Interview with Albert Kim

QUESTION 01 Can you tell us a bit about yourself, and how your disability might impact your experience, as someone who attends live in-person and virtual events?

My name is Albert Kim, and I’m a digital accessibility expert and public speaker, focused on creating accessible products, services, and user experiences. I am the founder of Accessibility NextGen, a community meant to support the next generation of accessibility champions on their professional journey. I’m also an active public speaker, speaking on leading neurodiversity and mental health efforts. I’m also an invited expert on the W3C Cognitive and Learning Disabilities Accessibility Task Force.

Disability-wise, I am diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD), I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, ADHD, Dyslexia, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Major Depression. My environmental and genetic factors have all possibly contributed to my condition: low income household, domestic violence, parents divorce, military veteran, etc.

When attending live, in-person or virtual events I experience a certain number of challenges. Events with a lot of people and new, unknown environments or settings trigger a lot of uncertainty for me, which causes anxiety and stress. Not being able to predict what might happen (will I join the wrong room, will I make mistakes, will I share a private message publicly, etc.), dramatically impacts my overall state of mind. This takes away a lot of my energy, which makes me overthink things, and ultimately, eats away at my ability to focus and get value out of a presentation.

My condition also makes me particularly sensitive to information that can trigger my PTSD, due to past trauma with violence and abuse. So, while I welcome difficult topics and conversations, not being notified ahead of time with content warnings can also impact my experience. In such cases, it becomes very difficult to appreciate what’s going on, especially when speakers are not mindful of how their information is transferred to the audience. All those things prevent me from understanding information right away and interferes with my ability to fully grasp information in the moment.

QUESTION 02 Thinking back on some of your experiences attending in-person or virtual events, what are some of the worst things speakers, trainers, and other communication experts can do to ruin your experience as an attendee?

Speakers whose presentations are disorganized, overwhelming, or generally lacking structure in the information they share can easily cause my anxiety and OCD to be triggered. The build-up that comes from not feeling like I can make sense of what is going on from one slide to the next causes me to become increasingly self-conscious about what I’m missing, and that can quickly send me on a downward spiral.

Speakers who are dismissive, show stigma or unconscious negative biases towards mental health can ruin my experience with their poor and inappropriate ableist language. Another example would be speakers who rely on musterbation techniques to create a false sense of urgency and undue pressure in their presentations for dramatic effects. Constantly hearing them say things like “you must do this…”, and “you have to do that…” can trigger my OCD and anxiety, as I then feel forced into something that I don’t necessarily want to do.

Another example might be speakers who are randomly pointing at audience members and putting them on the spot. The risk of being unexpectedly called upon and singled out will shoot my anxiety through the roof and will make me feel very uncomfortable, especially when I would rather just remain unnoticed.

QUESTION 03 Can you share some of the great things speakers, trainers, and other communication experts sometimes do that make a positive impact on your ability to fully enjoy your in-person or virtual event experiences?

First, I’ll say a very solid presentation structure, and a predictable plan will do wonders to mitigate my stress and anxiety. If I’m not spending most of time trying to understand where the speaker is going, I can stop obsessing on all the wrong things.

Also, this might not be obvious to everyone, but being respectful of other people’s perspectives and providing content warnings to mitigate triggers can go a very long way! Speakers who do this instantly make you feel more respected, welcomed, and cared for. Speakers who also know to avoid certain terms that can be perceived as offensive to some audience members implicitly show their respect for them. There are plenty of resources out there for people to educate themselves about what is acceptable to say in public in 2022. Speakers rarely mean to be hurtful with the words that they use, but their use don’t make it any less painful for those who are on the receiving end. Speakers who are mindful of this make their presentations that much more enjoyable for me.

Speakers who offer ways to mitigate my compulsions also enable me to get more out of their presentations! Knowing that there will be a recording, a transcript, or live captions available means I don’t need to stress out as much over the content. I can be a bit more relaxed, knowing that I will have all of this material to get back to later. It’s a great stress and anxiety reliever when I’m offered a way to get back to the content, as I know that I will have the opportunity to validate anything of value that I may have missed due to my OCD, my ADHD, or my anxiety.

Likewise, providing materials, brochures, and handouts in accessible digital formats is incredibly helpful for me to get back to the information at my own pace with my assistive technologies, during and after the presentation. This is key, especially when video recordings of the presentations are made available with transcripts and captions, because it allows me to go back, and backfill anything I may have missed the first time around.

QUESTION 04 If you had one piece of advice to give speakers, trainers, and other communication experts, so their content became more inclusive of people who have disabilities, what would it be?

My condition means I have a compulsion to process the information completely before I can move on to the next item. It’s very hard to fight it because it builds up tremendous pressure. If I feel rushed by the speaker or the content, then processing the information becomes very hard. If I can’t process the information, then I can’t go forward. If I can’t go forward, then I can’t make sense of what is happening. Realizing that I’m missing parts of the content and slipping contributes to this build up from one slide to the next.

So, my piece of advice would be to slow down, be structured, pace yourself. It’s a presentation, not a race! Don’t put too much information in your talk, pace it properly, and be very structured in the way you deliver it.

QUESTION 05 Thank you for sharing some of your insights with us today. As we wrap up our conversation, is there anything that you’d like to add, such as another thought, another piece of advice, another perspective, etc.?

We talked about speakers in this interview, but the environment in which the presentations take place can also be very anxiety-inducing! From a venue standpoint, a key aspect to consider is recognizing that not everyone will be familiar and comfortable with new, unfamiliar environments. Therefore, making sure that ample guidance is provided, whether it’s in a physical building or a virtual space, will help reduce stress and anxiety. Information booths in physical spaces, just like centralized documentation online, can help me find the answers I’m looking for, and get the support and guidance that I need to fully appreciate the event. If I get to the session with less stress, then I’ll be in a better frame of mind to listen to what the speaker has to say. It’s a win-win.