This week, my Facebook feed, which includes a substantial amount of friends who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, was full of chatter about the opening of the first Starbucks signing store in the United States, in Washington, DC. It is just a few blocks from Gallaudet University, where I teach. For those who are not deaf…
Read More Signing For Latte: Starbucks Marketing to Deaf Coffee DrinkersAfter my last blog post on incorporating the input of consumers with disabilities in development of innovative products, I came across this timely and very detailed article: Autonomous driving is here, and it’s going to change everything. Self-driving cars will eventually displace manual driving, and as in the 1920s when “horseless carriages” hit the roads,…
Read More Self-Driving Cars and People with DisabilitiesMy wife recently sent me a link to this provocatively appealing Indiegogo crowdfunding project, named Titan Note. According to its developers, Titan Note listens to what is being said in a lecture or meeting, and take notes for you. Besides the obvious benefits to anyone of not missing out on lectures and speeches, a deaf student or…
Read More Awesome Cool New Stuff…If It WorksIn marketing lingo, a “pain point” is a problem experienced by a consumer that keeps him or her from satisfying a need or want. The need can be basic, or, to borrow from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, at a higher level of need. We are hungry and need to buy food. We are cold and…
Read More Consumers with Disabilities Have a ChoiceGeneral Mills’ Cheerios advertisement is an excellent example of inclusion — whether by race, disability, sexual orientation, gender, etc. Companies and advertisers should follow General Mills’ lead.
Read More Inclusion in AdvertisingWearable technologies are an exciting trend, and hold incredible promise for accessibility. Yet they are still not universally accessible: Google Glass, for example, is not accessible for all deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
Read More Google Glass, Wearable Technology, and AccessibilityAs a resident of New York’s Upper East Side, I was very surprised to read Monday’s article on DNAInfo.com about local opposition to the installation of audible signals for the blind at Upper East Side street corners. While the article, also on Gothamist, pushes unflattering local stereotypes about my neighborhood, and the New York Post’s article is littered with awful puns, the more relevant discussion is why anyone here on the Upper East Side would be bothered about noise at traffic intersections.
Read More Crossing The Upper East SideMany of you know about this blog, which I created to increase awareness about marketing trends influencing people with disabilities. But since June 13th, over six months ago, I have not actively blogged while I traveled through Turkey and the Netherlands, and then took on a full-time faculty role as a marketing professor at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.
Read More Back In the SaddleSometimes, when people think of accessibility, they picture wheelchair ramps running up side entrances of buildings, on-board lifts on public buses, and large toilet stalls in many public bathrooms. If these features are usable only by a person with a disability, the wider community does not typically appreciate the value of inclusion for this person. If everyone else also uses this accessibility feature, it has two dramatic effects: it increases the market reach for the business that sells and markets this product, and increases awareness of the economic and cultural value of the disability market.
Read More Access For People Without (Yes, Without) DisabilitiesOn my Twitter stream this morning, I came across an article from disability author Gary Karp that is particularly appropriate for marketers and advertisers who want to connect with the market of consumers with disabilities.
Read More A Little Disability Etiquette Goes A Long Way In Disability Marketing