Suggestions
Ryan Honick
• Disability Advocate • Public Speaker • Professional Persuader
Ryan Honick is a disability advocate, public speaker, and professional persuader with a diverse background in advocacy, communication, and public relations.
With nearly a decade of experience working in various sectors including Capitol Hill, federal government, non-profits, and global PR firms, Ryan excels in media relations, social media management, organizational branding, and crisis management.
Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, Ryan is a staunch advocate for the disability community and works tirelessly to combat stigma and stereotypes associated with disabilities through education and dialogue.
He has actively participated in panels and university boards across the country to promote awareness and inclusivity for individuals with disabilities.
Highlights
I’ll be honest: the news that President Biden won't seek reelection in 2024 hit me hard. It's a defining moment for a leader who has profoundly shaped the disability community. His tenure has brought about unprecedented changes and set a new standard for inclusion and accessibility. As we reflect on his legacy, it's clear that President Biden's impact will be felt for generations to come.
Did you know that in 2023, the employment-population ratio for people with disabilities hit 22.5%? That’s the highest since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking this data in 2008. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities dropped to 7.2%. These numbers reflect real, positive change in our lives.
Biden's commitment to the disability community is clear. Take Medicaid, for example. It now covers over 80 million Americans, including many of us with disabilities. He also boosted special education funding by $2.6 billion in 2021.
Let’s talk about student loans. The U.S. Department of Education's PSLF program was a mess, with a 99% rejection rate under the previous administration. President Biden stepped in and made real changes. He streamlined the application process, expanded eligibility, and fixed past errors. Now, thousands of public servants, including many with disabilities, are finally getting the loan forgiveness we were promised.
Air travel has long been a nightmare for many with disabilities. Recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced a proposed rule aimed at ensuring passengers who use wheelchairs can stay in their own wheelchairs while flying. This rule, if implemented, would mark a monumental shift in air travel accessibility.
The new proposal also includes several key improvements. Airlines would be required to notify passengers immediately if their wheelchair has been mishandled, repair or replace damaged wheelchairs, and return lost wheelchairs to the passenger's final destination within 24 hours.
We owe President Biden a big thank you. His dedication to disability rights has been unwavering. His administration’s focus on accessible infrastructure has modernized public transit systems across the country, making it easier for wheelchair users like me to get around. These improvements have touched the lives of countless people who rely on public transportation daily.
The policies President Biden put in place have laid a strong foundation for future advancements in disability rights and inclusion. As we continue to advocate for equity and access, we need to build on his legacy to create a society where everyone, regardless of ability, can thrive.
Thank you, President Biden, for your unwavering support and dedication to making our lives better. Your legacy will endure, and we will carry the torch forward.
#DisabilityAdvocacy #ThankYouBiden #InclusionMatters #AccessibilityForAll #DisabilityRights #Election2024 #DisabilityPrideMonth
As a disability advocate and a person with disabilities, I am disheartened to witness the launch of Meta's new social media platform, Threads, without the inclusion of basic accessibility features. This is especially disappointing as we celebrate Disability Pride Month.
Threads, which is being touted as a competitor to Twitter, seems to have missed the mark when it comes to accommodating users with disabilities. Chase DiBenedetto of Mashable writes, "in a strange step back for the tech giant, the hours-old platform...doesn't seem to accommodate those with disabilities well, offering few accessibility tools, customization options, or site policies on its accessibility features at large."
In 2023, launching a new product is not an excuse to ignore disability and treat those with accessibility needs as an afterthought. Threads is competing with a platform whose crumbling infrastructure is due in part to that same mindset following a takeover by Elon Musk.
As someone with a visual impairment, I rely heavily on assistive technology and accessibility tools to navigate the web. The lack of accessibility features in Threads is not just an oversight; it's a barrier that prevents individuals like me from participating in online conversations and communities. It's a far cry from Mark Zuckerberg's claim that the platform will "focus on kindness." You can't do that through exclusion.
Accessibility is not an afterthought; it is a fundamental aspect of design and development. The principle of Universal Design promotes environments and tools that prioritize use by all people without the need for specialized accommodations. Allon Mason CEO and founder of web accessibility company UserWay.org, rightly points out, "Digital platforms have a responsibility to be inclusive, and it is essential that accessibility is at the forefront of their design considerations."
Threads' lack of accessibility features is a stark reminder of the ongoing struggle for digital inclusion. It is imperative for social media platforms to recognize and address the diverse needs of all users, including those with disabilities.
As a community, we must hold these platforms accountable and advocate for the integration of accessibility features. It is not just about compliance; it is about creating an inclusive digital space where everyone, regardless of their abilities, can communicate, connect, and contribute.
I urge Meta to take immediate steps to address the accessibility gaps in Threads and to engage with the disability community in the development and implementation of these features. Let's work together to ensure that social media is inclusive and accessible to all.
#AccessibilityMatters #InclusiveDesign #DisabilityPride #ThreadsAccessibility #DigitalInclusion #UniversalDesign #Meta #SocialMediaForAll #Technology
https://lnkd.in/eAJAzYem
People also viewed
Related People
Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.