I first encountered Meryl’s captivating presentation on accessibility for marketers at a recent American Marketing Association (AMA) conference. I was so impressed to realize that accessibility can be transformed from a legal obligation to a strategic business advantage. Afterward, I googled her and discovered she even has a TED Talk on the topic.
Meryl brings a unique perspective to the subject of marketing accessibility because she was born deaf, which helps her empathize with others who experience content created for mainstream audiences through different challenges. Her 20-plus-year career also includes more than five years as a trainer and speaker on accessibility and inclusion for well-known brands like Progressive and PwC.
This insight to the client side equips her with an understanding of the difficulties that many marketers face, such as not realizing the need to plan for accessibility before undertaking a campaign, or assuaging leadership concerns about additional budgetary requirements. Meryl incorporates solutions into her presentations but the best one of all is education. Marketers and leaders who are aware of these needs in advance can address them in the project planning phase, minimizing required resources.
Meryl’s presentations are memorable for several reasons:
- Education & Entertainment: She blends knowledge sharing with audience engagement, which enhances memorability and ensures that attendees retain key takeaways better.
- Actionable Insights: Meryl equips her audiences with practical strategies to achieve accessibility goals.
- Third-Party Credibility: She backs up her messages with third-party data, which helps marketing teams earn authority and engender trust from their own business leaders.
I highly recommend Meryl Evans as a speaker, whether for conferences or internal company functions, because her mission aligns with what’s right for society as well as what’s legally required of anyone marketing to audiences. I also recommend her because of her compelling delivery, which makes her messages memorable long after the presentation has ended.