Speaking and Podcasting

I’m on a mission to educate people about the why and how to include people with disabilities and accessibility in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. I aim for the three E’s on these topics with grace and vigor: educate, entertain, and encourage action. Because of this, someone referred to me as an accessibility unicorn. [Blushes]

I speak on a diversity of disability and accessibility topics including:

Accessibility and disability awareness
Progress over perfection
How to be a disability ally
Why and how to create high-quality captioned videos
Why and how to ensure marketing, communications, social media, and content are accessible
What is 360-degree accessibility and why it matters
… and more

Available for in-person and virtual events. If you’d like me to present at your company or event, please drop me a line.

Accessibility is not an all-or-nothing proposition. The key is to treat it like a journey by aiming for progress over perfection. I encourage celebrating small victories and making progress every day.

Contents

Upcoming Speaking Events
Speaking Events in 2023
Speaking Events in 2022
Speaking Events in 2021
Speaking Events in 2020
Podcasts and Lives

Upcoming Speaking Events

June 6, 2023: Advocating for Accessibility in the Workplace and Beyond LinkedIn Live Audio with Catarina Rivera
July 2023: Keynote at an APSE conference
September 13, 2023: D CEO DEI Symposium, IDEAs (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) with Impact

Speaking Events in 2023

May 2023: Fireside chat with Pearson
May 2023: The Value of Digital Accessibility and Beyond at Workday.
May 2023: GAAD Fireside Chat moderator at North Texas Disability Chamber
May 2023: John Slatin AccessU
April 2023: Progress Over Perfection in Accessibility Communication at A11y Conference
April 2023: Accessibility and Captions at Riot Games
April 2023: Content and Social Media Accessibility at City of Plano
April 2023: Accessibility Week at Square Cash App
March 2023: Watercooler to Headset? The Future of Workplaces [audio only] at SXSW
March 2023: Don’t leave anyone behind: How to make your content accessible and increase your impact at LinkedIn Rocks Conference
February 2023: How to Create Accessible Social Media and Web Content at City of Plano
January 2023: Shining a Light on Leaders with Disabilities at Junior League of Collin County in Plano, TX
January 2023: Automatic Captions: Our Experiments and Best Practices for A11yNYC at 3 World Trade Center in New York City
January 2023: GatherVerse S.H.E. Summit

Speaking Events in 2022

November 2022: Why Accessibility Needs to Be Part of Your MVP with Sharron Rush and Albert Swantner at Austin Startup Week in Austin, TX
November 2022: Why You Need to Involve Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Research and Testing via A11y Camp
October 2022: The Path to Accessibility Begins with You: Progressive [Progressive attendee post]
October 2022: Demystifying Accessible Technology: Disability and Philanthropy Forum [Short clip from Forum]
September 2022: Gain Creative Breakthroughs by Hiring People With Disabilities: FoundedInFoCo
September 2022: How to Create Accessible Captioned Videos: Jackson
August 2022: Sustainable Buildings Canada’s Better Buildings Boot Camp (#BBBC)
July 2022: Accessible Captions and Meetings: WP Engine
July 2022: Celebrating ADA 32: Accessibility: Flatiron Health
July 2022: Accessibility for All: Gallaudet University Information Technology program
June 2022: XR Access Symposium: The Value of Inclusively Designed XR Workplace Tools and Inclusive Immersive Meetings and Collaboration
June 2022: Disability Inclusive Design of XR Collaboration Apps [requires free account] at AWE USA [ARPost article]
May 2022: Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD): Bay Area Accessibility and Inclusive Design (co-founder of GAAD)
May 19, 2022: PwC Global Accessibility Awareness Day: PwC leader post
May 19, 2022: State of Digital Accessibility: A Fireside Chat: North Texas Disability Chamber in Plano, Texas
May 11, 2022: Access services customer panel at EGA Access Services Summit
May 4, 2022: ETS Employee Global Accessibility Awareness Day event
May 10, 2022: How to Create Accessible Captions at John Slatin AccessU in Austin, Texas.
April 23, 2022: TEDx Talk: TEDxPlano
March 16, 2022: Design XR Tools with Disability Inclusion in Mind with Ashley Coffey: axe-con
February 2022: How Do We Avoid Surface-level Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Tech? Fable
January 11, 2022: Demystifying Accessibility: PCMA Convening Leaders Conference in Las Vegas.

Speaking Events in 2021

December 2021: Captions for Everyone! with Chris Bogue and Viktor Köves.
December 2021: 2021 State of Accessibility Report Findings: Diamond
December 2021: Conducting Accessible UXR: Curiosity Tank
December 2021: How to Create Accessible Captioned Videos for WordPress Sites and Beyond: WordPress Accessibility Meetup Group
December 2021: Digital Accessibility: The Only Way Ahead: National Ability Summit
November 2021: Shattering Misconceptions About Deafness: A11yTalks
November 2021: Value of Inclusive Design in XR-based Training: XR Association Limitless Future Conference
October 2021: Why and How to Caption your Videos: MITRE NDEAM Accessibility Technical Exchange Meeting
October 2021: What Y’all Need to Know About Captioned Videos on Social Media, Eh? A11yTO Conf
October 2021: Early Adopters: How Embracing Assistive Technology Can Help Any Business panel with Gavin Neate, Andrew Houghton, and Andrea Mocellin:
AccessibilityPlus
September 2021: “Accessibility Is Everyone’s Job — Marketing Included: Content Marketing World
September 2021: Deaf Tech: Travel Through Time from Past to Future: #ID24
July 2021: Why and How to Create Accessible Captions: Southern Methodist University Accessibility in User Experience
July 2021: OMG! WTH Do I Start with A11y? WordCamp Santa Clarita Valley
July 2021: I Heart CC: Why and How to Caption Videos Folks Love: A11yNYC
May 2021: Get the FAQ About Captions: Accessibility Camp Bay
May 2021: How to Caption Like a Rock Star: AccessU
May 2021: How to Create Accessible Social Media and Website Content: AccessU
May 2021: Panel: Busting Myths About People with Disabilities: UW Husky Hackathon
April 2021: How to Create Accessible Content for Social Media and Websites: TechAccess Oklahoma
March 2021: Why and How to Create Accessible Social Media and Website Content: Bay Area Disability Inclusion Network
March 2021: Accessibility in Hearing Technology Q&A: Mimi
February 2021: Much Ado About Captioning Videos: A11yATX

Speaking Events in 2020

October 2020: Through the Eyes of a Deaf Person: Equal Entry
October 2020: Much Ado About Captioning Videos for WordPress and Beyond: WordCamp Los Angeles
October 2020: Much Ado About Captioning Videos for WordPress and Beyond: WordPress Accessibility Day
July 2020: Much Ado About Captioning Videos: WordPress San Fernando Valley Meetup
May 2020: No Autocraptions Allowed: Why and How to Caption Videos: AccessU
May 2020: Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD): What’s Next in Digital Inclusion and Accessibility? A. Miroe

Podcasts and Lives

May 2023: Disability Bandwidth with Nikki Nolan and Sam Proulx
May 2023: Is Your Business Accessible? with Aya Ehbuho, Solomon Quansah, and Jamie Shields
March 2023: Disability and Accessibility Inclusion with Olivia Dolley of PR Hangover [Transcript in Doc]
March 2023: Thirteen-hour Life Coach’s 100th podcast with Simon Arnold
February 2023: Talking Deafness and Accessibility LinkedIn Live with Juana Poareo
December 2022: #Strong with Maria Vitoratos
November 2022: The True Meaning of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with The Brand Called You podcast with Ashutosh Garg
November 2022: How to Advocate for a Cause LinkedIn Live with Judy Schramm, CEO of ProResource
October 2022: I Have Questions About Accessibility series with IfYouAskBetty podcast
October 2022: Progress Over Perfection LinkedIn Live with Cam Beaudoin [Clip with Cam]
September 2022: Podcast: Attract Top Talent with Inclusive Hiring Practices via The Future of Work Podcast
June 2022: AXSChat with Neil Milliken and Debra Ruh
April 2022: State of accessibility in entertainment via Kelly and Company Podcast [Transcript]
December 2021: Captions for Everyone LinkedIn Live with Chris Bogue
October 2021: Article 19 Podcast via Tamman Inc.
October 2021: A11y Rules Podcast
January 2021: Press This Podcast: Creating Captivating Video Captions
August 2020: Podcast: Make It Real with Trisha Lewis
March 2019: Podcast: Part of Me with Esi Hardy

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… Read more “Lori Samuels, NBCUniversal Media, LLC Accessibility Director”

Lori Samuels

NBCUniversal

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… Read more “George Tatar, CEO at Akruto, Inc.”

George Tatar

Akruto

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… Read more “Ann Fields”

Ann Fields

SBC Communnications, Inc.

We brought in Meryl to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the passing of the ADA. She gave a wonderfully informative, engaging, and interesting seminar to our company on a wide range of topics from business practices, team operation accessibility, and technical web accessibility standards. By pairing both her lived experiences and statistic data, she was… Read more “John McCall, Sr. Database Reliability Engineer at Flatiron Health”

John McCall, Sr.

Flatiron Health

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… Read more “Tracy Haver, Sr. Tech Team Lead, SBC (AT&T)”

Tracy Haver

SBC / AT&T

Meryl was a guest speaker at our virtual GAAD panel event in May (2022). Meryl was an absolute delight to work with and did an amazing job on the panel with the rest of our senior leaders from our product organization as well as Purpose and Inclusion. We had ~500 attendees and we received a… Read more “Arpitha Shetty, Director, Accessibility and Inclusive Design, PwC”

Arpitha Shetty

PwC

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.

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

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… Read more “Thomas Logan, founder and CEO of Equal Entry”

Thomas Logan

Equal Entry

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

Meryl is a firecracker who knows how to get what she wants out of life and she KNOWS what she’s doing. If you’re looking for someone 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

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.… Read more “Jeffrey Zeldman, author, founder, and publisher”

Jeffrey Zeldman

A List Apart

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… Read more “Jillian Fortin, communications director, Knowbility”

Jillian Fortin

Knowbility

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… Read more “Karla Quick, director of clinical marketing”

Karla Quick

Meryl is an incredible speaker! I had the pleasure of moderating the Disability & Philanthropy Forum’s Demystifying Accessible Technology webinar. Meryl served as a panelist. It was an insightful conversation, and she did an incredible job of centering the human perspective.

Gail Fuller

Disability & Philanthropy Forum

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

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… Read more “Stine Holmgaard, CEO, A.Miroe”

Stine Holmgaard

A.Miroe

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.… Read more “David Strom, writer and speaker”

David Strom, writer and speaker

David Strom, Inc.

We asked Meryl to conduct a full audit of our most important trainings with accessibility in mind. She was awesome to work with – her expertise was amazing, her recommendations on-point, and most of all, her way of working was highly aligned with ours. All this has been extremely helpful to us in setting our… Read more “Paulo O’Campo, Regional CS L&D Manager, Netflix”

Paulo O'Campo

Netflix

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… Read more “Frank R. Sobyak, founder, Dealership Partners”

Frank Sobyak, founder

Dealership Partners LLC

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

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

I‘ve followed Meryl for a number of years now and I love reading her posts and attending opportunities to hear her speak. Even though I’m well versed in web accessibility and discuss it daily in multiple aspects of my life, Meryl’s got a terrific way of presenting information that gives me new ways to think… Read more “Jeff Adams, CPACC, Accessibility Operations Director”

Jeff Adams, CPACC

I know Meryl not only as an influential advocate and speaker, but also as a personable and capable partner in business. She has provided my organization with valuable feedback from the perspective of a person with hearing loss that has helped us to improve our product and services. Additionally, Meryl has helped me to better… Read more “John Sweet, CPACC, Sr. Director Accessibility and Technology Compliance at Pluto TV”

John Sweet, CPACC

Pluto TV

Meryl is a wonderful speaker! I had her join my panel to speak about disability, accessibility and inclusion and she was a pleasure to work with. She was super responsive before the big event, had clear communication, and was a professional. She showed up ready and on time for the event, and her contributions to… Read more “Jayde Malam, CPACC”

Jayde Malam, CPACC

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

Sue Lemm PMP®

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

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… Read more “Sara Oblak Speicher, founder and president”

Sara Oblak Speicher, MBA

VBM Pro, Inc.

I had an amazing experience at the TEDxPlano 2022 event, listening to all the speakers on their bright ideas and unique ways of helping our society. Meryl’s speech was truly amazing and brought tears to my eyes. Meryl’s inspiring talk was an eye-opener and motivated how to handle complex challenges in one’s life without giving… Read more “Vish Annampedu, Principal SERDES Systems Architect, NVIDIA”

Vish Annampedu

NVIDIA

Meryl presented to our internal employees on the importance of Progress over Perfection when it comes to accessibility. Her wit and knowledge were a breath of fresh air in an area that can be difficult to navigate, and she left our participants with usable knowledge to take forward in their daily work.

Sharon Joles, MBA, CPACC

Progressive

We hosted Meryl as the inaugural guest speaker at an internal Employee Resource Group event, and she was an absolutely phenomenal presenter! Her insight and expertise in how we can make video / video conferencing, events, and the hybrid work model in general more inclusive and equitable was so valuable. We’ve already received great feedback… Read more “Stephen Duke, DEI Specialist, WP Engine”

Stephen Duke, DEI Specialist, WP Engine

WP Engine

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

Meryl was fantastic at Flatiron Health’s event in honor of the 32nd Anniversary of the ADA! She gave our attendees several best practices, CTAs, and personal insight that exceeded our expectations. Meryl delivers the material in a nurturing and insightful style – never making the audience feel guilty for not previously implementing the best practices… Read more “Avisha Sanassie, DEI Program Associate Flatiron Health”

Avisha Sanassie

Flatiron Health

I have worked with Meryl Evans for several years and enjoyed every minute. She taught a class at AccessU in 2018 that provided rational as well as practical techniques for the provision of captions in communications platforms. Since then, she has spoken at many of our events and served as an advisor to Knowbility’s award… Read more “Sharron Rush, Executive Director at Knowbility”

Sharron Rush

Knowbility

Meryl is inspirational, she’s had such a positive influence on the world of LinkedIn. She’s transformed the way people think about videos, making them realise the importance of captions and how to use them effectively. Her approach and the way she articulates her message demonstrates how awesome she is at what she does.

Louisa van Vessem

Workflow Virtual

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 working with her. She writes for a variety of clients across multiple topics. In hundreds of pieces, I’ve had zero complaints from my clients. Her lightning fast turn around helps me… Read more “Kyle Thompson, owner, Big Fish Consulting”

Kyle Thompson

Big Fish Consulting

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… Read more “Steve Kayser, marketing and media relations pro”

Steve Kayser

Kayser Media

Wow, did Meryl just make me a better PM and a better human being? Why, yes. Yes, she did. So very impressed by her presentation(s) and so impacted by her expertise, knowledge share, and approach. I feel very grateful for the practical, immediate applications in my work and daily life that were offered as recommendations… Read more “Laura Ayres, PM Privacy and Compliance, Tubi”

Laura Ayres

Tubi

Such a great difference maker! The presentation was very impactful and powerful. It’s been a privilege to work with you and hope others get a chance to involve you in their effort to drive Accessibility.

Samrawit Biyazin

PwC

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… Read more “Fred Diamond, president and co-founder, IES”

Fred Diamond

Institute of Excellence in Sales

Meryl was OUTSTANDING at WP Engine’s internal accessibility event today as part of our week of celebrations around the anniversary of the ADA. Her tips for accessibility with captions and virtual events were SUPER actionable and the insights she shared on considerations for accessibility were insightful, inspiring, and funny. As one of the event organizers… Read more “David Vogelpohl, VP Growth, WP Engine”

David Vogelpohl, VP Growth

WP Engine

Meryl continues to be a guiding light for the PCMA team as we focus our efforts on being inclusive for the global business events community. Her insights, approach and case studies continue to inspire us as we move forward to deliver social and economic transformation for our communities. In January this year we held accessibility… Read more “Gina Meier, Director of Human Resources, PCMA”

Gina Meier

PCMA

Meryl Evans was my invited guest speaker for Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) at ETS. Meryl was brilliant and authentic. She shared meaningful experiences that combined with her expertise, created actionable opportunities for our organization to enhance how we engage around accessibility. If you want to bring someone to your organization who is not only… Read more “Ida Jackson Woods, AVP, Chief Diversity Officer, ETS”

Ida Jackson Woods

ETS