AXSChat Podcast

Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh, Neil Milliken

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315

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Jun 2026

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Podcast by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh, Neil Milliken: Connecting Accessibility, Disability, and Technology Welcome to a vibrant community where we explore accessibility, disability, assistive technology, diversity, and the future of work. Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh, and Neil Milliken, our open online community is committed to crafting an inclusive world for everyone. Accessibility for All: Our Mission Believing firmly that accessibility is not just a feature but a right, we leverage the transformative power of social media to foster connections, promote in-depth discussions, and spread vital knowledge about groundbreaking work in access and inclusion. Weekly Engagements: Interviews, Twitter Chats, and More Join us for compelling weekly interviews with innovative minds who are making strides in assistive technology. Participate in Twitter chats with contributors dedicated to forging a more inclusive world, enabling greater societal participation for individuals with disabilities. Diverse Topics: Encouraging Participation and Voice Our conversations span an array of subjects linked to accessibility, from technology innovations to diverse work environments. Your voice matters! Engage with us by tweeting using the hashtag #axschat and be part of the movement that champions accessibility and inclusivity for all. Be Part of the Future: Subscribe Today We invite you to join us in this vital dialogue on accessibility, disability, assistive technology, and the future of diverse work environments. Subscribe today to stay updated on the latest insights and be part of a community that's shaping the future inclusively.

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June 10, 202629 min

How Amazon Builds Workplace Accessibility For 1.5 Million Employees

Accessibility at work is easy to talk about and hard to deliver, especially when your “office” includes fulfillment centers, delivery stations, corporate teams, and cutting-edge tech roles spread across the globe. We sit down with Megan Smith, Global Accommodations and People Accessibility Lead within Amazonian Experiences and Technology, to unpack what it really takes to run accommodations and workplace accessibility programs at serious scale and with real speed. Megan shares her own path into disability inclusion as a legally blind leader, and why self-advocacy plus operational rigor is a powerful combination.We walk through the full accommodations flywheel: intake, evaluation, decisioning with managers and sites, and making sure the accommodation is implemented. Megan explains why much of the volume comes from temporary injuries that need fast, consistent handling, how pregnancy-related accommodations require dedicated expertise, and why complex disabilities benefit from high-touch support that adapts to different job environments. We also explore how people accessibility focuses on preventing barriers in the first place by setting standards, offering tooling, and influencing what the company builds and buys for employees.Then we look forward. AI is already blurring the line between assistive technology and personalization, with big implications for screen readers, captions, and the idea of a “one console” work experience. Megan breaks down what must remain true today (solid accessibility fundamentals and WCAG principles) and what might change tomorrow, including trust, privacy, and how we filter signal from AI-generated noise. If you care about disability inclusion, HR accommodations, accessible technology, or the future of AI accessibility, this conversation gives you practical mental models and sharp questions to take back to your team. Subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review so more people can find the show.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh

June 3, 202629 min

The Job Hunt When You Are Blind

One sentence can flip an interview from warm to frozen: “I should tell you I’m visually impaired.” That moment sits at the heart of our conversation with Steve Tyler, Director of Assistive Tech and Transformation at Leonard Cheshire, and Jasmin Ambiong, a blind Filipina disability inclusion and accessibility advocate and Billion Strong ambassador joining us from Wellington, New Zealand.We get specific about what disability employment really looks like for blind job seekers: Steve applying for 108 jobs before landing his first role, the “sharp intake of breath” after disclosure, and why even highly accomplished blind professionals can feel their careers are one redundancy away from disappearing. Jasmin shares what it feels like to hear “we’re not ready to employ a blind person,” why disabled candidates often have to be exceptional just to be considered, and how remote work can become a survival tactic when in-person hiring is built on fear rather than skills.We also zoom out to the systems shaping accessible hiring and inclusive workplaces: disability organisations that still do not hire disabled staff, and the double-edged sword of AI in recruitment. From photo requests in application flows to algorithmic screening that mirrors cultural bias, we talk about how automation can either expand reasonable accommodations or amplify discrimination at speed.If you care about accessibility, disability inclusion, assistive technology, and fair hiring, listen through and share it with someone who hires. Subscribe to AXSChat, leave a review, and tell us your take: when should candidates disclose disability, and what should employers change first?Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh

May 27, 202627 min

Inclusion Works Best When Everyone Plays Together

A theme park where wheelchair users do not get parked in the front row, where sensory needs shape the design, and where “accessible” is not a single modified option, it is the whole experience. We sit down with Sharon Newhardt, inclusion strategist at Morgan’s Wonderland and Morgan’s Inclusion Institute, to unpack what ultra-accessible really looks like when you build a destination from the ground up.We get specific about the craft behind inclusive design: how Sharon’s team brings people with different disabilities to the table early, how they pressure-test ideas with real feedback, and how they find vendors who can solve for safety and access at the same time. Sharon shares a standout example of accessibility innovation in themed entertainment: a 4D theatre “roller coaster” that includes moving wheelchair platforms so guests using wheelchairs get the same motion experience as everyone else. That kind of work does not just improve one park, it creates new products and raises the bar across the amusement industry.We also dig into the bigger mission and how it scales beyond a theme park. Sharon tells the origin story that sparked Morgan’s Wonderland, explains why the park is for everyone, and describes how the Inclusion Institute helps airports, museums, hospitals, sports venues, and employers start with practical “low-hanging fruit” improvements and move toward lasting cultural change. If you care about accessibility, disability inclusion, universal design, accessible travel, or building better guest and employee experiences, you will leave with real ideas you can use.Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with someone who builds spaces or services, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh

May 20, 202627 min

What If Disability Inclusion & Community Care Starts In A Stable

A horse does not show up with preconceptions about disability, status, or what you can do. It meets you as you are, responds to your body and energy, and somehow makes space for confidence to grow. That simple idea becomes powerful when you hear how Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) turns it into real support for thousands of people across the UK. We sit down with Michael Bishop, CEO of RDA UK, to explain what RDA actually is: a UK-wide disability charity supporting a movement of around 450 local groups, powered by roughly 14,000 volunteers and nearly 3,000 horses each year. Michael breaks down the range of equine-assisted work, from riding and carriage driving to education-linked, ground-based sessions, and he clarifies the difference between hippotherapy (physiotherapy-led intervention) and the broader therapeutic impact people experience through belonging, nature, and routine. We also get practical about access and scale. Half of RDA beneficiaries live in urban areas, and many people discover local centres through schools, families, and medical professionals. But demand is outpacing supply: 71% of groups cannot meet current need. That leads to the big questions around volunteering, funding, rising costs, and how social prescribing could recognise not just participation, but the mental health benefits of volunteering itself. You will also hear about “Tea with a Pony,” a programme supporting people living with progressive conditions like dementia through sensory connection and calm community time. If you care about disability inclusion, mental health support, equine therapy, or community-led care that actually works, this conversation gives you a grounded view of what it takes and what is at stake. Subscribe, share the episode with someone who needs a hopeful model of support, and leave a review so more listeners can find us.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh

May 14, 202629 min

Building Workplace Resilience For Neurodivergent Minds In The Age Of AI

AI is changing work faster than most humans can comfortably process, and that speed is colliding with already exhausted nervous systems. We sit down with Marie-Hélène Pelletier (MH), a leadership psychologist, executive coach and author of The Resilience Plan, to unpack what resilience really means when the pressure is constant and the stakes feel personal. The big shift: resilience is not a trait you either have or lack. It’s a state you can grow, and it lives inside a system that includes you, your team and your organisation.We talk neurodiversity in the workplace through a practical lens: where hidden friction shows up, why “just cope” is not an inclusion strategy, and how rigid performance reviews can overload neurodivergent minds. We also dig into workplace realities many leaders avoid: employee engagement dropping, burnout rising, and the gap between how optimistic leaders feel about AI and how stressed employees may feel. MH shares research-backed insights on isolation risks as work becomes more mediated by AI tools, and why staying connected to humans is a resilience practice, not a soft extra.You’ll leave with concrete ideas you can use this week: adjust feedback formats, build team-level resilience habits, make space for neurodivergent representation on AI decision groups, and lean on the four core anchors that protect mental health and performance: exercise, nutrition, sleep and relationships. We also address chronic cognitive overload, how it can impair judgment and even nudge ethical drift, plus self-compassionate ways to find your voice when speaking up feels hard.If you care about mental health at work, inclusive leadership and responsible AI adoption, subscribe, share this with a colleague and leave a review. What system change would make your workplace feel more human?Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh

May 6, 202627 min

How A Berlin Museum Makes Science Touchable

A museum can hold 30 million objects and still feel inaccessible if the experience depends on sight alone. We sit down with Tina Schneider from the Natural History Museum in Berlin to hear how her team is pushing beyond digitisation and into real world inclusion by turning digital specimens into tactile, responsive learning tools.Tina shares the moment that changed her priorities: a visitor tells her how her blind daughter arrived thrilled to see the dinosaurs, then felt bored and left early because there was so little she could touch. From there, we unpack the practical constraints museums face, including fragile historic specimens and preservation chemicals like arsenic that make handling unsafe. The solution is not “touch the collection” but build safe, accurate stand ins: digital twins that become tactile models designed for hands.We walk through two builds. First, an interactive crocodile prototype with sensors and headphones that plays audio when visitors touch specific areas. Then the big leap forward: the 3D interactive beetle. With input from a focus group of blind and visually impaired participants, the team abandons hidden touchpoints and creates a touch anywhere sensor system. Even the tricky transitions between head, wings, and legs get solved with a clever cue: audio volume shifts as your hands move, helping you orient yourself naturally. Along the way, we talk interdisciplinary teamwork, museum education, inclusive design, and why dung beetles are an essential part of ecosystem health.If you care about museum accessibility, tactile exhibits, audio description, or how 3D technology can widen access to science, you will get practical ideas here. Subscribe, share this with someone building public experiences, and leave a review with one object you wish every museum made touchable.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh

April 27, 202630 min

Employers Cannot Fix What Workers Fear To Share

“We have no employees using drugs or alcohol.” Georges Petitjean has heard versions of that line for years, even while treating people who are quietly disappearing into detox, struggling in silence, or terrified their employer will find out. The problem isn’t that workplace addiction is rare. The problem is that stigma makes it easy to deny, hard to disclose, and expensive to ignore.We’re joined by Georges, an NHS clinical director in drugs and alcohol treatment services, to talk about WARM At Work, the Workplace Addiction and Recovery Movement. We dig into what substance use disorder really means using a simple spectrum model, why addiction is a treatable chronic health condition, and why workplaces still react so differently to “I need diabetes care” versus “I need addiction treatment.” Along the way, we explore the social and cultural forces that shape use, from workplace drinking culture to high pressure environments, and why banning one substance doesn’t solve the underlying drivers.We also zoom out to policy and prevention, including what people often miss about Portugal’s decriminalisation approach, the links between disability, chronic pain, and opioid risk, and emerging trends like ketamine harm among young people. Most importantly, we focus on practical workplace actions: building psychological safety, educating the wider workforce, supporting affected colleagues and families, and creating clear pathways to treatment and peer support such as AA, NA, and SMART Recovery. To learn more about WARM At Work, visit www.warmatwork.org or connect with Georges on LinkedIn.Subscribe, share this conversation with a manager or HR leader, and leave a review so more people can find it and feel safe asking for help.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh

April 21, 202629 min

Building Disability Inclusion Into AI Policy And Practice

The scariest part of AI isn’t the sci-fi stuff, it’s how fast it can change the tools people already rely on to live and communicate. We sit down with Dr Julie Eshleman, a postdoctoral researcher working across Georgia Tech and Georgia State, to connect the dots between AI-powered assistive technology, Medicaid waiver systems, and the policies that will decide what comes next for disabled people and their families.Julie breaks down her participatory action research project building a RAG model chatbot trained on state guidance to help families navigate Medicaid waiver applications for home and community-based services. We talk candidly about what makes the process so brutal, why waitlists can stretch for years, and how practical support like clear FAQs and resource signposting can reduce friction while people wait. From there, we zoom out to AI policy and regulation, and the problem of disabled voices not being treated as essential stakeholders even when AI rules directly affect accessibility, privacy, and discrimination risk.We also dig into real-world AI accessibility wins: large language models on AAC devices that speed up communication, smart home technology that restores control over one’s space, and everyday AI features that act like external working memory for neurodivergent users. Then we tackle the messy middle: AI literacy, misinformation, hallucinations, and why the better question is often whether something is correct rather than whether it looks real. If you care about disability inclusion, assistive tech, and responsible AI, share this conversation, subscribe, and leave us a review so more people can find it.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh

April 14, 202627 min

Who Audits The Auditors When Disability Groups Miss Accessibility

If we can name every brand that gets accessibility wrong, why do so many disabled people still avoid working for disability organisations? That question drives our conversation with Deborah Ruh about Billion Strong’s new Disability Power Index, a “mirror” built to measure how well disability organisations actually walk the talk on accessibility, inclusion, and representation.We unpack what makes this index different from the many corporate scorecards already out there. The focus stays on governance and leadership, employment, programs and advocacy, communications, and economic ecosystem inclusion. We talk candidly about why leadership without lived experience creates mistrust, how inaccessible internal processes shut people out, and why credibility collapses when organisations that claim to represent us cannot meet the standards they promote.We also zoom out to the bigger systems problem: technology and AI accessibility tools are advancing fast, yet real inclusion can stall or slide backwards when the community is fragmented and under-resourced. Deborah shares how Billion Strong plans to strengthen methodology with university partners, fund the work through a membership organisation model with scholarship options, and build practical resources so the index helps organisations improve rather than just get judged. We close with a hard truth and a hopeful path: when we coordinate and raise our own bar, we gain power to change everything else.Subscribe, share this with someone leading a disability organisation, and leave a review to help more listeners find Access Chat. What would you measure first to prove an organisation truly serves disabled people?Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh

April 8, 202626 min

Inside ReelAbilities The Disability Film Festival Changing Culture

Movies have taught us what disability is supposed to look like for more than a century and too often the answer is a tired binary: tragedy or inspiration. We sit down with Isaac Zablocki, co-founder and CEO of ReelAbilities, and Lawrence Carter-Long, director of engagement, to talk about how their disability film festival is pushing for something better: authentic disability representation with nuance, artistry, and real authorship.We get into how RealAbilities grew out of a partnership between film expertise and disability community organizing, why they refuse to compromise on storytelling quality, and what they mean by “reframing disability.” For them, film is the front door and culture change is the larger goal, which is why the work goes beyond screenings into conversations, pipeline building, and leadership development for disabled creators across writing, directing, producing, editing, and programming.We also dig into accessibility and universal design, from audio description and captions to ASL and CART, with a focus on making access a built-in expectation rather than an add-on. Then we tackle AI in accessibility and entertainment: the upside of cheaper, more flexible tools like captions you can turn on anywhere, and the harder questions around AI-generated avatars, casting, and whether technology could “replace” disabled actors before the industry ever truly includes them.If you care about disability inclusion in media, accessible film festivals, and how stories reshape culture, listen now, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave us a review.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh