Dark And Silent Office Guidebook with Stephanie Warlick

Air Date - 22 January 2025

Join Inspired Living Host Marc Lainhart – The Intuitive Prospector™ this “Wisdom Wednesday” as we welcome to the show for the first time, Author, Founder, and CEO of SFT Viewing Consulting, Ms. Stephanie Warlick, to chat about her book, “Dark and Silent Office: A Digital Accessibility Guidebook for Inclusive Communication in the Workplace.” This pioneering guidebook is the first of its kind, focusing on enhancing workplace communication for digital communication and documents with hearing and visually impaired colleagues.

“Remember that creating an accessible and inclusive environment is an ongoing process. It starts with recognizing that education is necessary for you and those around you. It requires commitment, continuous learning, and adaptation to new technologies and standards. This guidebook is your starting point.” -Stephanie Warlick.

“Effective teamwork begins and ends with communication.” –Mike Krzyzewski, Hall of Fame collegiate and Olympic basketball coach.

#StephanieWarlick #InspiredLiving #MarcLainhart #Interviews

MORE INFORMATION: 
With over thirty years of rich experience, Stephanie Simmons Warlick is a seasoned expert in guiding small businesses toward sustainable growth. As the visionary behind 5FT View Consulting, Stephanie’s leadership is defined by her remarkable knack for pinpointing and resolving organizational gaps. She champions a steadfast dedication to achieving true equity, not just equality, within the workplace. With a keen eye for spotting needs and a passion for seeing projects through from conception to fruition, Stephanie thrives in the dynamic environment of small businesses, where she can fully immerse herself in the entire growth cycle. Her character is rooted in empathy, compassion, and a strong sense of community and connection, ensuring that every individual’s needs are truly equitable. Stephanie’s innovative Stand in the Gap Method coaching program is a testament to leaving the world better and supporting others in developing the awareness, skills, and resilience to “think like an owner” and excel in professional settings. Unlike traditional high-level consultants who merely prescribe solutions, Stephanie prides herself on being an “executive doer,” rolling up her sleeves and implementing strategies alongside business owners—or on their behalf—rather than merely telling them what to do. Through her role as a fractional Chief Operating Officer (COO) and as an executive Human Resources services provider, she tackles an overwhelming number of gaps, leveraging her expertise to bridge them effectively. With her multifaceted expertise and unwavering dedication to making a difference, Stephanie continues to leave an indelible mark on both the business world and the literary landscape.

The Dark and Silent Office Guidebook illuminates each person’s responsibility to stand in the gap and own the responsibility of daily inclusive communication in the workplace. Often, we hear about digital accessibility, and web development is center stage of the conversation. Published by 5FT View, the Guidebook will serve as a basis for ongoing awareness, education, training, and supporting services. This pioneering guidebook is the first of its kind, focusing on enhancing workplace communication for digital communication and documents with hearing and visually impaired colleagues. Geared towards coworkers, managers, and HR/DEI leaders, this resource is a must-have for anyone looking to foster a more inclusive and effective work environment.
http://stephaniewarlick.com https://www.5ftview.com

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Welcome to Inspired Living with Mark Lainhart, the Intuitive Prospector.
Every Wednesday, Mark, along with his special guests, will explore
thought provoking topics and ideas that promote creativity, self help, healing, happiness,
and well being to inspire you on your spiritual journey.
Each week, Mark will discuss different paths to achieving a

(00:36):
more spiritual, balanced, happy, and healthy lifestyle. Topics will elevate
consciousness and range from metaphysics, to the human and social
experience and all things spiritual. Welcome to an inspired community
that offers support, encouragement, and new ways of thinking. Mark
is a tested, certified and professional spiritual medium, metaphysical teacher, healer,

(00:58):
and spiritual advisor with a spiritual practice based in Seattle, Washington.
You are the inspired and the inspiration.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
And good morning, good afternoon, or good evening where you
may be in this beautiful planet of ours, and welcome
to Inspired living, where every moment is an opportunity to
ignite your passion and curiosities and embrace the mysteries, the phenomenons,
the known, the ordinary, and yes, the extraordinary. I'm your host,
Mark Lainehart, the Intuitive Prospector, Here with you yet again
for what I like to say, soul adventures and an

(01:31):
inspiring episode to explore, discuss, and discover the many diamonds
within each and every one of us, and the many
gems that have yet to be revealed to us and
the world. I'm thrilled to have you join us today
as we embark on a journey of inspiration, motivation, and transformation.
Whether you return, whether you're tuning in from the comfort
of your own home, on the road, or wherever life

(01:51):
takes you, this show is designed to uplift your spirit
and empower your dreams. Here at Inspired Living, we believe
that within each of us lies the potential to create
the life we desire. Together, we'll explore stories of resilience, wisdom,
and creativity will spark your imagination and encourage you to
take bold steps towards your goals. Inspire Living is all

(02:11):
about fostering a supportive and empowering community, and each episode
will highlight incredible guests who have overcome challenges, pursued their passions,
and make a positive impact in their fields. From artists
and entrepreneurs to thought leaders and wellness advocates, We'll bring
you diverse voices and perspectives that resonate with the journey
of personal growth. Will delve into the topics like mindfulness, creativity,

(02:36):
gold setting, resilience, providing you with practical tips and insights
to apply to your own life. Inspired listeners can expect
engaging discussions, thought provoking questions, and actionable steps to turn
inspiration into reality. Additionally, we'll create a space for you
to share your own stories and experiences. Your journey matters,
and we want to celebrate your victories, no matter how

(02:56):
big or small. Together, we'll cultivate a mindset of possible
ability and unlock the doors to our dreams. So, whether
you're seeking encouragement, looking for new ideas, or simply want
to feel connected, Inspired Living us here to fuel your
journey and inspire each other to live our best lives.
Or as we like to say, here, you are the
inspired and the inspiration. So let's be inspired, let's inspire others,

(03:18):
and let's inspire before we expire. I do want to
give a big shout out and say thank you to
all of our Inspired listeners from around the globe, the universe,
and beyond. My team and I here at Inspired Living
are always so very humbled and grateful to you and listening, downloading, subscribing,
leaving reviews, and voting to make Inspired Living Radio and
Podcasts a best inspirational show and now also a best

(03:39):
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(04:02):
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You can also follow shows over on our YouTube channel
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your favorite podcasting platforms, or you can simply say Alexa
open up Inspired Living Podcasts and that will play this
latest episode. So a new day, a new opportunity, a

(04:22):
day we've not seen before to use our intuition to
prospect this wonderful world around us. So let's get ready
to be inspired and motivated because the best is yet
to come. Let's go prospecting. So today we're welcome to
the show. For the first time a new guest, Stephanie Warlick.
She's written a very very detailed guidebook called Dark and
Silent Office, a digital accessibility guidebook for inclusive communication in

(04:46):
the workplace, and we're going to really break that down
and a little bit about her before we jump into
this episode. She has over thirty years of rich experience.
Stephanie Simmons Warlock is a seasoned expert in the guided
guiding small businesses towards sustainable growth. As the visionary behind
f five ft View Consulting, Stephanie's leadership is defined by

(05:07):
her remarkable knack for pinpointing and resolving organizational gaps. She
she champions a steadfast dedication to achieving true equity, not
just equality within the workplace, but with a keen eye
for spotting needs and a passion for seeing projects through
from conception to fruition. Stephanie thrives in the dynamic environment
of small businesses, where she can fully immerse herself in

(05:28):
the entire growth cycle. Her character is rooted in empathy, compassion,
and a strong sense of community and connection, ensuring that
every individual's needs are truly equitable. Stephanie's an innovative stand
in the Gap method coaching program as a testament to
leave in the world better and supporting others and developing awareness,
skills and resilience to quote, think like an owner, end quote,

(05:50):
and excel in professional settings. Unlike traditional high level consultants
who merely prescribe solutions, Stephanie price her self on being
an executive doer, rolling up her sleeves and implementing strategies
alongside business owners or on their behalf, rather than merely
telling them what to do. Through her role as a

(06:11):
factional Chief Operating Officer COO an executive human resource service provider,
she tackles an overwhelming number of gaps, leveraging her expertise
to bridge them effectively. With her multifacet expertise and unwavering
dedication to make it a difference, Stephanie continues to leave
an indential mark on both the business world and the

(06:32):
literary landscape. The Dark and Silent Office Guidebooks illuminates each
person's responsibility to stand in the gap and own the
responsibility of daily inclusive communication in the workplace. If you
want to learn more about this book that we're going
to talk about today in Stephanie's journey, you can go
to Stephanie worl dot com or you can visit five
that's the number five ftview dot com and all of

(06:54):
this information is also posted on her social media pages
if you want to check that out. So with that, Stephano,
welcome to Inspired Living. How are you, my friend?

Speaker 3 (07:04):
I'm great, Thank you for having me today. I'm really
excited to speak with.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
You likewise, and I love I love that bio and
what you stand for finding things in this world with
your expertise and skill set and leaving them better. That's
always been my philosophy. Find something to leave it better
than how you found it, right.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
Yeah, you know, it's funny that you say that, and
we talk about being inspired in retrospect, that I look
back to the course of my life. I keep doing
that and I don't even realize that I'm doing it.
I'm finding these holes. And I guess I was always
challenged as a child to solve the problem and support
my mom in a unhappy marriage, and I guess it

(07:44):
just grew in me that way. But all the way
back to being in the sixth grade, I was the
rover on the softball team, and I just ran around
the field and filled in all the holes where my
teammates needed support. So I've been doing it for a
long time.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
I love it us a little bit. First, So five
foot five foot view consulting, how did you come up
with that's what's the reasoning behind the five foot view?

Speaker 3 (08:09):
Thanks for asking. I love this question. I thought long,
hard about it when I was starting my company, and
really what I wanted to do exemplify for clients was
that I was a consultant that supported them, not at
the strategic level. I can, of course, but strategy is
often called the twenty five thousand foot view or the
thirty thousand foot view. I really wanted to be clear

(08:30):
that I was down in the weeds every day with
my sleeves rolled up at a very strong attention to
detail level, working side by side with owners, and that's
how I came up with five foot view. It's only
a coincidence that I happened to be five foot five
can someone else asked me if that's.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Why I named it that.

Speaker 3 (08:51):
I'm like, no, it's just to me, it's down in
the weeds. It's the opposite of strategy.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Oh I love that. And when I have guests on
I love to get the story behind whether it's you know,
the the name of a company, or the name of
the book, or you know, what's the there's usually some
sort of intention behind what we do and brings that
into manifesting into our reality. And so this this is
not your first book. This is a book that's coming out.
But tell us a little bit before we jump in

(09:20):
today's topic, which is the dark, dark and Silent office.
Tell us, just for the listeners, give us a little
synopsist of the other books that you've written.

Speaker 3 (09:28):
So I wrote a children's book called Squirrels Bowling on
the Roof, and that also was a stand in the
gap kind of concept for me. I came up with
the idea when my children were two they're about to
be twenty three. Where they were, they were fearful of
the thunderstorm, and I wanted to solve that problem. And

(09:49):
so I said to them, in our very old cave
cod where these this thunderstorm was rolling in, I said,
I don't hear a thunder and lightning. Because they were
very frightened, and I said, I hear school's squirrels bowling
on the roof. What's you you here? And they laughed,
and I giggled, and I was like, oh, I might
be on with something here. And when I went to
seek a book or education to help me and my

(10:09):
children overcome their fears of loud noises or storms, I
couldn't find anything. Well, they didn't really need it by
the time I wrote it, and they were twenty two,
thank goodness, But I uh, and there have been some
other books that were created since then, But it was
I couldn't get that idea of my head for twenty years.
So I finally told that together. That came out last

(10:31):
year as well, and I loved I found an amazing
artist and illustrator out of Romania to support the ideas
that I had in my head. And then the other
book that I'm writing right now is another concept that
I based my consulting and my coaching on, and this
is idea of owner mindset and standing in the gap.

(10:51):
So standing in the gap, as we discussed, is kind
of seeing a problem and coming up with a solution,
whereas owner mindset, an owner stands on the gap. That's
really what a visionary is. The visionary says, I feel problem,
I can do it better, faster, stronger, more efficiently, whatever
it is, and take care of that. So it's really
bringing out my visionary entrepreneurial spirit, but it's also about

(11:17):
it's also about an individual succeeding in the workplace. So
owner mindset is to help individuals think like an owner,
have the mindset of an owner, just to think beyond
the end of their nose and mitigate risk and take
risk and be curious about solutions and thinking outside of
the box. And I believe that we can teach individuals

(11:41):
how to be more successful in the workplace that will
benefit themselves professionally as well as the business by thinking
like an owner.

Speaker 2 (11:51):
I love that. I love taking the risk. My match
has always been if you don't risk it, there's no biscuits.
So you know, taking that risk, it could be a
scary place, right that, And we call it of faith
for a reason. But you know, I've always gone with
the three season life, make a choice, take a chance,
see the changes that you want to incorporate into your life.
And so this leads us into your current book that's

(12:11):
about to come out, Dark and Silent Office. I love
the cover because for our listeners out there, uh, there's
actually sign language built within each letter. So it's dark
and silent office. But it's also sign language that's actually
I guess behind or on the letters of that sign
of each letter, and then below it you can actually

(12:31):
have you can actually see the brail for somebody that's
blind or visually impaired be able to you know brail that.
And then this is a you know, a guidebook that
you put together for digital accessibility for that inclusive communication
in the workplace. How did that come to? How does
somebody put a guide book together for those that are
hearing in pair or visually impaired. How did that come together?

Speaker 3 (12:55):
Yeah, the same way each of my things have come together.
I saw a gap. So I was serving before I
started my own company in a digital accessibility company, a
world round digital accessibility company. So maybe I should pause
and explain what digital accessibility is. That is the practice
of making websites and or content available to individuals who

(13:17):
are visually impaired or hearing impaired so that their screen
readers or other devices and aids can read information on
the Internet. So I was working for the company as
a chief administrative officer, leading several back office departments, in
particular the human resources and recruiting department, and having been

(13:38):
there a few weeks, so excited to work for this
organization at the age of fifty and working for someone
that wasn't just making money that I felt was doing
good in the world. I realized I had no skills,
no abilities, no experience to communicate with my peers that
were hearing impaired and visual impaired. And man, I can't
even tell you how embarrassed I was. I was ashamed,

(13:58):
and I was embarrassed, and I thought, how is that
possible that I got to this point in my career
with I'm a senior PHR, a senior Human Resources certified person,
I have my PMPI.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
But you kind of really broke down the book, so
it wasn't you really put in Layman's terms. So I
really enjoyed that reading through it and didn't get like
you said, didn't get all technical and really in the
weeds of you know, digital communications. But as far as
writing this, why, in your opinion and from your experience

(14:33):
of being an HR, why is diversity and inclusion so important?
Because what's going on in today's society. It's a very
interesting conversation that we're having this today. But why from
your perspective, is diversity inclusion important for those that have
hearing or visually impaired.

Speaker 3 (14:51):
Well, I don't think it's just for digitally and hearing imperatible.
That is what my book focus is on, and it is.
It is really a tough week for DEI.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
It really is. It's very right.

Speaker 3 (15:03):
I've had a couple of conversations with folks about this
today because I just feel so deflated. For me, inclusion
and diversity is good for business. We know it's been
proven to be good for business. I don't believe that
diversity and inclusion or DEI efforts were ever intended to say,

(15:25):
don't hire the most qualified candidate. I don't believe that.
I believe it was always hired the best candidate. But
make sure that you are giving everyone a fair shot.
Make sure that you're opening the doors so that we're
not always just hiring everybody that looks like us and
acts like us and as the same beliefs that we do.

(15:46):
And so as I, you know, think back about writing
this book, I'm sorry my emotions went already so crazy.
I already forgot that gist of your question. It's just
so it's just deflating, But diversity and inclusion it is
about opening the doors and making it available to everyone,
because a diverse set of thoughts, ideas, cultures, and backgrounds

(16:12):
makes overall better decisions for companies to be more successful.
It's been proven over and over. That's why I think
diversity and inclusion is better. And then when I think
about the coworkers that I have had that were wholly
blind or partially blind or hearing impaired, they were brilliant
and individuals said no to them because they didn't want

(16:36):
to deal with the extra effort that they had to
put forth to accommodate that person in the workplace, or
because they had a fear that the person would not
be successful. And it's really that organization's failure and loss
because just because someone is visual impaired or hearing impaired
does not mean that they're not brilliant and have a

(16:57):
lot of value to add to the conversation.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
Right, And you know, it's it's always it's that old
adage for Mary Poppins that the cover is not the book, right,
and you know renal from history past that that wasn't
always the case for diversity and inclusion. It was, you know,
a path wasn't open to everybody you know, a human being,
you know, but you know, with our society today, you know,

(17:21):
it is more opening of opportunities of that path for
the diversity and inclusions just it is, you know, and
I'm with you on the emotional part of what's currently
going on in our society. You know, to set those
things back, you know, to take those away because it
does it. You know, our history teaches us that that
is not a good thing for business. And you know,

(17:43):
having people in the job regardless of you know, their gender,
or their their what they look like, or their religion
or if they have a disability, right, And that's why
I wanted to have you on the show to talk
about this because I think the timing of this is
very important to talk about diversity inclusion for people that

(18:04):
do have impairments, because you know, we're all brought to
this planet with something and play the hands that were dealt,
and we want to make sure that we have an
environment that allows everybody to participate in the game of life.
So we're going to go to our first break and
when we come back, we're going to pick up this
conversation and get more in depth to this book. And

(18:24):
I'll ask you a few more questions, but we're going
to be back here in just about two minutes, and
you're listening to Inspired Living, it will be right back.

Speaker 4 (18:37):
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(19:02):
seven point three billion people only one year life offers
us many opportunities and learning experiences. Are you ready to
explore and discover this beautiful planet, the life and energy
all around us, the spiritual world, and what is unseen?
Along with your own personal soul adventure. Mark Lainhart, the

(19:22):
Intuitive Prospector, is the spiritual connection you have been prospecting for.
Internationally Known as a tested and professional clairvoyant medium and
spiritual advisor, Mark's work as a metaphysical teacher, medical instructor,
radio show host, inspirational writer, and hiking guide are here
to help you on a journey of self discovery, healing, inspiration, education,

(19:45):
and a whole lot of spiritual awesomeness. Dare to Dream,
Dare to Explore, Dare to Live. For more information on
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Speaker 3 (20:01):
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Speaker 2 (20:19):
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Learn why, and I am Hunger in America dot org.
Brought to you by Feeding America and the AD Council
and welcome back to Inspired Living. Today's guest is Stephanie Warlick,

(20:39):
and she wrote this book called Dark Insight on Office,
a digital accessibility guide book for inclusive communication in the workplace.
And before the break, Stephanie were talking about diversity and inclusion.
And you know, one of the things that I loved
about this book because I just recently retired after several
several years in the federal government because of medical reasons.

(21:01):
And it was interesting because you talked about, you know,
not dealing with people that have disabilities, people that you
know can do the job, but you know, need the
tools to do the job effectively. And I went through that.
I went through the whole ada, I went through the
whole treatment, and it was it was pretty hard, you know,
it was a pretty hard year to go through. And

(21:22):
that's it kind of opened my eyes too of the
the blindness that goes on to people with disabilities. And
so for this book, The Dark and Silent Office, I
take it you came up with that title based on
you know, hearing impaired and visually impaired or did it
did it? Did it come another way.

Speaker 3 (21:43):
For the name of this book, you know that that's
exactly how it came about. I was envisioning what it
must feel like to be individuals that are in a
workplace and are isolated because they don't know what effective
means to communicate with their peers. And while it may
also in a good place be dark and silent for

(22:06):
some individuals because of their abilities, we can make it
a brighter place by including them in the conversation in
the way that they can communicate. And so, yeah, it's
about representing those individuals, and in.

Speaker 2 (22:24):
This guidebook, take it for the listeners, just kind of
take us through they get this guidebook. What would be
one of the first places that you'd start this kind
of role play a little bit here. I'm well, I'm
getting older, so I'm becoming both visually impaired and hearing
impaired as I get older. I think that's just age.
But what would this guidebook? How would you use this

(22:44):
guidebook to incorporate for somebody that's having these impairments to
help them be successful in the workplace. Where would be
the starting point for this guidebook?

Speaker 3 (22:54):
Yeah, so let me clarify one thing. I think this book,
while it could be read by individuals with disabilities, this
is really a book to bring awareness and education to
individuals that don't have disabilities. You know, a lot of
the problems that we have, or the lack of initiatives
are because of a lack of awareness. Many of us

(23:16):
do not have someone close in our life who has
been visual impaired or hearing impaired, and therefore they don't
know the challenges that those individuals experience, and when you
don't have that awareness, you don't take initiative or you
don't take action because you don't realize it exists. So
the book was developed to help HR professionals say, here's

(23:37):
the awareness that you need, and now that you have awareness,
we can do better. But the first step is really awareness.
So as an HR professional, my hope was that they
would open this book because, by the way, when you
study for an HR exam, there is not one single
component about accommodations or disabilities. Isn't that crazy?

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yeah, that's actually very surprising to hear that within an
HR format that there would not be questions addressing such
real world applications.

Speaker 3 (24:12):
Wow, real world applications with millions of individuals with disabilities.
It doesn't it is not addressed. So the way I
would open it, let's say, is to and my hope
was that people would open them. I opened up the
contents for myself the way I would open and say, Okay,

(24:34):
what can I do immediately to make my artifacts, the
content that I create for my coworkers accessible. And that's
really what I speak about when I talk to organizations
or small HR groups. How do I communicate because I
don't communicate with my peers through a website. Most often

(24:54):
I communicate with them via a chat, via text, an email,
word documents, and so forth. So how do I make
those documents? Or if it's not my peers and I
want to send my customer a quote to buy a
product from me and they are visually impaired, how can

(25:15):
they read the quote if I haven't prepared them for
them away, So opening up the book to teach them
the things that they can do to make a PDF accessible,
or how the things that they need to do to
accommodate an individual with color blindness, or what do we

(25:35):
need to do for preparing a meeting with individuals that
are disabled. We need to do a site survey to
make sure that the physical accommodations are available for all
types of abilities and disabilities. And it's always the best practice,
for instance, to send your documents out in advance so
that people that process differently can read the information in advance.

(25:59):
That's also very help for individuals that might use American
design language, so that they can read actual artifacts in
advance before it's spoken to them. So that's how the
best way to open the book. And I did make
it chapters with checklists that you could just say, ah right,
Chapter seven, how do I create an inclusive workplace? I'm

(26:19):
a new manager, what do I need to do? Or
Chapter six is just about all types of different meetings
and how to follow up and be inclusive, as well
as things that you can do to improve your whole workplace,
conducting audits, process improvement throughout the organization.

Speaker 2 (26:43):
Yeah, I love that, and thank you for pointing out
that out that this guide book is not just for
those with the parents, but those that are running a
HR division or bring in awareness, which you know, I've
always known that awareness is the greatest agent for change, right,
because sometimes you just don't know. We don't know. But
now that I'm thinking back, even in my own former life,

(27:04):
you know, from an HR standpoint, I don't know if
there was a lot of focus on people with disabilities.
Now that I'm thinking about that, so I guess I
shouldn't be too surprised. But as far as you know,
a guidebook for HR to become aware of how to
bring that diversity inclusion into the workforce. And when I
was going through the introduction for our listeners out there

(27:26):
and again you can go get this book is the
book kind of out on the major retail sites or
it is just okay, just for.

Speaker 3 (27:35):
The right now. It is on Amazon right now, paperback, audiobook,
and what else I happened to the version coming up.
It's definitely out there in audio and paperback, and then
is available on my website. But Amazon's the easiest. It
actually became international bestseller in four countries, so thanks you.

(28:00):
So it's out there on several of the Amazon platforms.

Speaker 2 (28:04):
And you can also put this into Braille.

Speaker 3 (28:09):
I have not contemplated that yet. Most of the audience
that I have that is visually impaired is very comfortable
receiving the audiobook. Okay, so that has not been in
need yet, but I'm open to doing that as clients need.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
Got it. So yeah, for our listeners out there, and
you can also go to our social media pages for
Inspired Living, and we have Stephanie's link and her consulting
link on our website if you want to click there,
and you can go out to Amazon or wherever you
get books to get this book. But in the introduction,
I just want to read this because I think it's
a good introduction for the book for our listeners out

(28:52):
there that might be going through this right now. And
a lot of times I find that my shows are
really in line with what's going on in society, like
what this conversation is and what's going on within society.
But it says, in today's rapidly digitalization world, the concept
of accessibility has transcended physical spaces to encompass the digital realm.
Digital accessibility ensures that all individual including those with disabilities,

(29:14):
have equal access to digital information, communication, and tools. This
chapter dwells into the definition, importance, and scope of digital accessibility,
emphasizing its crucial role in modern workplaces. Additionally, it provides
an overview of visual and hearing impairments, highlighting the need
for inclusive digital practices. And I really like that introduction

(29:34):
because our world is changing so rapidly, you know, with
just you know, as AI starts to come in, I
think that's going to be a benefit for those that
are visually or hearing appaired and those that have disabilities.
I think AI from a healthcare standpoint is going to
really revolutionize some of the things that are going on.
The treatments and you know, documentation and medical records and so,

(29:59):
you know, or this fast changing world and I for
my own personal journey. I have a family member who
actually she's my niece, she's she's my hero. She was
born with severe cerebra polsy. So I do know firsthand,
you know, people with disabilities that don't have a fair
access pathway to even work in the workforce because of

(30:20):
their disabilities. But I love that you put this out
out here in reality, so you know, hopefully HR directorates
can start to encompass this and become aware. I think
this book is really about bringing awareness to a much
need or like you said, you know, fill in that gap,
addressing the gap, finding a solution for that gap. And

(30:42):
I think that's I think that's very important. Well as
far as the book, Stephanie, what's one of your favorite
chapters of the book. What did you really enjoy writing about.

Speaker 3 (30:51):
I really enjoy talking about how to the actual checklists,
about how to make the content accessible. So when I
speak to individules something I'm trying to flip to see
WHI chapter that is. It's a couple a couple of
different sections, but let me describe what I what I
talk about, and that is that with low tech skills,

(31:11):
no effort and or little effort and no extra costs.
Individuals can take the onus upon themselves to be more
digitally accessible or content accessible, have more content accessible, so
we don't we can overcome by by taking on the
onnus ourselves. We don't have to combat now an organization

(31:32):
saying I don't have money, or well, I'm not going
to support the initiative at the corporate level because leaders
of our government don't think it's important, or we can
you know, we can. We can take it upon ourselves
because we now have awareness to say I can do better.
And so there's whole sections that just say, okay, if

(31:56):
you're going to make a graph and excel and you
want to share that with your coworker and have them
be a part of their conversation because they're brilliant, make
sure you don't just use red and green as the
color codes of the graphs. Maybe make patterns in the
graph so that someone that is colorblind can read it.
Or if you're going to send an email with an

(32:16):
image and describe it, put it all tag under the
image so that someone's using a screen reader can do that.
Those are two things right there that we can do.
We're doing them every day anyway. We just take option
being instead of option A, and that is not doing
it or doing it or changing the color. We can
make sure that in each of our conversations we turn
on close captions so that individuals that are neurodivision or

(32:41):
hearing impaired can do that. I know that while I
am getting older as well and also meaning my hearing,
sometimes I also communicate with individuals around the world, and
sometimes I find strong accents difficult to translate while we're
talking about technical aspects. The close captain helps in that

(33:04):
instance as well. And then again preparing meetings so that
they are inclusive so that everyone can have a seat
at the table, using reasonable fonts right that are a
good size. You may notice I have noticed that the
book is a really large font. I did that intentionally
with a non seer of font so that I can't
even tell you how many individuals that are do not

(33:27):
have traditional vision problems, but maybe are reading glass stage
say oh my gosh, that was such a pleasure to
read that book that I didn't have to strain to
read the letters on the page. It's just those things
so that so that the documents that you create are
the artifacts that you create are available to everyone without
them having to ask for a special accommodation. That's really

(33:50):
what I'm educating. You know. It's called universal design, and
that is just take the extra step to make it
available to everyone, and so that individuals with disabilities don't
have to walk around asking for accommodations, right right.

Speaker 2 (34:06):
And you know, like I said, I'm getting older, so
I find myself at times using close captioning because I
can't necessarily hear, or I need to read, or I've
you know, I'm at the age now where I need
reading glasses and I love when I get something and
the directions are literally like a font eight or a
font six and I can't read it even with my.

Speaker 3 (34:27):
Glasses on it.

Speaker 2 (34:28):
Geez. So you know, and that's just part of the
agent process. But you know, for those that have, you know,
had their whole lives of that, you know, I just
I'm just kind of my empathy and compassion and you know,
the world we live in, of how ignored they are
and have been. And you know, I would say within
the last you know, ten to fifteen years, it's really
become an awareness platform to say, you know, it's not

(34:51):
the same for everybody. And so in the book, chapter
six you talked about and this you know what? I
love reading what. I loved reading about this because it's
just things you don't think of, right. So, communicating with
visually impaired colleagues. When interacting with colleagues who are visually impaired,
it's important to prioritize clear verbal communications and provide information

(35:12):
in accessible formats. So, for example, introduce yourself always by starting.
Always start by saying your name, even if you've met before,
to avoid assumptions about their ability to recognize you by
your voice alone. Or speak directly and clearly. Address your
visially impaired colleagues directly using clear and descriptive language, especially
when conveying information that might have visual components. Offer verbal descriptions.

(35:36):
Provide detailed verbal description of visual materials, including slides, charts,
or documents. Sure they have the same access to information
as cited colleagues. Be specific with directions, I mean you
know it's and then it goes on. In that same
chapter of communication with hearing impaired, face the person and
ensure that you know you ensure your face is visible
For those who lip read, avoid covering your mouth, and

(35:58):
speak clearly. And one of the things I've seen on
a more national level is most major events, sporting events, concerts,
political stuff, you have somebody that's actually signing. That's actually
a requirement to have a person that's doing sign language
for those that are hearing impaired. And I'm laughing because

(36:21):
some of the ones that I've seen are very what's
a good word, Like at the concerts. We went to
a concert, a Pink concert, and she had somebody signing,
but they were like getting into it with the facial expressions,
like they were very animated, and they were just sitting
there signing. They were dancing their facial expressions. You would
have thought they were one of the dancers sign languaging

(36:43):
to pink song. It was actually quite entertaining, and so
I can just imagine I kind of put myself in
the shoes of somebody that's hearing impaired and went, oh, man,
that's another way to enjoy the concert without actually hearing
the music. If you think about it, it's quite fascinating
in our right of that. Yeah, yeah, it's just it's again.
This episode, I think is about bringing awareness and using

(37:04):
this guidebook good guidebook for HR people, but also bringing
awareness to the listening audience about you know, maybe you've
been blessed and you don't have any impairments. But like
I said, I as I get older, I'm finding my
impairments are growing. I've you know, I've got a family
member that has been impaired her whole life, but yet
she is so amazing. She's my hero. And in the
write up that I did for today's show, I actually

(37:25):
put a quote from Mike Czeski, who is the former
Duke College basketball coach, Hall of Fame collegiate and Olympic
basketball coach. And one of the things I saw I
went to a event and he was the keynote speaker
and he said, quote, effective teamwork begins and ends with communication,
end quote. And so I put that in our write

(37:46):
up for today's show because I think that's important that communication,
whether through sign whether through braille rather through you know,
language voice, it's essential to have effective teamwork. And I
believe with DEI I believe with inclusion and diversity, it
does make the business world a much more not only accessible,

(38:07):
but better place for businesses because it's welcoming all people
and regardless of their impairment. And I think this guy
book's going to do really well. And like you said,
you've already been recognized. H do you say four different countries? All?

Speaker 3 (38:19):
Right, countries? Yeah, number one in four different countries. I
was really excited about that.

Speaker 2 (38:25):
Good for you.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
That means in countries.

Speaker 2 (38:28):
Yeah, well, until it gets translated, right, it takes time.
I remember we've had guests on here that wrote a
book and then you know, ten years later it's being
translated internationally. And I'm thinking of the Four Agreements because
we had Don Miguel Ries on a previous episode and
he talked about how he had to they had to
rewrite the Four Agreements because it was such a bestseller
hearing in English speaking countries that other countries wanted it,

(38:49):
so they had to, you know, update it with that
language and the meanings, you know, So just for the
second times, yeah, please, It just goes by so quick,
and I.

Speaker 3 (39:01):
Feel like I could talk to you forever. But I
know the favorite parts of the book, and I wanted
to share something with you that I think is a
great place, like a great concept for businesses to incorporate.
So as you think about bringing awareness, most individuals with
disabilities don't mind speaking about their disability. In fact, they
want to talk about it. You know, they know they're impaired,

(39:23):
they know that they have a disability. They know hiding
it or not discussing it doesn't make it go away
for them. It's just that individuals, other individuals that don't
have that disability have this elephant in the room and
try and avoid it. There's no reason to avoid it,
but just talking about it. So bringing awareness through having
actual individuals speak to their coworkers in sensitivity training or

(39:44):
other awareness to just really say, hey, how is the
best way to communicate with you? Because each person's different, right,
But one of the things that I did to help
really bring to life some actual disabilities was at the
top of every chapter, I got a quote from an
individual that was either hearing, impaired, or visually I want
to just read two that are hilarious that it just
shows the I don't know just as many facets of individuals.

(40:10):
One of them was at chapter two, this gentleman said
to me, it would be so helpful if colleagues could
notify me when they rearrange things and shared workspaces. Keeping
paths clear of unexpected obstacles is crucial for my safety
and independence. I would also rather put sugar in my
coffee than salt. So I laughed at that, but it

(40:33):
was not out of the realm that he was bumping
into things and tripping and the other person And this
one really made me laugh was people think because I'm blind,
they need to scream when they talk to me. All
it really means to me is they're sending a telepathic
command to be punched in the face. So I had

(40:54):
a lot of fun interviewing people to get information, but
just want to point out that every person, not all
blind people are the same, not all hearing impairtive people
are the same, or deaf with the capital the so.
So just communicating with individuals and asking each person individually
how can I best communicate with you to have effective

(41:14):
and collaborative communication is really the best way to go forth.

Speaker 2 (41:18):
Yeah, brilliant. Yeah, thank you for sharing, because those are
real world application that they've gone through. You know. In
n of sugar, I got salt. Yeah, somebody was, you know,
yelling at me in my face. And you know, I
think about this as well, you know, for the listening
audience out there too, when you're talking to somebody with
a impairment or disability and Stephanie's right, talk to them,

(41:39):
don't talk at them, don't you know, raise your tone
or you know. I've seen it when my niece is
in her thirties and even though she's severely you know,
seriba palsy, people come up to her and they talk
to her like she's a five year old child. And
it's like, well, she's not five years old, she's thirty.
Her disability doesn't change her, right, And so you know,

(42:01):
and I think that's important that you just said, Stephanie
is is just ask him how they like to community.
Just start off from the very beginning, like how do
you like to communicate? And I think that makes you
a more intelligent being because you're you're aware of that.
But we also live in a world where people don't
have the awareness, right, there's a lot of interest out
there's a lot of people that are all about themselves
and don't care about that. But that's why I do

(42:22):
this show. That's why I have people like yourself on
to talk about to bring that awareness and bring that
energy and ripple effect into our consciousness. And so I
guarantee you from this show, if we reach one person,
then we've done our job today. But if you want
to get this book for the listening audience, go get
this book, have it on the bookshelf. Again, there's just
so many tips in here that just food for thought,

(42:44):
things you don't think about, you know, from meetings to
communication with somebody that's hearing impaired, visually impaired, you know,
tips for physical meetings. Stephanie does a really good job
of breaking it down. It's a very easy read. I'm
with you. I get about a book a week for
this sho you know, with upcoming guests, and so I
only have so much time to dedicate to going through
the book, and I was able to get through this

(43:05):
pretty quickly. The book itself is about one hundred and
eighty pages from beginning to end. So it's a real
easy read, and I think it would be beneficial for
people to have this on their bookshelf. But as we
wrap up, I can't believe how quick this hour has
gone by. Why do you feel from writing this journey
and this book? You know, why is exclusivity education? Why

(43:27):
should that be a cornerstone for companies onboarding? Because, like
you said, you were at HR for how many years
and you never even really approached this topic what would
be the cornerstone for people that are small businesses or
large corporations, what would be the cornerstone of having inclusivetivity
education as part of their HR system.

Speaker 3 (43:52):
Diversity breeds successful cultures and successful businesses, That's the cornerstone.
So it turns out that while disappointing, compelling, compelling individuals
to be just good people is not enough. But if
we are talking to business owners or successful congregations or communities,

(44:16):
we know that diversity has been proven to be good.
And I'm looking at a stat on the AP today
and as we talk about kind of translating this to
what's happening is the federal government this week? The article
that came out of AP and it posted says, our
federal government is rep in twenty twenty two was represented
by sixty percent white and fifty five percent mail overall,

(44:39):
seventy five percent white and sixty percent mail at the
senior executive level. So while that just talks about demo
racial demographics, I guess my thought is we want our
federal government, on our businesses and our communities to be
representative of the whole community. And when we don't apply
diversity and inclusion, we don't have organizations, companies, communities, teams, congregations,

(45:05):
or federal governments that are representative of the people that
they support, and that can't be good. I don't know
why I say it the words today.

Speaker 2 (45:19):
I guess I know it's you know, but again, we're
we're counteracting this with this show today. We're recounting acting
what's going on. I just left the federal government. I
can I can speak because I was in the inside
for twenty three years and that that statistic is very accurate.
And you know, how did what did you say? You
said diversity breeds success. Say that one part again, I
think that was very That was a diamond right there.

(45:40):
As far as what you just said, well, I.

Speaker 3 (45:43):
Hope you're recording this because I can't remember what I said.

Speaker 2 (45:47):
We are It was something about diversity breeds success or
diversity brings.

Speaker 3 (45:53):
I think it was a diversity breeds success. And yeah,
we don't think that culture it does. There's statistics and statistics.
If we had more time, I could share with you
all of the statistics that show how businesses are more
fiscally sound, more successful, have happier cultures, especially with the

(46:13):
younger generation who believes very much in accepting of being
accepting of individuals of all walks of life. And that's
that's where our companies are going, and we want to
keep up with hiring individuals and having successful cultures than
than organizations need to get on board with that.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
Yeah, I agree, and I think that the generations behind
us are more mindful and aware of that than our
generation ever was. So I just want to say thank
you for being on the show today. I'd love to
have you back. What's your next gaps? What's the next
gap you're going to try to feel?

Speaker 3 (46:50):
It's my need to go to a beach right now,
But I know I'm pretty pretty busy support my consulting clients,
the fractional COO, so that's gonna be pretty busy, and
I'm just ready for warm west or already. I don't
know when I think of it. I'll let you know.

(47:10):
They sort of come out of left field and then
you stick in my head until they don't go away.
So I don't know what that is yet.

Speaker 2 (47:18):
Fill on the gap on a beach with a nice
margarita or peanut colatta.

Speaker 3 (47:21):
Whatever your preference exactly.

Speaker 2 (47:24):
So again, Stephanie, thanks for being on. Continue the great
work that you're doing. We love to have guests like
yourself that inspire and courage, motivate, think outside the box,
people that are making a real difference in our world.
And right now, you know what, everything that's going on,
this too shall pass, but this book will be there
after this is after we've gone through this, you know,

(47:45):
the storm that we're going through. The last question I
have for you before we end, who or what inspires you?

Speaker 3 (47:55):
My girls are my everything. They are beautiful people. They
inspire me to be better every day, to be healthier,
be stronger, and to be a better person. And I
hope to help contribute to that in this world so
that they have a great rest of their lives.

Speaker 2 (48:15):
Great and we'll give a shout out to them and
they'll carry on that that positive vibration as well. So
thanks again Stephanie for being on. We really appreciate you
and keep up with the great work that you're doing.
So for our listeners out there, this is the book
is called Dark and Silent Office, a digital accessibility guidebook
for inclusive communication in the workplace, and you can get
that book wherever books are sold. Look for Stephanie Warlick.

(48:37):
Until our next sole adventure together. Be kind, be caring,
be compassionate, and, most importantly, wherever you're at in this world,
dare to dream, dare to explore, dare to live and
discover it. Done with it, We'll see you next time.
Here on inspired, take care of me, sh