#162 Technology Is the Greatest Equalizer: Mike Hess, Digital Accessibility & Workforce Development

Mike Hess is the Founder and Executive Director of the Blind Institute of Technology (BIT), and his core message is simple: technology is the greatest equalizer for people with disabilities. In this PreVetted Podcast episode, Mike and Federico Ramallo dig into digital accessibility, WCAG, and workforce development, and why accessibility is also a real business advantage.BIT is a pan-disability workforce development organization. Its fully virtual, instructor-led Academy levels people up in digital accessibility and Salesforce certifications toward gainful employment, and 100% of BIT's instructors identify with a disability.Mike came up through a deep telecom and engineering career (Qwest, Level 3 Communications, switch engineering, COBOL) after entering tech through an IBM-funded program at the Community College of Denver as the Y2K boom took off. He was appointed by the Governor of Colorado to the Workforce Development Council and recognized with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Business Award.Mike explains why he calls technology an equalizer: Apple and Steve Jobs building screen-reader access into the first iPhone, Uber making independent ride-hailing possible for a blind traveler, and the RSA security tokens he could hear instead of see. He breaks down WCAG as a shared translation layer between assistive-technology users and developers, how modern JavaScript frameworks discard native HTML accessibility, and why Salesforce stands alone as the most accessible business enterprise application for B2B workforce development.They also get into the harder problem of perception. Drawing on Daniel Kahneman's concept of loss aversion, Mike describes the "squishy feeling" that keeps well-meaning people from hiring people with disabilities, and the five words that dissolve it: "How can I help you?" They cover the curb-cut effect, how closed captions and text-to-voice built for the disability community now serve everyone, and the roughly 1.3 billion people worldwide (north of $10 trillion in disposable income) that businesses overlook. Mike's closing advice to hiring managers: accessibility is not difficult, it is intentional.About Mike Hess:https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-hess-9a4a826/https://blindit.orgAbout Federico RamalloFounder of Density Labs, the AI Engineering Partner for the mid-market, helping US companies ship AI to production, backed by a decade of shipping software with distributed engineering teams. Author of The Invisible Distance, the operating system for engineering leaders running teams across borders. Host of The PreVetted Podcast: 150+ conversations with VPs of Engineering, CTOs, and operators on what actually works.https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/https://densitylabs.iohttps://prevetted.aiPreVetted Podcasthttps://prevetted.ai/podcasthttps://x.com/PrevettedPodhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/prevetted-podcastTIMESTAMPS:0:00 Introduction to the Blind Institute of Technology1:13 Expanding Workforce Development for All Disabilities3:27 The Impact of the ADA and Early Career Experiences7:47 Resilience Through Economic Challenges11:19 Building Resilience in the Disability Community15:55 Creating Allies in the Disability Community19:23 The Role of Technology as an Equalizer22:39 Empowering Independence Through Accessible Technology24:45 Understanding WCAG and Its Importance26:43 Breaking Down Perceptions Around Disabilities30:59 The Value of Accommodations for All33:32 BIT's Dual Role in Workforce Development36:22 Advice for Hiring Managers on Accessibility