WEBVTT 00:00:00.300 --> 00:00:06.780 Words of inspiration, a great presentation. I'm  sure we all learned something today that we may   00:00:06.780 --> 00:00:12.420 not have known previously. When you slow down...  I see we have another interpreter up. Hello, Miss   00:00:12.420 --> 00:00:18.900 RK. All right, um, and again, there's probably  something you learned today that you didn't know   00:00:18.900 --> 00:00:26.820 before. You may or may not have known, uh, there's  going to be a lot of new acronyms. DIA, again, the   00:00:26.820 --> 00:00:32.940 executive order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion,  and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce. You're   00:00:32.940 --> 00:00:37.440 going to hear that a lot today. Just know  that again, that it was the executive order   00:00:38.040 --> 00:00:47.280 by President Biden, E.O. 13985. And one of  the takeaways from the last presentation,   00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:53.460 I think, was very important. Is always  remember, accessibility must be a priority.   00:00:55.080 --> 00:01:00.480 Ms. Bale, coming from the CRCL, the Civil  Rights, Civil Liberties office... Excuse me,   00:01:01.080 --> 00:01:07.140 it always makes me think about the law, right?  So again, it's more than just 508, it's a law,   00:01:07.140 --> 00:01:14.880 it is a humanistic approach, civil rights,  providing equal access to information for all.   00:01:14.880 --> 00:01:19.620 All right, so I'll get off of my...  my sandbox, as they always say,   00:01:19.620 --> 00:01:26.040 because I'm always a full advocate for  everything accessible. All right, next... uh,   00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:33.600 our next speaker who's going to provide us with  our keynote remarks is going to be Andy Imparato,   00:01:34.260 --> 00:01:42.480 Executive Director of Disability Rights  California, DRC. Andy, are you available? 00:01:48.060 --> 00:01:54.240 Let's make sure that we have Andy come in. >> Yeah,  I'm here. Can you hear me okay? >>I can see you,   00:01:54.240 --> 00:01:58.860 and I can hear you loud and clear. Can  you do the same for me? Yes, I'm great,   00:01:58.860 --> 00:02:01.980 yeah. All right, excellent,  excellent. So one more time,   00:02:01.980 --> 00:02:07.380 I'm just going to introduce you. So now we  have Andy Imparato, Executive Director of   00:02:07.380 --> 00:02:14.100 Disability Rights in California, DRC. He's  going to provide us with keynote remarks.   00:02:14.100 --> 00:02:18.600 How are you today, Andy? Everything as  well? I'm good. I'm... I'm fighting a cold,   00:02:18.600 --> 00:02:23.940 and the cold is winning, so you can hear it in my  voice and I apologize, but I'm gonna do my best. 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:29.160 It is absolutely fine. I think we've all had  to deal with that these last couple of years,   00:02:29.160 --> 00:02:34.920 but we are very excited and very happy to  have you come and present for us today.   00:02:34.920 --> 00:02:38.940 I'm very sorry that you don't feel too well  today, you're a little bit under the weather,   00:02:38.940 --> 00:02:43.140 but I know you're going to do the best that  you can. Yeah, no problem. Thanks for having   00:02:43.140 --> 00:02:50.460 me. All right, first, let me just thank, uh,  Aunika Johnson who's been, uh, working very   00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:56.700 hard on this event and Vince and everybody in  the Office of the Chief Information Officer,   00:02:56.700 --> 00:03:00.660 and also, uh, the folks from the Office  of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. 00:03:00.660 --> 00:03:05.580 I remember when the Department  of Homeland Security was created   00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:10.800 initially. I was working in Washington DC  at the time for the American Association   00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:15.120 of People with Disabilities, and I  remember Secretary Terry Tom Ridge,   00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:21.720 who was the first Secretary. He called in  a meeting of disability leaders and told   00:03:21.720 --> 00:03:27.480 us that he wanted the Department of Homeland  Security to be the best cabinet level agency   00:03:27.480 --> 00:03:32.760 as an employer of people with disabilities  and in its interactions with the public,   00:03:32.760 --> 00:03:37.500 with people with disabilities in the public. So,  I think you all had a great start with Tom Ridge. 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:42.780 As you may know, after he left the department,  he chaired the board of the National Organization   00:03:42.780 --> 00:03:48.720 on Disability for many years. He had a hearing  disability himself, he was a disabled veteran,   00:03:48.720 --> 00:03:53.460 and just had a very strong commitment. So,  I just wanted to honor that history today.   00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:59.100 Um, just to fill in a little bit of  my background, I've been at Disability   00:03:59.100 --> 00:04:03.120 Rights California for about three years.  I started a month before the pandemic,   00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:10.020 so it's been an interesting journey. We have  about 340 employees, 26 offices across California,   00:04:10.020 --> 00:04:13.560 and most of us have been working  remotely for the last three years. 00:04:14.820 --> 00:04:21.180 Um, I also am a former Fed. I have worked for  all three branches of the federal government,   00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:26.880 including a stint with the Equal Employment  Opportunity Commission when Paul Miller was a   00:04:26.880 --> 00:04:30.300 commissioner there. He was a disabled lawyer  who was appointed by President Clinton.   00:04:31.740 --> 00:04:37.920 Um, and I was Senator Harkin's Disability  Policy Director when he was the chair of the   00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:45.120 Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and  Pensions. And after I give this talk, I'm headed   00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:50.820 to Rochester for a Deaf Employment Summit that's  being hosted by the National Technical Institute   00:04:50.820 --> 00:04:55.320 for the Deaf, and Senator Harkin is going to  be there, so I'm excited to get to see him. 00:04:56.700 --> 00:05:02.700 Um, so I want to just start by thinking about  accessibility as being connected to the mission   00:05:02.700 --> 00:05:08.100 of the Department of Homeland Security.  The mission statement on your website says,   00:05:08.100 --> 00:05:14.040 "With honor and integrity, we will safeguard  the American people, our homeland, and our   00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:20.580 values." And I think one of our values as  Americans is that we are a country that   00:05:20.580 --> 00:05:26.160 tries to provide equal opportunity to everyone  who comes here. Everybody has an equal chance,   00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:31.380 or we want everybody to have an equal  chance to succeed, to achieve their goals,   00:05:31.380 --> 00:05:37.920 to participate fully in the American dream.  And I think that's hard to do if you don't   00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:41.340 have accessibility. So, I think it's  directly connected to your mission. 00:05:41.340 --> 00:05:46.560 One of your guiding principles is  to uphold privacy, transparency,   00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:51.480 civil rights, and civil liberties. So  again, accessibility helps you uphold   00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:56.880 civil rights and is connected to one of  your guiding principles. And then it says   00:05:56.880 --> 00:06:01.080 that DHS will implement safeguards  for civil rights and civil liberties   00:06:01.080 --> 00:06:08.340 when developing and adopting policies and  throughout the performance of its mission. 00:06:08.340 --> 00:06:14.760 So one way to think about that is, you want to  have accessibility baked in to anything you're   00:06:14.760 --> 00:06:21.840 doing, a new policy that you're developing, a new  program that you're developing, a new building or   00:06:21.840 --> 00:06:28.320 new technology that you're purchasing. You want to  be thinking about accessibility from the get-go.   00:06:29.460 --> 00:06:34.140 So what I was going to do today, and I'm going  to be brief, is just touch on some different   00:06:34.140 --> 00:06:39.300 ways to think about accessibility. Sometimes  when we have conversations about accessibility,   00:06:39.300 --> 00:06:44.340 it can be very technical and the technical  stuff is important. It's important that the   00:06:44.340 --> 00:06:48.900 technology work for people who are using screen  readers. It's important that the building,   00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:53.280 you know, the design of the built  environment, meet the standards for   00:06:53.280 --> 00:06:57.600 wheelchair accessibility and other forms of  accessibility. But I think there's a way of   00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:03.300 thinking about accessibility as more of a  philosophy or a culture, and not just kind   00:07:03.300 --> 00:07:07.380 of technical compliance, and that's really  what I wanted to focus on in my keynote. 00:07:08.460 --> 00:07:13.980 Um, so, you know, first thing to me  is, accessibility is a reflection of   00:07:13.980 --> 00:07:21.720 our values. When Congress passed the Americans  with Disabilities Act in 1990, they established   00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:27.000 four goals for public policy for people with  disabilities, and accessibility advances all   00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:32.820 four of these goals. The first one was equality  of opportunity, second was independent living,   00:07:33.420 --> 00:07:40.020 third was economic self-sufficiency, and  fourth was full participation. And those   00:07:40.020 --> 00:07:45.240 goals were repeated in multiple statutes that  passed through the United States Congress after   00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:48.960 the Americas with Disabilities Act,  and they really reflect our national   00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:52.800 commitment that is grounded in the equal  protection clause in the Constitution,   00:07:52.800 --> 00:08:00.720 that everybody has a right to be a full and equal  participant in American society. So I think it's   00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:05.520 important to kind of connect accessibility to  values. We're not doing it just because the   00:08:05.520 --> 00:08:11.280 government has regulations that require it, we're  doing it because it's consistent with our values. 00:08:11.280 --> 00:08:15.420 The second one, there's a t-shirt  that I love that just says "Access   00:08:15.420 --> 00:08:21.360 equals," and then it has a heart sign. So,  "Access equals love." And the older I get,   00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:28.020 I feel like love is one of the most powerful  ways to advance civil and human rights. 00:08:28.020 --> 00:08:33.180 Cornell West said that, um, justice  is what love looks like in public.   00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:38.940 So if you think about that and you connect it  to the mission of the Department of Homeland   00:08:38.940 --> 00:08:45.900 Security, think about after a disaster when FEMA  shows up, and people with disabilities and elderly   00:08:45.900 --> 00:08:53.760 folks are really scared, and the people showing up  for FEMA are well-trained and know how to provide   00:08:53.760 --> 00:08:59.340 full access. They have sign language interpreters  for Deaf folks who are recovering from a disaster,   00:08:59.340 --> 00:09:04.920 they know how to provide information in accessible  formats, they have a sign language interpreter   00:09:04.920 --> 00:09:11.520 standing next to the FEMA leader when they're  giving updates after the disaster. The shelter   00:09:11.520 --> 00:09:17.280 is wheelchair accessible and has a quiet room for  people who might be autistic and need a place to   00:09:17.280 --> 00:09:22.800 go where they're not going to be as stimulated.  All of that, to me, is a reflection of love. 00:09:22.800 --> 00:09:28.320 You know, the Department of Homeland Security can  decide that when we're responding to a disaster,   00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:36.300 or when we're helping people go through security  at an airport, we want a culture of love and   00:09:36.300 --> 00:09:40.560 respect for the people who are coming through.  And I think there's a way to do that and still   00:09:40.560 --> 00:09:45.960 do what you need to do to be vigilant to protect  safety. You can have those two things together,   00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:51.540 but I think it's good to think about  it as promoting the idea of love. 00:09:52.800 --> 00:09:56.880 The next one is something that we just  heard about in the last two speakers,   00:09:56.880 --> 00:10:03.000 and that accessibility can lead to innovation.  There are lots of things that we take for   00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:08.460 granted that were initially developed as an  application to figure out a problem that a person   00:10:08.460 --> 00:10:13.980 with a disability was having. An example is the  typewriter or the keyboard that was developed as   00:10:13.980 --> 00:10:19.560 a way to make written communication accessible for  somebody with a visual disability. The telephone   00:10:19.560 --> 00:10:25.560 was developed as a way to make oral communication  accessible for somebody with a hearing disability. 00:10:25.560 --> 00:10:29.460 And if you think about all the new  technologies that are coming down the pike,   00:10:29.460 --> 00:10:33.660 and again, we heard about this from some  other speakers, the new technologies   00:10:33.660 --> 00:10:37.380 can advance accessibility or  they can create new barriers. 00:10:37.380 --> 00:10:44.640 A good example is artificial intelligence.  Artificial intelligence can be used by employers   00:10:44.640 --> 00:10:51.000 to screen out people that they think are going to  be problematic employees, and that screening can   00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:55.980 end up screening out people who are neurodiverse.  People with autism and other types of disabilities   00:10:55.980 --> 00:11:01.800 may get screened out by the way that they answer  questions, but the artificial intelligence could   00:11:01.800 --> 00:11:07.560 also account for that and screen in people  with disabilities. Artificial intelligence   00:11:07.560 --> 00:11:12.960 can make things more accessible. So it's a good  example of a technology that can go either way,   00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:17.820 and if we have a clear set of values, we can  do everything in our power to make sure that   00:11:17.820 --> 00:11:23.100 the technology promotes those values and doesn't  create new barriers for people with disabilities. 00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:33.300 Another form of accessibility that doesn't always  get a lot of attention is clear communication. And   00:11:33.300 --> 00:11:37.800 again, think about this in the context of  telling people what they need to know when   00:11:37.800 --> 00:11:44.640 you have a hurricane that is about to arrive, or  you're trying to figure out how to escape safely   00:11:44.640 --> 00:11:50.400 from the path of the hurricane. It's important  to be able to communicate that information in a   00:11:50.400 --> 00:11:55.800 way where everybody who's affected and needs  that information is able to understand it. 00:11:55.800 --> 00:12:00.960 So, for people with intellectual disabilities,  it's really important to use plain language,   00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:05.040 simple language. That also helps for  people with limited English proficiency.   00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:12.240 Sometimes when we're communicating, we use  technical terminology in order to be precise,   00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:17.640 but that technical terminology sometimes is  not accessible to lots of people. So I think   00:12:17.640 --> 00:12:22.920 if you think about plain language as a form of  accessibility, the Department of Homeland Security   00:12:22.920 --> 00:12:27.960 will communicate better with everyone, and that's  going to be particularly important in a disaster. 00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:35.580 Another way of thinking about accessibility is  that it's a way to promote employee engagement.   00:12:36.540 --> 00:12:45.480 By employee engagement, I mean employers that have  a high level of employee engagement tend to have   00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:50.280 less turnover. People tend to feel better about  their jobs, feel better about their employer.   00:12:51.900 --> 00:12:57.480 If you commit to accessibility, you will get  more employee engagement, not just from your   00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:02.400 employees with disabilities who are using the  accessibility, but from other employees who   00:13:02.400 --> 00:13:08.340 see that commitment from the department. It makes  them feel better about working for the Department. 00:13:08.340 --> 00:13:15.060 A good example is putting Braille on your business  cards. Lots of people now are putting Braille on   00:13:15.060 --> 00:13:19.440 their business cards. Most people who get the  business card are not going to read the Braille,   00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:23.940 but lots of people will notice that the  Department of Homeland Security employee   00:13:23.940 --> 00:13:28.440 has Braille on their business card, and it's a  sign that they're committed to accessibility. 00:13:29.940 --> 00:13:36.480 I think a good example of this was Walgreens.  They had a commitment to hiring people with   00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:42.060 disabilities in one of their distribution centers  because they had the senior vice president, Randy   00:13:42.060 --> 00:13:48.000 Lewis, who was overseeing all their distribution  centers, had a child on the autism spectrum. That   00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:53.160 distribution center ended up outperforming all  the other distribution centers. It was also a   00:13:53.160 --> 00:13:59.040 hub for innovation, but when I asked Randy what  was the biggest win for Walgreens from doing this,   00:13:59.040 --> 00:14:05.040 he said employee engagement. He said, across the  enterprise, people who worked for Walgreens felt   00:14:05.040 --> 00:14:10.140 better about their jobs and were more likely to  refer other people to apply for jobs at Walgreens. 00:14:11.760 --> 00:14:15.420 Accessibility also can lead to lifelong learning. 00:14:15.420 --> 00:14:21.060 I think one of the interesting things about  accessibility is there's always more we can do.   00:14:21.060 --> 00:14:28.740 It's not an on-off switch, it's a spectrum, and  we always learn new ways to be accessible. A good   00:14:28.740 --> 00:14:34.200 example is the Autistic Self-Advocacy  Network. When they have their Gala in DC,   00:14:34.980 --> 00:14:40.620 on their badges they give people the ability  to put a green button or a green ribbon,   00:14:40.620 --> 00:14:47.940 a red ribbon, or a yellow ribbon. That's a sign.  If somebody has a green button showing, it's a   00:14:47.940 --> 00:14:53.280 sign that they're open to social interaction and  networking at the Gala. If they have a red button,   00:14:53.280 --> 00:14:57.600 they don't want to have that social interaction  and that's an accommodation for their disability.   00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:02.220 I didn't see a lot of people doing that before  the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network did it,   00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:07.620 but now I'm seeing more and more people doing it,  and it's being adopted for COVID purposes too. 00:15:07.620 --> 00:15:11.100 Some people don't want to  hug people because it's not   00:15:11.100 --> 00:15:16.020 COVID safe. Some people are desperate for  human connection and want to hug people,   00:15:16.020 --> 00:15:20.400 and you can signal on your name badge  whether you're open to that kind of   00:15:20.400 --> 00:15:25.740 human interaction or not. So again, that's  an example of how accessibility is evolving. 00:15:27.660 --> 00:15:32.820 Another way of thinking about  accessibility is workplace flexibility.   00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:39.300 Sometimes when we think about accessibility, we  miss all the big things that we do to make work   00:15:39.300 --> 00:15:46.440 accessible for everyone. So a good example is  working from home. We had a dramatic change in   00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:53.100 how people work from home during COVID. That is  making the entire workforce more accessible for   00:15:53.100 --> 00:15:57.840 a lot of people with disabilities and a lot of  people that have other reasons why working from   00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:04.920 home is better for them. Like maybe it helps  them spend more time with their children, it   00:16:04.920 --> 00:16:11.820 may help them deal with an aging relative or with  pets, whatever it is that they need to do at home.   00:16:12.420 --> 00:16:18.240 But all of that is also making the workplace more  accessible and it's making work more accessible,   00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:23.820 and the labor force participation rates for  people with disabilities have gone up since COVID,   00:16:23.820 --> 00:16:28.440 in part because work is now more accessible  for a lot of folks with disabilities. 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:35.100 So flexibility, to me, is good for all employees,  and a lot of things that we do in the name of   00:16:35.100 --> 00:16:40.020 workplace flexibility are going to end up making  work more accessible for people with disabilities. 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:46.980 Um, I, I noticed that those Beaker, uh, from  the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties,   00:16:46.980 --> 00:16:51.600 talked about the centralized  budget for accommodations. So,   00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:56.340 accessibility is also about dollars and  budgets, you know, and having strategic   00:16:56.340 --> 00:17:01.980 budgeting so that you're prepared for whatever  the accessibility needs of your employees are,   00:17:01.980 --> 00:17:06.900 and you have a way to centralize it so that  a small part of the Department of Homeland   00:17:06.900 --> 00:17:10.980 Security doesn't have to bear the brunt of  what might be an expensive accommodation. 00:17:12.120 --> 00:17:18.000 Um, another thing about accessibility, I have  two more. It's another thing: way of thinking   00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:25.320 about accessibility is listening. Being a good  listener will make you more accessible. The   00:17:25.320 --> 00:17:30.780 people who are the experts on what we need as  people with disabilities are the people with   00:17:30.780 --> 00:17:36.360 disabilities themselves. So, if you listen to your  own employees with disabilities, if you listen to   00:17:36.360 --> 00:17:42.540 customers with disabilities, if you listen to your  many advisory committees that advise you on these   00:17:42.540 --> 00:17:48.840 things, you will be more accessible. And listening  also helps you individualize the accessibility. 00:17:48.840 --> 00:17:54.660 What I have: bipolar disorder. I have certain  things that that make me feel more welcomed   00:17:54.660 --> 00:17:59.160 in a work environment, but I'm not the same  as somebody else with bipolar disorder. So,   00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:03.420 it's important to listen to people and  try to meet their individual needs.   00:18:04.020 --> 00:18:10.800 And then another thing, my last one that I wanted  to say is, accessibility is Universal Design. And   00:18:10.800 --> 00:18:16.140 the concept of Universal Design is that when  we design anything, we should try hard to think   00:18:16.140 --> 00:18:21.600 about all the different ways that human beings are  going to interact with that environment, or that   00:18:21.600 --> 00:18:28.320 process, or that technology, and try to build  in accessibility so nobody has to ask for it. 00:18:28.320 --> 00:18:32.520 You know, if you, if you use a wheelchair  and you roll up to a building and there's   00:18:32.520 --> 00:18:38.460 an automatic door opener and you can get into the  restrooms, and the restrooms are accessible, it,   00:18:38.460 --> 00:18:42.720 you don't have to ask for anything. It's,  it's baked in, it's built in. If you're   00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:47.280 on a website and it's intuitively designed,  and whether you use a screen reader or not,   00:18:47.280 --> 00:18:52.440 you can fully navigate the website, and  you don't have to any have any kind of   00:18:52.440 --> 00:18:57.600 special assistive technology, that that's  another way to kind of bake in accessibility. 00:18:58.260 --> 00:19:01.740 So, you know, I'm, I'm open  to taking a couple questions. 00:19:01.740 --> 00:19:08.460 I know we have another speaker starting at  the hour mark at 10 o'clock Eastern time, but,   00:19:08.460 --> 00:19:12.480 um, I just want to close with a quote  from Martin Luther King, uh, and I,   00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:17.760 I feel very connected to him. I was born on  August 28th, uh, which was the date that he   00:19:17.760 --> 00:19:25.020 gave the I Have a Dream speech. He gave that in  1963. I was born in 1965. He also had depression,   00:19:25.020 --> 00:19:28.140 so I feel connected to him through  my experience with depression. 00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:33.600 But, Dr. King said, human progress  is neither automatic nor inevitable.   00:19:34.560 --> 00:19:41.100 Every step toward the goal of Justice  requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle,   00:19:41.100 --> 00:19:48.120 the tireless exertions and passionate concern of  dedicated individuals. And I wanted to close with   00:19:48.120 --> 00:19:52.860 that quote because I think we can't assume  that the Department of Homeland Security   00:19:52.860 --> 00:19:57.540 is on a journey that will always get better  around accessibility. There will come times   00:19:57.540 --> 00:20:02.340 where bad decisions get made, and you have  a step backwards, and it's important to be   00:20:02.340 --> 00:20:08.100 vigilant and recognize that accessibility doesn't  happen automatically, it happens intentionally. 00:20:08.100 --> 00:20:12.420 And I think, you know, the Office of the  Chief Information Officer, the Office of   00:20:12.420 --> 00:20:17.040 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, those are  two important places where you can be vigilant,   00:20:17.040 --> 00:20:21.840 and you can be champions for accessibility,  so that the progress does continue. So,   00:20:21.840 --> 00:20:26.040 again, I'm happy to take one or two questions if  there's time, but thank you so much for having me. 00:20:31.320 --> 00:20:35.940 >> Thank you, Andy. Um, I did put in the  chat, please ask questions if you have any.   00:20:36.840 --> 00:20:39.240 Um, I think this gives us an opportunity to be a   00:20:39.240 --> 00:20:44.100 little bit more interactive so it's not  just one-sided for the presentations. 00:20:44.100 --> 00:20:46.920 One thing I would say is that, you know,   00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:50.220 I was making notes as you were speaking because  I was listening to everything you were saying.   00:20:51.060 --> 00:20:56.040 Um, baked in, in the beginning, I think that's  one of the mantras that we within our office,   00:20:56.040 --> 00:21:02.700 we try to tell people all the time that are going  through these software development life cycle. As   00:21:02.700 --> 00:21:07.740 you're in the early stages of trying to figure  out what you want to create for an application,   00:21:07.740 --> 00:21:14.460 always think about not just the functionality  and the security side but the accessibility   00:21:14.460 --> 00:21:19.080 side of that application. And if you do that,  at the end of the day, you're going to have   00:21:19.080 --> 00:21:24.960 an application that will be inclusive for the  humanistic, you know, experience of all people. 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:31.320 So I thought that was great when you touched upon  that. The other thing that, you know, as a trainer   00:21:31.320 --> 00:21:37.980 for DHS, one thing that, um, I  thought about when you mentioned the   00:21:37.980 --> 00:21:41.940 conference where you had individuals with  the red and green badges. So of course,   00:21:41.940 --> 00:21:46.920 first thing that came to my mind was wait a  minute, did the green badges, are they fully   00:21:46.920 --> 00:21:50.220 accessible or is it just, are they just using  color. But then I thought about I was like okay,   00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:54.300 wait a minute, they're a badge so that means of  course they're gonna have their name on there too. 00:21:54.300 --> 00:21:57.420 Did you want to touch on that a little  bit more for those folks? Yeah, no,   00:21:57.420 --> 00:22:02.400 you don't know about that. I think it's  interesting that you're right that if I'm   00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:07.320 wearing a badge that has a red dot on it, yeah,  and I'm talking to somebody who's colorblind,   00:22:07.320 --> 00:22:12.420 yeah, that red dot is not going to be  that helpful. And if they're blind,   00:22:12.420 --> 00:22:17.880 none of it's going to be that helpful. So I,  I don't, I didn't lift that up as a perfect,   00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:22.500 perfect example of Universal Design. You're  right that there are some challenges with it. 00:22:22.500 --> 00:22:28.020 But it is an example of thinking about a form  of accessibility that doesn't always get thought   00:22:28.020 --> 00:22:33.120 about. And I think where there's a, where there's  a will, there's a way to make that also accessible   00:22:33.120 --> 00:22:38.160 for blind people. I mean, in general, name  badges are not very accessible for, that's right,   00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:42.780 for blind people. And sometimes it is hard to  get accessibility right for every population,   00:22:42.780 --> 00:22:48.300 but that's where it's important to talk to them,  get their ideas for how to make it easy for them   00:22:48.300 --> 00:22:53.280 to network at an event. It may be that they have  somebody with them that's walking around with   00:22:53.280 --> 00:22:56.760 them and helping them meet people or helping  them meet the person who they want to meet. 00:22:56.760 --> 00:23:03.660 Exactly, exactly. Thank you. Um, let me see,  what else, oh, the other point was when you   00:23:03.660 --> 00:23:10.440 talked about accessibility is a reflection of  our values. I think that was very profound. Did   00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:15.180 you want to touch on that anymore? I mean when  you're talking about from a value standpoint. 00:23:15.180 --> 00:23:22.020 Well, I think sometimes there's a  backlash against kind of, uh, really,   00:23:22.800 --> 00:23:28.860 um, rigid requirements. Sometimes, uh, designers  like architects don't like to be told how to   00:23:28.860 --> 00:23:33.480 design something. Sometimes, software engineers  don't like to be told how to design something.   00:23:33.480 --> 00:23:37.740 I think there are people who work in the federal  government that get annoyed that they can't do   00:23:37.740 --> 00:23:43.620 certain things on their website because it's not  accessible. And I think if it's about lawyers   00:23:43.620 --> 00:23:49.500 and laws and regulations, sometimes people  miss the point like why do we have the law. 00:23:49.500 --> 00:23:53.700 So I just think it's important to  start with what are our core values,   00:23:53.700 --> 00:23:57.060 what do we believe in. That's why I started  with your mission which I think is actually   00:23:57.060 --> 00:24:02.700 a very poetic mission statement. What do we  believe in and how does this advance and res   00:24:02.700 --> 00:24:07.680 and reflect what we believe in, and what  we would we do this even if there was no   00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:12.360 law requiring. I mean to me that's where you  want to be, you don't want to be have to be   00:24:12.360 --> 00:24:15.780 forced to be accessible, you're doing  it because it's the right thing to do. 00:24:15.780 --> 00:24:23.100 >> Exactly, exactly. Well, you've had, I'm looking  in the chat, it looks like there weren't a lot   00:24:23.100 --> 00:24:28.440 of questions but there were comments. Not  a question, this came from Lisa Butcher,   00:24:28.440 --> 00:24:36.060 not a question just many thanks to Mr. Imparato  for the, this, how make sure I don't brutalize it,   00:24:36.060 --> 00:24:42.060 basically taking mental illness and making  it not something that's stigmatized. Um, so I   00:24:42.060 --> 00:24:48.120 think a lot of people in the chat are very happy  that you were very open about mental illness. 00:24:48.120 --> 00:24:53.580 I think it's because I think it was it, May was  Mental Illness Month. So I think it's great that   00:24:53.580 --> 00:24:58.440 you did bring that up. Also, a lot of people are  just saying also excellent presentation to you,   00:24:58.440 --> 00:25:07.500 Andy. Um, it looks like Mr. Tim Green want to say  hello to you again. Tim is a person with a hearing   00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:13.380 disability. Yes, it is one of the people who  educated me about accessibility for people with   00:25:13.380 --> 00:25:18.780 hearing loss. Okay, yep, I know him very well.  He's a great, great guy, great guy for sure. 00:25:18.780 --> 00:25:20.100 Well, it doesn't look like we have,   00:25:21.540 --> 00:25:25.320 uh, so barely do you think mine hasn't been  required. I'm trying to look to see if we can   00:25:25.320 --> 00:25:29.160 find a, and most people are saying excellent  discussion, excellent discussion. So again,   00:25:29.160 --> 00:25:32.940 guys, you have about two minutes left if  you have any questions. I would like to   00:25:32.940 --> 00:25:38.880 have a question directed to Mr. Imparato, but  if not, uh, we will close out here in a moment. 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:43.860 But again, I think this was a great presentation.  Um, again, I think these type of presentations   00:25:43.860 --> 00:25:50.760 really need to be, um, interactive,  conversational, allowing people to speak,   00:25:51.660 --> 00:25:56.700 um, and to just kind of relay whatever questions  they may have and talk about things that are   00:25:56.700 --> 00:26:02.460 important to them. Other people, one more  person that says, uh, looks like the green,   00:26:02.460 --> 00:26:10.800 yellow, red badges use both color, text, and icon  as indicators. There you go, very good, very good. 00:26:10.800 --> 00:26:14.220 All right, well, Mr. Imparato,  thank you again very much. Uh,   00:26:14.220 --> 00:26:17.700 this is my first time meeting you, and I just  want to say this was a great presentation.   00:26:18.780 --> 00:26:23.220 Um, full disclosure, I also have been with  the Department of Homeland Security, uh,   00:26:23.220 --> 00:26:28.620 for a long time. Um, I was around during the  early stages that you talked about with Mr.   00:26:28.620 --> 00:26:34.200 Secretary Tom Ridge. So I do remember that time,  uh, and also with Steve Cooper was the original,   00:26:35.340 --> 00:26:42.000 um, CIO, or for this, the first Department of  Homeland Security's Chief Information officer. 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:45.720 So, I remember, I've been around  for a while. So thank you again,   00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:49.440 we really appreciate it. I  hope to have you present again,   00:26:50.220 --> 00:26:54.420 if not next year, the year after that. And  definitely look forward to speaking to you later. 00:26:54.750 --> 00:26:59.760 >> Sounds good, I hope you have a great rest  of your event. Take care, thank you so much. 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:05.220 All right, see you later, bye-bye, thank you. 00:27:06.120 --> 00:27:10.620 All right, next up, um, we  are going to have remarks   00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:18.960 by Mr. Nicshan Floyd, again, the Executive  Director for Accessibility & Usability. 00:27:21.540 --> 00:27:26.940 Uh, acting director, but I'll take  the promotion. Well, you know, Nick.