Create Accessible Social Media and Website Content

March 5, 2022February 2, 2021 by Meryl Evans

Content accessibility isn’t just the responsibility of the design and production team. It’s everyone’s job. OK. Maybe content marketing doesn’t know to add ALT text to images. Maybe a salesperson doesn’t know PDFs need to be accessible. Maybe a graphic designer doesn’t know about contrast beyond complementary colors. Do you detect a theme here? I … Read more

Is Your Digital Marketing Missing This Something Extra?

December 16, 2020November 11, 2020 by Meryl Evans

Still of Meryl in a video "And if you caption your videos, start marketing that fact"

Do you buy DVD or Blu-rays anymore? They still have one thing you typically can’t get watching videos on-demand, online, or a streaming network. The special features. The bonuses. The something extra. However, when I check out the extras, I keep my expectations low. It’s because a lot of them don’t have captions. Something I … Read more

Ann Fields

I highly recommend Meryl Evans as a professional writer and content maven. I worked for several years with Meryl in the telecommunications field. She was an analyst in the Process department and she served on many key projects with much success.

As an analyst, she was responsible for the creation of technical requirements documents, test plans, and process flow charts. She facilitated cross-functional conference calls and hosted team meetings to initiate and execute key work initiatives. Meryl has many strong skills that are applicable to any industry. She has a keen attention to detail, a thirst for all things technical, an analytical mind for design, and a commitment to meeting deadlines.

Plus, Meryl has strong interpersonal and negotiation skills…and a great sense of humor! Needless to say, her writing skills and technical knowledge far exceed the average. Again, I sincerely vouch for Meryl’s professional skills and abilities and would welcome any opportunity to speak on her behalf.

Ann Fields

SBC Communnications, Inc.

Ayana Cavelle Quackenbush

I recall quite clearly that it was coming down to the wire; I was just completing my thesis and the due date was impending. To be honest, I was barely able to review my paper or correct the grammatical and structural errors in my paper. Luckily, Meryl was recommended to me by a professor. I required that my paper be edited – approximately 100 pages – with a 3 day turnaround. I was surprised when Meryl accepted the task and was able to accommodate my request with such grace and calm. She was very thorough and the changes that she suggested made complete sense. Meryl, thanks, you played a major role the acceptance of my thesis, returning high quality work to me in a timely and orderly manner given the strict guidelines of the department and the short time I gave you.

Ayana Cavelle Quackenbush

NYU MSIS

Judy Schramm, CEO of ProResource, Inc.

It is a delight to work with Meryl. She delivers high quality work with great turnaround. I recommend her highly!

Judy Schramm, CEO

ProResource, Inc.

Steve Kayser, marketing and media relations pro

When I think of “professional writer,” I think of Meryl.
When I think of “personable” writer I think of Meryl.
When I think of a “Git’er Done” writer, I think of Meryl.
When I think of a truly caring and sharing person, in business and life, I think of Meryl.
And … When I think “it doesn’t get much better than that,” I think of Meryl.

Steve Kayser

Kayser Media

Bill Moore, CEO of Zello

Your work is super and you are responsive and dependable. I wish we could clone you. Meryl is also talented, fast, smart, reliable, a good communicator, and honest. A precious combination.

Bill Moore, CEO

Zello

Paul J. Krupin, author

Meryl’s work brings your writing to a level of real time real world readiness that enable you to reach your full potential with your target audience. She is a word master par excellence — a go to the mountain guru of the written word, who is capable of making your words, skills, and talents really shine, and propel them into greatness.

Paul J. Krupin, author and founder

Presari

Sue Lemm PMP®

Meryl provides an awesome menu of digital marketing to helpfirms. The thoroughness of Meryl’s work is what reallyimpressed me – quick turnaround, corrections and in addition – sheprovides the Why behind the suggestions that really open up theconversation. Loved the process!

George Tatar, CEO at Akruto, Inc.

I was fortunate to work with Meryl for several years on blogs and social media for my company. Meryl went above and beyond in every aspect of her work. Meryl’s writing is well researched, always targeted to the right audience and, importantly, interesting to read. Meryl has always been proactive to maintain an open communication and to make sure we achieve all our previously set goals and objectives. She even shared creative business ideas well beyond blogs and social media. I highly recommend working with Meryl.

George Tatar

akruto.com

Dustin Sullivan, Senior Site Content Manager, InformIT

Meryl is an important asset for our website. She is able to sort through a large volume of industry news and break it all down into pithy and interesting weblog entries for our readers, all with a writing style that is a perfect mix of technical and conversational. She is a dependable contributor; I know not only that she’s going to get her assignments in on time, but that they will be well-written and useful for our audience.

Dustin Sullivan, senior site content manager

InformIT

Frank R. Sobyak, founder

Meryl is a recommended and an endorsed resource for timely, relevant, and actionable content creation. We’ve worked together and I’ve recommended her to many colleagues over the past 15 years. Most recently she supported our digital marketing team at Park Place Dealerships with the creation of new model year overviews for over a dozen automotive manufacturer brands.

Meryl is always interested in a positive outcome, and in delivering an exceptional result. And, she will recommend improvements or enhancements as opportunities for them arise. For this she is a trusted advisor.

She always delivers good work on time that meets objectives, while at the same time providing exceptional value. For this, she is a reliable and viable resource.

Meryl will delve into your brand to help promote it in a way that engages the reader and is creative as she weaves together her storyline. For this, I find Meryl to have great enthusiasm and creativity.

Plus, she understands search engine optimization and can craft content that ranks for keywords that will drive clicks, views, and shares. Bottom line, great person who delivers a great product at a great value.

Frank Sobyak, founder

Dealership Partners LLC

Molly Holzschlag, author

Meryl K. Evans is not only a great editor and writer, her love for the Web and its denizens is apparent in all her activities. Whether keeping up with design and development issues via her own blog or other venues, Meryl is a leading voice in the cry for sensible, contemporary, and standards-based design.

Molly Holzschlag, author

Heidi Medina, business coach/LinkedIn trainer and mentor

Meryl is a firecracker who knows how to get what she wants out oflife and she KNOWS what she’s doing. If you’re looking forsomeone to help with your digital marketing and content writing,then you want Meryl helping you out. She’s professional, shows up, and gets the job done.

Heidi Medina

Talk to Heidi

Janet Roberts, editor

Meryl K. Evans is one of those rare people who can explain the most mind-numbing technical topics in such everyday terms that even nontechies like me can understand.

Janet Roberts, editor

Fred Diamond, president and co-founder of IES

Meryl has helped grow my organization, the Institute for Excellence in Sales, by effectively positioning it on multiple social media properties most notably LinkedIn and Twitter. She’s very attuned to getting attention on those properties and is also very proactive in helping her clients post frequently and optimally. She also has brought many fresh ideas to our organization, helping us achieve attention from prospects and new partners we didn’t know even existed! We made a great decision hiring her to help us.

Fred Diamond

Institute of Excellence in Sales

Kim Beasley, owner

I recently used the services of Meryl to rewrite the text of a couple of my websites and I love the results that I received. She is very customer-oriented and able to understand your needs while at the same time fulfill them beyond your expectations.

Kim Beasley, owner

Agap3 Business Services, LLC

Hank Stroll, founder of InternetVIZ

Meryl Evans is one of the reasons why InternetVIZ is in business today. Without her, the first overload of business would have sunk us. She has also made me aware of the need of clear and concise written communication. She has an accessibility and directness that is wonderful. Her intuition is great. I consider her a ‘trail blazer’. Finally, her work with eNewsletter Journal and The Remediator Security Digest are outstanding.

Hank Stroll

Publisher, InternetVIZ

Janet Johnson, marketing pioneer

We are fortunate to have been able to rely on Meryl to augment our internal resources here at Marqui. Recently, she was instrumental in helping us craft a white paper on blogging that helped us not only capture the spirit (through tone and manner) of the subject perfectly, it provided welcome entertainment along with technological enlightenment for our readers.

The paper has been (so far) downloaded more than 1600 times from our web site. And it is a testament to our collaboration that we’ve received compliments like this one: ‘Finally. A white paper not written by committee. How refreshing.’ Thank you, Meryl.

Janet Johnson, marketing pioneer

O'Johnson Partners

Janine A. Schindler, founder and owner

Working with Meryl has been a pure delight! I had so many ideas of what I needed and wanted to say and in so many versions – I didn’t know where to begin. Meryl sorted through the all the twisted and tangled threads and wove them into a masterful dialogue that is proudly displayed on my website. It’s great to know that Meryl is there for all my writing projects. An international company contacted me because of the web site content she wrote.

Janine A. Schindler, founder and owner

JAS Leadership

Nate Hoppe, editor

Meryl Evans has been an outstanding freelancer for PC Today Magazine. Her understanding of mobile technology has made her one of our go-to writers. Not only that, she’s extremely prompt and professional. It has been a pleasure to work with her.

Nate Hoppe, editor

Sandhills Publishing

David Strom, writer and speaker

Meryl is a joy to work with, whip smart, delivers her work on time and exceeds expectations, and is a great all-around person too! She has written several articles for a new Web site and takes pride in her work. I highly recommend her for this type of work. She truly is a content maven.

Top qualities: Great results, good value, on time.

David Strom, writer and speaker

David Strom, Inc.

Kyle Thompson, owner of Big Fish Consulting

I’ve been through at least a dozen writers prior to finding Meryl.She’s the only one we use now and my entire team loves workingwith her. She writes for a variety of clients across multiple topics. Inhundreds of pieces, I’ve had zero complaints from my clients. Her lightning fast turn around helps me stand out.

Kyle Thompson

Big Fish Consulting

Jeffrey Zeldman, author, founder, and publisher

Meryl Evans is a seasoned Internet professional and, dare I say it, unicorn, with a gift for social strategies and fluent, natural-sounding copy/editorial/SEO that advance her clients’s business interests and help them connect more deeply with their customers. I’ve known Meryl since the mid-1990s, when she was already an experienced web consultant and gifted writer. Her insightful early articles for my magazine, A List Apart, helped chart its course and establish it as one of the more thoughtful web design and development publications (which I hope it still is).

Jeffrey Zeldman

A List Apart

Debbie Weil, founder and author

In addition to being an accomplished writer herself, Meryl is a researcher supreme if you need someone knowledgeable about all things. She is fast, responsive and always ‘gets it’ with a minimum of communication. I recommend her services highly. She is a pleasure to work with.

Debbie Weil, founder and author

Wordbiz LLC

Howard Sherman, Chairman and CEO, Malinche Entertainment

Meryl’s down-to-earth and insightful advice can transform any website from a money-sucker to a money-maker. Pay no mind to the get-rich-quick snake oil salesmen populating the Internet; the path to riches on the Internet is a long road that must be traveled slowly. There are few people better equipped than Meryl Evans to make that journey smooth and satisfying.

Howard Sherman, Chairman and CEO

Malinche Entertainment

Sara Oblak Speicher, founder and president

I have to say that working with Meryl has been one of the best experiences one can ask for! She is an excellent communicator (although we only use email), very clear on what is expected and she is always two steps ahead in the process, pointing out potential setbacks before they even occur.

Meryl has been highly recommended by another client and now I know why! The value she adds to my business and my clients with her writing and editing expertise is impossible to express with words (unless you’re a content maven like Meryl is). Most importantly, she’s very personable and responsive, and her attention to detail is remarkable. Thank you, Meryl, for all that you do!

Sara Oblak Speicher, MBA

VBM Pro, Inc.

Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs

I have a good stable [of contributors] — but not as many true writers who also know marketing, which is where I’d put Meryl.

Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer

MarketingProfs

Nick Finck

Meryl Evans is the hardest working Managing Editor I have met. She is very proficient at her job and always meets if not exceeds my expectations. If I needed to hire a freelance editor, I would hire Meryl before anyone else.

Nick Finck

UX pro

Tracy Haver

I worked with Meryl for a number of years at SBC. I appreciated her professionalism and valued her work products. As a peer, I utilized the documentation she created, and I always found it to be accurate and of high quality. Meryl is a valuable professional with excellent communication skills, creativity, and polish. I recommend Meryl highly.

SBC / AT&T

Todd Marks, author

Meryl’s thoroughness and attention to detail have been key ingredients to the success of the book projects that we have worked on.

Todd Marks, author

Lori Samuels, NBCUniversal Media, LLC Accessibility Director

Meryl is just an incredible fountain of knowledge regarding accessibility, closed captioning, and social media platforms. Meryl was kind enough to spend time with a group of us at NBCUniversal to share her perspectives on the factors that go into the quality of closed captions in both broadcast and streaming video. It was an incredibly impactful learning session for everyone. She’s also been my go-to source for best practices and tips to make social media accessible to everyone. I highly recommend Meryl as a digital marketing and accessibility expert!

Yury Uskov, CEO at iSpring

We are excited about Meryl’s work for us. She is a very talented person and content written by Meryl reflects our company message with her own unique style. It is a delight to work with Meryl. She is a true pearl in the sea of freelancers.

Yury Uskov

iSpring

Thomas Logan, founder and CEO of Equal Entry

Meryl came into my company and took control of our social media process recently. Immediately (within one month) we saw a 30% increase in traffic. Meryl has that communication factor that demonstrates she totally understands and connects with the social media world that we all work in. We are so happy to work with her now and will continue to work with her in the future!

Chris Pirillo, head geek and founder

Meryl has passion, personality, and a persistent personal voice. She isn’t just followed by our subscribers, she’s adored. When they don’t hear from her after a while, we’re sure to get a few “Where’s Meryl?!” emails.

Chris Pirillo, head geek and founder

Lockergnome

Karla Quick, director of clinical marketing

Working with Meryl Evans was always such a great experience. She has this innate ability to promote whatever it is you’re trying to do/sell/share. Her language is always professional and comes across very natural. She helped our company grow our social platforms and did it with such ease! She helped us connect with physicians and potential patients, all while ensuring our messaging was clear and inviting! I thoroughly enjoyed working with Meryl and her collaborative approach to the success of our company.

Karla Quick

Jillian Fortin, communications director

Meryl is whip-smart, highly energetic, and incredibly captivating speaker and advocate. We invited Meryl to speak at our annual accessibility conference in 2019, and our attendees loved her so much, we had to invite her back for 2020! Meryl really takes the time to really get to know her audience and assess what their needs are, which helps ensure that she delivers relevant and helpful content each and every time. I loved working with Meryl and look forward to working with her again!

Stine Holmgaard, CEO at A.Miroe

I had the pleasure of hosting Meryl as a panelist and speaker for the Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2020. During preparation for this online event, Meryl proved herself to be an incredibly helpful and thoughtful professional. She was also very well prepared for the presentation and her eloquence and insights at the event contributed to a relevant and valuable event for the participants as well as fellow panelists and speakers. I give Meryl my warmest recommendations.

Stine Holmgaard

A.Miroe

Louisa van Vessem, Workflow Virtual

Meryl is inspirational, she’s had such a positive influence on theworld of LinkedIn. She’s transformed the way people think aboutvideos, making them realise the importance of captions and how touse them effectively. Her approach and the way she articulates hermessage demonstrates how awesome she is at what she does.

Louisa van Vessem

Workflow Virtual

Jeff Forester, executive director

This is a site that even I understand, so I know my members will also. I can’t believe how much you guys did in such a short amount of time. Unlike my original web developer, you listened to what I wanted and gave it to me without hassle. Thanks! (On setting up a business blog.)

Jeff Forester, executive director

Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates