Interview with Crystal Preston-Watson

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?

I am an accessibility and quality engineer based in Denver, Colorado, where I live with my lovely spouse and two cats.

Currently, I am the senior digital accessibility analyst at Salesforce. Regarding disabilities, I have a permanently scarred macula in my right eye due to an infection of toxoplasmosis when I was born. I also have keratoconus, which affects both eyes. I also have Social Anxiety Disorder, which I wrote about in 2019 as Anxiety Chronicle 75 on thelily.com.

When it comes to my visual impairment and live, in-person and virtual events, the most significant impact is materials being geared toward those who don’t have impairments, like tiny prints, poor color contrast, etc. The effect of anxiety is how interpersonal interactions are handled in sessions and workshops.

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?

Money grabs where there are a lot of shortcuts taken. This is different from events that are just underfunded or run out of money due to legitimate reasons. These are events that are poorly planned, vanity events. As you can imagine, these events are nightmares for all attendees, but especially so for disabled people.

I was at one conference where everyone attended the same sessions in one room and had assigned seating. That was something I never want to experience again. That was also the conference where a speaker and attendee argued during the session. That was interesting in a way I never want to experience again.

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?

Taking the temperature of the audience/attendees. This means they aren’t going on assumptions and outdated projections about who is (or isn’t) in the room in-person or virtually, and working on full steam with no input before or during the event. There are always projections and thoughts about who will attend beforehand, but that doesn’t always sync up with the event.

Make sure you are willing and available to communicate with attendees who need accommodations and have the ready flexibility when things are happening to make adjustments when barriers are discovered. Even if things aren’t 100% perfect, it can still make for an an enjoyable event.

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?

Talk to people with disabilities, but not just about their disabilities, accessibility, or shop/career talk. Have actual conversations about their life, your life, the latest viral content, etc. I think the one thing I find shocking is how many people are intimidated by interacting with someone that is disabled. You can’t be inclusive or act in good faith if you have a barrier of fear or unease.

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.?

I have a lot, but it will be more than 150 words. Honestly, I think most of these answers are over 150 words.