Transcript
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Dhara: Hello, Jason, welcome to this podcast and let’s get started with a few questions here. You know, so you want to get started with
Younus: that? Hey Jason could you tell us something about Mizaru, your startup?
Jason: Oh, my startup company Mizaru, is that what you mean? Yes. So we’re developing an app that helps people with disabilities to work with to be able to find support and other access, access services, and to automatically we’ll call out and find somebody that will match the needs of the person who is setting up that request.
Younus: That’s amazing. So. How has been your experience so far?
Jason: It’s been a challenge. It’s finding, you know, the right people to hire on and people, you know, who you know, who, who’s interested in the work. [00:01:00] Clientele. It’s a lot of chasing. So it’s been a range from good to bad. Money’s been a little tight.
Jason: Trying to get some customers in. But it’s been a great experience though.
Dhara: Jason, one question here. So in your journey, how many misconceptions or misunderstanding that you have observed and how did you try to clear them up?
Jason: I’m sorry, misconceptions about what?
Dhara: Accessibility and inclusion.
Jason: Oh how many times you know, people say that they want to be able to, you know, participate and they think that they understand what’s going on.
Jason: You know, they feel like they have the right attitude. And then when they come in. It does not match with, you know, kind of like who they are as a person. They don’t understand what’s going on. Like, you know, they want to, you know, try to be a part of this and they, they get in and they don’t know what to do and don’t really have the full scope of what accessibility means.
Jason: So yeah, it happens a lot.
Jason: Yeah, that must have been tough. Oh yeah, oh yeah. Yeah, like right now with like the LGBTQ A community somebody had said that they need to add an I. To that and like a plus and I feel it, you know, it’s just, it’s just becoming, you know, it’s like too long. And then people who are like D.
Jason: I know, we wanted to be, you know, fair on include to, we wanted like a, to be accessible to mean for accessible, like they L. G. B. T. Q. I. A. for being accessible and plus. But I provided, you know, training on inclusivity, you know, how you, you know, you can better converse with, you know, the diversity of people to.
Jason: You know, to have behaviors and words of equality and to be able to provide workshops on how to, you know, build or to be able to provide accessibility to the user’s experience. You know, like you know, building apps and other services to provide information, you know, and we need both, you know, to be able to work together.
Dhara: Right. What you found more difficult, convincing people or updating technology?
Jason: The technology part. That’s interesting. Oh, I’m so sorry. So why for technology, you know, requires, you know you know, specific skills, specific awareness, you know, designing criteria criteria that you have specifically match.
Jason: And. And to be able to include all, you know, all the sorts of disabilities and with, you know, approaching people it’s more about feeling comfortable and just being able to approach somebody you know, most people are willing to help and when it’s learning technology, it’s, it’s just, it’s more rigid Yeah, there’s a difference, you know, between the two there [00:04:00] a personal story.
Jason: I traveled to almost 16 countries and the people were, you know, you tell me that, you know, while the technology is different, the culture is different, the language is different. And after doing some research like with with iPhone Or Mac books or iPads. Those are pretty, you know standard.
Jason: They’re all pretty much in basically, you know, you know, one language computer language. That’s, you know, pretty standard. You know, it’s not just in English, but you know, you’re able to change the languages as well. And the problem that I see with you know, like with people’s attitudes, you’re saying that, you know, I don’t have any, you know, like, they don’t have this much patience, you know, I don’t have time for that, you know, you know, people are you know, scared of inclusivity and just the behaviors that they have in working with different languages and, and cultures.
Younus: All right. Yeah, that is impressive that you’ve done 16 countries. [00:05:00] I heard that very well. You know, I think I have a lot of catch up. That’s amazing. So,
Jason: Yeah,
Younus: a lot to catch up. I think I don’t know whether I’ve done that much, but kudos to you, you know, being able to travel so much. Last time you were in China, I believe.
Younus: Yeah.
Jason: Awesome. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I’m sure it was quite frustrating.
Dhara: Yeah, but I’m sure you must be observing a good growth going in a positive manner from where you were like, you know, a few years back and now where the technology is going and how people are reacting and more and more people are getting aware and trying to get their website and app 508 compliant.
Dhara: What, what, what are your views on that?
Jason: Well, [00:06:00] honestly you know, I worked in government for eight years, Uhhuh on 5 0 8. And it’s really old. It’s very old technology, you know, it is not, it does not follow the compliances to what we need to do to, or what we need for today. And you know, I’ve, I’ve, you know, I’ve worked with them to tell them that they need to be updating this like with a with like WCAG.
Jason: Yeah, no, that’s not right. W. Yeah, web accessibility. Yeah. And there’s a lot of business that start to follow that, but people don’t think, you know, to, you know, quality check, you know, double check what needs to be done with the requirements and, you know, you know. They should have, you know, deaf people and other people with disabilities to go through and see if they’re more accessible, you know you know, like the the text to speech dictation and things like that to make sure that those are coming across legibly, and you know, be able to [00:07:00] add visual explanations for people who are blind so that they can understand what they’re looking at. And like myself, I’m deaf and blind. And, you know, like sometimes the captions are too fast. Or if somebody’s speaking, obviously that’s not a benefit to me because I can’t hear them.
Jason: So I feel like there’s still a lot of work there to do to improve upon. And, you know, many people have told us that, you know, that, you know, they are accessible, you know, that this is like DeafBlind approved and then you pull up the website and it’s just like, this is a huge failure. This is just not acceptable, you know.
Jason: It’s it, I mean, sometimes whatever I’m going through right here, like with what I’m looking at on this, like for an example, like it wouldn’t apply to me, like it wouldn’t apply to me. Like it wouldn’t work for me and it would be a big failure.
Younus: Right. So what are the top [00:08:00] five things that you see in a website or an app that makes it accessible for you?
Jason: Okay. So You know, like, all the advertisements, all the pictures there are not like you know, they’re too small to touch you know.
Jason: The things are inverted. And I don’t feel with the haptics. Mm-hmm, . Some are some with the some of the haptics with the apps are, they just don’t work. They’re no good. Yeah. And then you know, the chat app like with that, when you’re typing out like a question can feel it like, you know, vibrate and while I’m texting and I like that.
Jason: And then we usually like when it’s, and I, when somebody’s responding and when it stops, that means that they’re done. I like that. Yeah,
Dhara: that is absolutely correct.
Younus: So what are your favorite sites, favorite websites or example sites that you think that I really have [00:09:00] cracked accessibility correctly, or is it that you use apps that makes your
Jason: life simple?
Jason: With the chat GPT. Oh, lovely.
Younus: Yes. Yeah.
Jason: Oh, yeah. Yeah, there’s no advertisements. I can, you know, you know, adjust the screen to what I need. I can read it. It’s nice. It’s simple. You know, I can, you know, it’s, it’s just really nice. That is a
Dhara: great technology, right Jason?
Younus: Have you, have you included GPT in your app or have you used AI anywhere in your upcoming app?
Jason: We’re trying to incorporate that. It’s not 100 percent yet. I want to be able to provide, you know, different options to our users on how to be able to request and do a follow up to be able to Access the app and, [00:10:00] and to be able to use AI to where they’ll be able to get their preferences taken care of and try different approaches to be able to include a wide range of options for them.
Jason: Like, for example, like, oh so actually for the, I thought of a website at Delta and Expedia like the hotel, online hotels. Yes. Okay, so when you’re looking for a hotel like in the city and everything like that, when you’re setting up the day and time of your travel, and then you look at the offers and the prices and the bookings and everything like that just how they’re listed out there it automatically, when you click on on one of your preferences there, it provides relevant information.
Jason: Information with that, and then they open it up on a separate page so that I don’t have to go back and redo my search and everything like that. And then it can it look for other options that I, that might help my travels there in the area they’ll provide recommendations [00:11:00] and it’s just like, you know, I can I can cancel it.
Jason: They’re super easy and you know, request who I want with it. And then yeah, I can change, you know, the dates are canceled and I want to be able to do that with the AI as well within the system and try to have it streamlined much like how they have it. I really like that. You know, it’s like I want to cancel a hotel.
Jason: I can just, you know, yeah. Set up just send a, send a message out. And if there’s like a five day policy or 24 hour policy of cancellation or something like that, they’ll get the information that they need. Just be able to keep it as simple as possible. Jason
Dhara: also curious to know, did COVID 19 phase impacted accessibility or inclusion in any way, like in a positive or negative manner?
Jason: Well, accessibility is just hard in general, but I did notice one well, it was a little hard because I mean, like for me like being deaf blind, I can’t have people close and I need to have somebody [00:12:00] close for my haptic signing and there’s, you know, just, just the range of that as well. So it was,
Jason: it was more of a negative impact during COVID. I noticed a lot of people, you know, like who are, you know, deaf, blind, or, or even blind sitting alone. Yeah. And that’s pretty tough.
Dhara: Oh, yes. We can only imagine.
Younus: So do you also do coaching? Do you also teach accessibility?
Jason: I, I, I, I teach for a certification.
Jason: Huh.
Younus: Which one would that be?
Jason: The CPAC? Yeah. The yeah, the CPAC. Yeah. Oh, awesome.
Younus: Yep. Lovely. That’s amazing, Jason.
Younus: And do you do it online or you do it in person? How, how, how do you manage that?
Jason: I do both. Oh, okay. [00:13:00] Oh, oh, oh. And lemme back up here. So, while I, I, I don’t teach the cpac. Yeah. I don’t teach. I I take, I took the test. I have the certification myself. I I advise businesses and people you know, I I’ll provide them with you know, reports and information and tips and I can monitor you know, if the place is accessible or not.
Jason: And then give them feedback on what should be provided.
Younus: That’s, that’s interesting. So is that where most of your time is invested in? So do you, do you do a lot of consulting across the day, across the month?
Younus: Lovely.
Dhara: And Jason, what kind of improvements you would look, you would love to see in future?
Jason: Well, I would like to see software websites and other company developers to have, you know, like a standard of approval for this because I’m just, you know, tired of businesses, you know, stealing ideas like apps for, you know, blind people like there was one app like [00:14:00] actually hate says BC or there was, it was called Oh, be my eyes.
Jason: Yeah, there is, yeah. So that one you know, I understand the meaning, you know, and I try to explain that to people, you know, the people who are, develop that app aren’t blind. They have no concept of what it is to be blind. You know, and same with hearing and, you know, like new technology, like if you Google, like Google and Facebook and others, like they’re just like In a rush to like, hey, yeah, yeah, look at me kind of thing and it’s like, I want them to be, you know, make these more accessible and, you know, for us to, for us to be seen appropriately and, you know, we’re just waiting on these like Apple You know, they’re people have to wait, you know, three, four months later in order to be able to get these upgrades and they just need to change their ability to include are these [00:15:00] other communities to be able to be caught up and be able to streamline with the rest of the world.
Jason: Yeah.
Dhara: What advice would you give to planning committee, developers, testers, the core committee, I would say, who are working on the project. Where should they start thinking about accessibility and how should they proceed?
Jason: Well, I would tell them that we need to find, you know, the right people who have the experience and the knowledge and the motivation.
Jason: And to not use, you know, people who don’t have any idea of what. You know, that community of people face, that’s not a match, that doesn’t work, you know, they need new developers, they need new designers, people who can who can do the job that is needed for the people who need that done and worry about the money problems [00:16:00] later.
Jason: My mission is to build an an inclusive user experience as like a one stop shop for people in this, in that instance, yes, agree,
Younus: all the best for your mission. I think it is very crucial for the world to have a mission like that and help as many people as it can, you know. I wish you all the best and all the very much success in your vision and your mission for Mizaru and for all the people who are going through, you know, challenges accessing content, you know, I think that that definitely can be bridged and all power to you, all strength to you for, you know, going ahead with this.
Jason: Okay, I just want to provide one more example as far as inclusion and accessibility, you know, and regarding hospitals right now, 40 percent of ADA lawsuits are with hospitals and the hospitals are supposed to be improving their processes [00:17:00] of how they bring in interpreters and the proper interpreters and do by, by using this this idea that would solve a lot of those problems and there’s a huge gap with providing these services in being able to bring in appropriate communication methods.
Jason: When somebody, you know, you know, like they like they can’t see or they can’t hear, you know, a lot of people just end up believing that they’re not being included either. So the experiences these patients are having are extremely diverse and, you know, people need to figure out something to be able to streamline this to be able to become more, make this more effective for the patients.
Jason: Like you know, if You know, having a, you know, having a good interpreter provides all the information that I need. You know, give me 1 second here. So, suppose if we, [00:18:00] we went in, we had accessible, accessibility that we all agreed on and
Jason: I had full access to the, you know, the, to the information. It would, it would be, you know, it would be equal on all fronts and the, and the experience would be much better with having being provided a qualified interpreter.
Younus: Yes.
Younus: So you think you think hospitals are working towards this? Have you been in a hospital and help them out?
Jason: I think, yeah, they just need more like, like more of like an automatic system. Just like when somebody calls in for a request that automatically get sent up.
Younus: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I think not alone hospitals, but also I think places like airports.
Younus: You know, perhaps could could use this.
Jason: Oh, yes. Oh, definitely airports. Oh, yeah. It’s [00:19:00] just you know, like when I asked him, like, like, I’m civil, like, oh, do you always need like, they always ask me, do I need a wheelchair? It’s like, yeah. Oh, and then I have to explain everything from, you know, you know, people with disabilities, you know, do you need a guide or do you need, you know, somebody to bring you to where you need to go?
Jason: And, you know, it’s not. It’s not an easy way, you know, it’s not, and there’s no easy solution to the problem
Jason: and you know, some airports, you know, do a good job, you know, that are able to text information, you know, like they’re like, if there’s like Delta and Southwest.
Younus: Yeah. So they, they text you about delays or any cancellations or preponements or anything of that sort that, that helps.
Jason: Yes, exactly. Yeah. And Delta it’s automatic. It’s automatic information and you have the options on what you want [00:20:00] to do. And you can just text back or chat with an agent and you’re able to do that.
Jason: Southwest doesn’t have that. Yeah.
Dhara: And can you be also talk about the navigation part? Do you see any improvements in maps or like, let’s say, Google or navigations? Did you find any improvement over there over the
Jason: years? Yeah, I I do like, like Google Maps because they’re more they’re, they’re more precise.
Jason: And you can call the business right from the app to see if they’re open or closed. There’s options if you want to walk sometimes it’s a struggle for me to, you know, to change from, you know, a lot of times change for like the bus from walking to the bus to the train. But with that, it’s a I can get.
Jason: You know, verbal instructions and it’s really nice. Yeah. It’s very accommodating. Yeah, it would, yeah, it would be nice if like all the apps integrated that kind of technology.
Dhara: Yeah. Yeah. [00:21:00] Yeah. Yeah.
Younus: That’s amazing. Yeah. Google does give APIs. To leverage such technology, which, which definitely is used in a lot of apps.
Younus: So even Grubhub uses maps APIs, which helps the drivers to deliver, you know? So, yeah, it does. So there, there are APIs which are available. So yeah, it’s, it’s something that, you know, everyone should leverage even captions for that matter. YouTube has captions, even Google Meet has captions, which are all driven by the same Google engine, you know, so that, that really helps for a lot of inclusion and perhaps promotes universal design, you know, it’s not just limited to people with disabilities, but also to people without, and they can also use such features and make their life more easier.
Jason: Oh, and one other thing just popped into mind. You had mentioned GrubHub and that brought to mind that I [00:22:00] like. Like Uber and Lyft. And with Uber they add, you know, they’ve added so many features and it’s actually really kind of confusing. And with Lyft, it’s simple. It’s you need a ride.
Jason: That’s it. You know, they, they have their bikes and it’s super simple and they linked, they partnered with Grubhub to keep things simple too. Like with Uber, it’s just like they’re, you know, you know, grabbing and snatching as much as they can. Like Uber Eats, Delivery, you know, you know, Uber, Uber, Uber, every, every, you know, everything.
Jason: And it’s so overwhelming using their app. And depending on where you’re at, it’s, it, it, it changes and it’s a lot more convoluted than Lyft.
Dhara: Yeah, that makes it more confusing if we just have too many things at one place, rather we would like to have it simple, but still accessible.[00:23:00]
Younus: This is a classic learning for all the apps. You know This is a classic learning that keep it simple, you know, yeah
Jason: Also, I recognize our notice to with lyft they have you know, lower denial rates from like angry customers compared to uber I mean for not having a service not being able to have animals there, you know, there’s less.
Jason: Yeah Denial rates or Denial scores from, from Lyft and there is Uber like they’re more inclusive, you know, they have, it’s a more inclusive experience with Lyft.
Younus: Absolutely. I think that is something that we definitely will speak to Lyft and tag everyone from Lyft that you’ve done a great job, you know, and Jason approves Lyft.
Jason: All right.
Jason: Yeah. [00:24:00] Yeah. I’ve got the Lyft pink.
Jason: It’s called the Pink Membership, Uhhuh where I’m able to get a ride, like, like more fast and more confirmed driver. Driver or drivers that are confirmed that are closer and everything. So I’ve got a, that pink membership with them. Oh, lovely. Also with Uber they just have like one, but Lyft has the, the pink.
Jason: Yeah.
Younus: The premium subscription. Yep.
Jason: Yes. And is that
Dhara: helpful, Jason, when you are traveling in other countries as well?
Jason: No. No. Yeah, I can’t use that in other countries. They have their own systems in place. Like Europe, they have like Uber and,
Jason: [00:25:00] yeah, no, the yeah, Lyft is only in North America. Huh. Just the only in the U. S.
Jason: Okay.
Younus: So could you, could you give us a few countries that you have traveled? Yeah, I know there are 16, but a few of them would really motivate us to go there.
Younus: And what do you like
Jason: about them?
Jason: I’ve been to France that was good. Yeah, they have good subway systems there. Good public transportation. Uber there is is pretty, pretty good. A lot of people use Uber better than the taxi. And then Japan they’re very accessible. The acce elevators, or the, yeah, the elevators and other modes of transportation are more accessible.
Jason: Let’s see here. Yes, I guess yeah, which, what, what would you be, I guess it depends on how you’d [00:26:00] like me to expand, like, as far as. Accessibility and entertainment to, needed to tell you about the countries. But well, China has this app called pya. Mm-Hmm, . I’m sorry. I’ll, I’ll, I’ll, well, it’s the app where you can you can change, which I sit here and, and apply for a QR code to be able to get on the bus or I have food delivered or you know, different stores all in that app. I really liked that idea. You know, where I have a lot of,
Younus: yeah, yeah. Yeah. So they call it a super apps.
Jason: Yeah. It’s like a L I P a Y Alipay Alipay
Younus: Alibay.
Younus: Oh yeah. Yeah. Aliexpress Alibay. Yes.
Jason: Yeah, but I recognize that like the QR code, sometimes I’ll go up to the case and they won’t work. So when I go up there, I don’t know if it’s going to work or [00:27:00] not because I can’t see if the light’s working or not as well or if there’s a light there. So I have to go, you know, go and ask somebody, you know, and, and they don’t have the accessibility organizations that are there.
Jason: So, you know, it’s nice to, you know, not have to bring my wallet that it’s all on my phone. It’s all right there, which is nice. Oh, that’s awesome.
Younus: Yeah, I’ve heard of Alipay before. Yeah, it’s a great app. It’s a super app consists of almost everything to do. Many things to do. Not everything, but
Younus: yeah. So how does your day look like? You know, how does your day look like across the day? How much time do you spend in working, learning, speaking to people, collaborating? How do you spread out your day? Like,
Jason: Oh, well, wake up morning. I’ll catch up on my [00:28:00] emails. You know, checking with my team. And
Jason: who are on different time zones some of the day, you know, be working writing emails you know, working on other documentation. Sometimes it’s trouble. You have to meet with clients, provide trainings. Sometimes that’s 8 hours a day. You know, there’s other times that I’ll, you know, do a product analysis.
Jason: Some days I’ll just rest. It really varies. I’m not on 1 straight strict schedule by any means. Yep. My day to day operations change. Sometimes I have a lot of appointments today. I get to go to a a testimony for, for a bill. There’s two bills Going through the Senate this afternoon, so I’ll be providing testimony to rep, so I’ll have a service person working with me.
Jason: And so, yeah, it’s good to do that.
Younus: Oh, lovely. You’re still associated with the government. Do you help them [00:29:00] out with the bills and things? Okay,
Jason: all those kind of things.
Younus: Sounds like a very busy man and thank you so much for the time that you have spent for this interview. You know really appreciate it. Yeah, you know, your time, you know, yeah, Jason. Sorry, go ahead. Yeah, continue. That’s okay.
Dhara: Oh, yes. And I must say that you work in various directions.
Dhara: And it is so, so, so important to know your perspective in each of them. And it is helping us to know more and what we can do to achieve our mission. And I think that there will be a way also where we can help you to achieve your mission.
Jason: Oh, yes, definitely. Yes. Yeah. I’m really, you know, wanting to
Jason: and bridge the gap to [00:30:00] decrease the barriers that we cannot want to be able to provide trainings and teachings, you know, to, and the tools, you know, with the right resources, you know, the proper access to resources and to be able to develop the tools that will, you know you know, decrease, you know, the frustration for the clients of the app in the future.
Jason: Yeah.
Younus: So these apps will be available on the iPhone first, or would it be both Android and iPhone?
Jason: Right now it’s just going to be the first way it’s going to be through our web web based. Yeah. Then the developer, my developer will create a mobile version. Okay,
Younus: that’s interesting. So,
Jason: Yeah, we’re going to start with the web app first because it’s cheaper and more agile and then figure [00:31:00] out like the ratio of people their preferences and then create a design for a mobile app that’ll work through like Facebook or like Airbnb, and then it’ll become a mobile app.
Younus: So have you Have you considered using any braille device like a refreshable braille for yourself?
Jason: I’m not sure what that is, but like I have a, like I have a braille display. Huh. But is that, is that what you’re talking about? Yeah.
Younus: A braille display.
Jason: Yeah, I have that. Yeah. It’s it’s a, it’s
Jason: It’s a four ball focus. Mm hmm.
Jason: Okay.
Jason: Awesome. That’s what it’s called.
Younus: So what [00:32:00] tech do you use in your day to day life? What kind of technologies do you access to or any devices that you have, which helps you? What is your setup like?
Jason: I’ve got a MacBook. I’ve got my iPhone. I’ve got an iPad. I’ve got my Apple watch Apple TV. Let’s see what else here. I have a Kindle.
Jason: Huh. Oh, wow. So if I want to read, you know, read a book. Yeah. Yeah, Jason,
Dhara: just like you, I also love Apple products.
Jason: With the book I can also, with that, I can make the text bigger. There’s no problems with like with, there’s a library and everything like that. And I can access that with the computer, you know, I can change, you know, I can pick my books and then I can click on that to, you know, make it larger instead of, you know, like if I’m on a plane.
Jason: I can adjust the lighting so that I can see it better as well with the technology. You know, I don’t lose my spot when I’m [00:33:00] reading so it’s a lot easier.
Younus: That’s interesting. That’s amazing. So you’re a tech guy, you know, so much of tech. I don’t think I have all that with me as yet. All right.
Younus: So who do you live with? You have a family or you stay alone or how is it like
Younus: alone?
Jason: Yep. I have surf a little bit, you know, English for going around to different friends places and staying.
Younus: Oh, lovely. That’s interesting. Do you also invite people at home sometimes? Oh, no. No. Okay.
Jason: Okay.
Jason: But yeah, no I’ll typically go to other people’s homes. Oh, okay. Yeah, I typically, yeah, I go to their [00:34:00] places. I don’t invite them in over by mine. Okay.
Younus: That’s interesting. And that, so that, that explains me, or that gives me an idea that that’s how you travel as in you couch surf a lot. Is that how it is?
Younus: Oh, no, once in a while,
Jason: I do couch surf often when when I travel I get a better, you know, cultural experience, you know you know, I, you know, the diversity of food and culture, I get to take it all in and you know, that’s where I get, you know, my ideas of what’s going to work with technology, the technology that I’m working for is by going and experiencing the frustrations, you know, it opens my mind and it gives me, yeah, these are all ideas, all these ideas.
Jason: So. Better experience that way.
Younus: That is phenomenal. That is phenomenal, man. Hats off to your courage to getting getting through this. And of course, through Couchsurfing.
Dhara: You are such an inspiration, Jason. And also just [00:35:00] wanted to mention that I live in Kansas and as you travel a lot, I would like to meet you in person if you ever happen to be in this area.
Dhara: Oh, we’re in Kansas, Kansas.
Jason: Okay. Yeah. I’ve actually haven’t had any opportunities, but I would like to take the opportunity or hopefully the opportunity to present myself to be able to meet you. Yes,
Dhara: please. Yes. And Yunus also travels between Portland and India. We can invite him as well. And we can, like, you know, meet in person, pursue some ideas and go from there.
Younus: So you’re based in where are you from where do you stay as in, in the U. S.?
Jason: So my primary residence is in Maryland and my company is based in Texas and in Oregon. Oh, lovely. Yeah, so they’re a little bit, but yeah, my physical address is, yeah, in Maryland. [00:36:00] Maryland, all
Younus: right. So I’m also in Oregon. So whenever you’re around, maybe we can catch up if it is possible. Portal.
Jason: Sure. Yeah, sure. Yeah. Well, we can keep in touch through email and see what happens. Definitely.
Younus: So, we are really grateful for this call, Jason, and I think we are on time now. Yeah. We appreciate that and we would love that you contribute to such events. Would you be, would you be open to take a training for our audiences, you know, any topic of your choice, maybe 30 minutes, you know, whenever you are free, maybe we could do a training or any subject that you would like to share.
Younus: Or any, so if, even if you want to pitch about Mizaru or,
Jason: you know. So like, for example, like inclusion in the workplace like hiring people with disabilities and things like that, and be able to provide resources [00:37:00] or a business who want to expand and hire people more with disabilities to provide accessible options or, or, or standards.
Jason: Yeah, I’ve got the full gamut.
Younus: Oh, lovely. Maybe we could take one of these
Younus: in the next month, perhaps whenever you’re available, you know, and
Jason: yeah, sure. Yeah. And then I did have had an experience with American family insurance recently they’re in Wisconsin, but that’s their headquarters are in Wisconsin and they wanted to they were struggling to find more people to work with them and Yeah, we told them that
Jason: yeah, I’m sorry without so yeah, I wanted to you know, they wanted to get some money from the government for hiring people with disabilities or people who are veterans and they should, sure. That’d be great. But the system that they had with like the filtering, we’re deleting all the people with disabilities who had applied you know there was there’s a [00:38:00] keyword filter, That that were that were not hiring the right people.
Jason: They had to go to a specific event apparently to be able to apply for this. And they needed to have to change this. So now they’re on the start there at the beginning of, of, of changing this criteria.
Younus: Oh, okay. Okay. Interesting. So you help them out to get out of that problem, you know, in their source engines, is that how it is?
Jason: That’s impressive. Yeah. Yeah, I’d set up a different goals or where they had problems set up and then help provide them solutions to be able to go forward.
Younus: Lovely. That’s amazing. Cool. That’s it from our end. Thank you so much. You, you have been an exceptional partner and we would love to, you know, meet you in person.
Younus: And I think there’s a lot that people can learn from [00:39:00] this podcast. I think there’s a lot of learnings that people will take away. Definitely. And you are the star. Well, thank
Dhara: you, Jason, for your time, your your hard work and sharing your
Jason: life stories with us. Definitely. I do. You have a good day.
Jason: And
Dhara: Jason.
Summary
Jason, the founder of Mizaru, is developing an app that helps people with disabilities find support and access services. The app aims to match the needs of the person setting up a request, making it easier for them to participate in the process. However, there are many misconceptions about accessibility and inclusion, which can be challenging to clear up.
One of the main challenges faced by Mizaru is finding the right people to hire and the right clientele. The company has been working on a variety of challenges, including finding the right people to hire and the right clientele. Additionally, the company has been working on promoting inclusivity and providing workshops on how to build accessible user experiences.
One of the challenges faced by Mizaru is convincing people or updating technology. Technology requires specific skills, awareness, and designing criteria that match the needs of the audience. To include all types of disabilities, it is important to approach people with a comfortable attitude and be able to work with different languages and cultures.
Jason has traveled to 16 countries and has observed that people’s attitudes towards inclusivity and their behaviors when working with different languages and cultures are often resistant. He has worked with government agencies to ensure that their websites and apps comply with WCAG standards, but people often don’t think they need to quality check and double-check requirements.
Mizaru has also worked with deaf people and other people with disabilities to ensure that their content is legible and visually appealing. They have also added visual explanations for people who are blind to help them understand what they are looking at.
In conclusion, Mizaru has been a great success in promoting accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities. However, there are still challenges in convincing people and updating technology to meet the needs of today’s diverse population.
