How AI Can Boost Accessibility and Business Growth

Summary
In this episode, Maxwell Ivey, known as the blind blogger, shares his journey from carnival owner to accessibility advocate, emphasizing the importance of inclusive practices in business and event planning. Discover how technology, especially AI, can enhance accessibility and why it’s a strategic advantage for organizations.




Takeaways
Maxwell Ivey’s personal journey from carnival owner to accessibility expert
The moral and business case for accessibility in events
How AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude assist people with disabilities
The importance of physical accessibility in venues
Compliance versus customer-focused accessibility strategies
The economic impact of supporting people with disabilities
Practical tips for assessing and improving venue accessibility
The role of inclusive design in marketing and search engine optimization



Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Maxwell Ivey and the show's focus
01:55 Maxwell Ivey’s journey from carnival owner to accessibility advocate
03:51 The business case for accessibility beyond legal requirements
06:04 AI tools and their role in enhancing accessibility
07:57 Practical insights on physical venue accessibility
09:55 The importance of compliance versus customer experience
11:57 Maxwell Ivy’s perspective on the disability community and loyalty
13:56 The future of AI and accessibility for people with disabilities
15:48 Safety, dignity, and inclusivity in physical access
17:57 How retreat organizers can communicate accessibility options
19:52 Balancing compliance with proactive accessibility efforts
22:11 Rapid fire: Maxwell Ivy’s personal favorites and insights


🔗 Connect with Maxwell Ivey | The Accessibility Advantage
📧 Email: theaccessibilityadvantage@gmail.com
🌐 Website: https://www.theaccessibilityadvantage.com
🔗 LinkedIn: Maxwell Ivey — https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwellivey
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maxwellivey

Bonus offer to mention: free homepage accessibility review (opening page only, no obligation)


🔗 Connect with Holly Porter | Retreat RNR 
📧 Email: holly@hollyporter.com 
🔗 LinkedIn: Holly Porter | Retreat RNR 
🎵 TikTok: @retreatrnr 
▶️ YouTube: @intlretreatassociation
📸 Instagram: @retreatrnr | @hollyporterinternational 
📘 Facebook: HollyAnnPorter

FREE GIFT: 2026 Retreat Industry Report
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to All Things Retreat Podcast. I'm Holly Porter, your host and CEO of Retreat R. With over 25 years of experience in designing transformative retreats. I'm here to share insights and inspiration to help you create extraordinary experiences. Whether you're a pro or just starting out, you'll find valuable ideas here. Enjoy the ride. Let's dive in.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Hi everyone. Welcome to the show today. We're going to be having a conversation in this show that's a little bit different about accessibility for disabilities, uh, people with disabilities. And I have Maxwell Ivey here today to talk to us a little bit more about that. He's known internationally as the Blind Blogger, and he has gone from carnival owner to equipment broker to life coach, podcast guest broker, and finally to accessibility expert, emphasizing in positive benefits of inclusion of all people of all abilities. I love that. Welcome to the show, Maxwell.

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Well, thank you so much for having me. Uh I'm looking forward to a great conversation where we can help the some retreat organizers avoid uh leaving people out.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Yeah, I love that. And sometimes it's not always a legal issue. I think it's a more moral issue a little bit more.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

Well, the the the brothers like to say that all issues are issues of of faith around around the green, you know? Um and I I've learned over the years that quite often a business owner that won't be moved by doing the right thing or ethics or law will be moved by their bottom line. And so that's why I really try to focus on the positive benefits of accessibility and inclusion, uh, even beyond attracting people with disabilities.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Well, and we're not talking about the putting green, right? No, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

We're talking about the cash, the the hundreds and thousands and millions that the retreat industry makes every year, you know?

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Oh, absolutely. It's a it's a big industry. Well, I want to know how did you go from being a carnival owner to an equipment broker, all this stuff to what you're doing now?

SPEAKER_02 2:12

Right. Well, as I imagine some of your retreat organizers are in the arena of personal development, and basically it happened by doing the next thing. When my family's carnival went out of business due to my dad's early death from lung cancer, I needed to do something else. I thought I could help people sell rides. Uh in order to do it from my point of view, I needed to have a website. And at that time in 2007, blind person can only have a website by paying somebody thousands of dollars or learning to code HTML. So I taught myself how to code, built my first website, and then navigated all the other aspects of having an online business or business in general, like setting fees and recruiting clients and writing copy. And of course, over the years, we've had social media, videos, audios, blogs, a lot of new things. And people were inspired. They asked me to share more about being a blind entrepreneur, and that led to my being a Life Goals coach. Unfortunately, people didn't want me to coach them on their goals. They wanted to know how I was getting on podcasts and being featured in articles. Uh, so that encouraged me to go into getting people booked. Um, and as part of that, I was one of the first users of PodMatch.com, uh, founded by Alex Sampilipo and his wife Alicia to you know help podcast hosts and guests find each other and do it in a way where you actually meet the ideal people.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

At first, I was unable to use his website, and I offered my advice on a voluntary basis, just trying to use the bit the site to move my existing business forward. And the next thing I know, I'm uh being asked to be a contributor and then a paid consultant. And uh he really helped me to understand my value that all these almost two decades of lived experience in accessibility, whether I knew it or not, was something he and other business owners needed to have access to. And then uh a year or two after I worked for him, uh a company called AudioI, which is an enterprise-level accessibility company that depends heavily on automation, they uh talked me into writing for their website. They thought that as a storyteller, I could help people better understand accessibility concepts in a way that the they wouldn't understand them from, say, somebody that is a technical expert or has a degree in uh in the various uh internet technologies. And so uh it's one of those things I just realized it wasn't where I wanted to be. I didn't envision myself being a trailblazing uh inspirational uh accessibility advisor. But considering as the blind blogger, I helped a lot of people with disabilities come out of the shadows and own their their challenges of their disabilities to where now we have so many people are are free and comfortable to use their disability or their challenges or their circumstances in their business names, social media profiles, uh emojis, stickers, etc. So didn't didn't plan on being here, and I actually have a really good friend who uh I call my blogging mama because she taught me everything I know about relationship, marketing through commenting. She's like, Max, you didn't want to be there and you fought being there, but this is really where you need to be. And as I have focused more and more on accessibility and writing, speaking, consulting, podcasting, uh I realize more and more that it's not only where I need to be, it's where the the business owners, especially the small to medium-sized organizations, need me to be.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Absolutely, yeah. Wow. I'm kind of curious um as you're talking about the way things have uh evolved in technology, especially to help you. Are you accessing AI more and more?

SPEAKER_02 5:59

You know, I originally thought AI, I I didn't like it. It just felt like cheating to me. But and the the first one I tried, ChatGPT, I just didn't enjoy it. It wasn't accessible to I use a screen reader, a text-to-speech engine on my computer, and it just was not easy enough to use that I wanted to keep using it. And then a few months back, somebody said, you know, Max, there there are some people who don't like chocolate ice cream. And for those people, we tell them to try strawberry or vanilla. So I decided to give Claude a try, and I've been very impressed with it. It's a lot easier to use, it still has some accessibility issues, but they're not the kind of things that make you not want to use it. Um it's kind of like the difference between having a little bit of sand in your shoe and having pebbles in your shoe. So I I'm good with Claude and I'm finding more and more uses for it, and I actually find that it is helping me to create systems within my business where I'm I'm usually one of those people that each time I need to do something, I just do it over again, as opposed to creating a template or a system uh or putting reminders in place, that sort of thing. So I I I'm enjoying it. I honestly believe that there are a lot of good things in AI for people with disabilities, but at this point, AI is not an overall solution. Somebody can't just tell Chat GPT to make their website accessible and have that happen. Uh, but there are some bits and pieces where people will use AI to perform certain tasks on a website where it works really well. I the last time I had to schedule an Uber, I thought it was cool that uh it went off my destination and asked me where I was flying to, and then it found my flight, determined the uh departure time, and verified that it was on schedule, and then asked me if I wanted it to schedule my time for me, my pickup time, based on the information it had at that, and I said, This scares me. I'm probably gonna end up three hours late for my checking. But I gave it a chance and I was picked up, I got there on time, I got through security and everything. There are places where you know small bits and pieces of AI can definitely help people with disabilities, you know, especially like uh repetitive forms where you're providing the same information over and over again. Uh, it can be very helpful with security issues like having somebody with a disability who doesn't have uh doesn't have full vision or has difficulty with their motor control as far as uh being able to maintain their safety but still being able to access the functions of the internet that make it something that we all use. There are lots of good aspects of it. Currently, when I think about AI, I think about two aspects of it. One is that a lot of the AI-based apps that are being built to make our lives easier. I'm sure you use quite a few of them. I think R Riverside even has some features built into it with AI. Yeah, um, they're not accessible to somebody using a screen reader or a mechanical switch. Um they are okay for somebody who's just has some level of visualization but can still use their vision to navigate the screen. So a lot of these tools, I just can't use them, and I'm not finding great um interest among the developers in making them accessible. The other part of these tools is a lot of people are depending on these third-party tools nowadays to create content for them, assuming that the third-party app, purpose website, whatever, assuming that it is going to ensure that their content is accessible. And for the most part, that isn't happening. And these people that are depending on that accessibility to be baked in by the third party app, they're leaving themselves open to one missing out on potential customers and two running into problems with uh regulations or with lawsuits. So uh I feel like we really need a lot more education on AI right now, what it's capable of doing, what it can do, what it can't do, and what people should and should not expect from it in the area of accessibility.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Yeah, yeah, those are great, great thoughts about it. When you say accessibility advantage, how let's define what you you say that means and and why should business owners see accessibility as an opportunity rather than an obligation.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

Right. So to me, the accessible advantage is is from my my many years' experience, I've discovered that a lot of things we do to improve accessibility can provide a competitive advantage to a business owner or organization leader. And some of the best examples don't have to do with people with disabilities. So for starters, when you improve accessibility on a website or an app, you're generally going to improve the user experience of people who don't have disabilities. That's because, quite frankly, a lot of things that frustrate me frustrate you and frustrate everybody that watches and listens to us. So when you fix accessibility, you will generally make things uh more enjoyable. Uh when you improve accessibility, you can influence the search engine algorithms and the AI bots. The search engines over time have adjusted the way they evaluate websites to the point where they can now test for some of the basic accessibility things like your alternative tags for image descriptions, keywords, uh page descriptions and titles, but it can also check to see whether or not you're using a good heading structure and whether or not your buttons and links are properly labeled based on the website they would direct somebody to. These are things that Google and Bing and the other search engines can check for. And then the AI bots, as I as it's been explained to me, at least for now, they tend to be kind of blind and kind of stupid. And at least for now, we get to educate the AI bots as to who we are, what our business is about, what customers we want to get in front of, and why those customers should care about our business. And we can do a lot of that through accessibility by making sure we're using uh simple, plain language in our text, that our text fonts are clear, simple fonts, that our heading structure is in alignment, that our images, videos have alternative text to describe them, that buttons and links again are properly labeled. Uh and most of this is not really hard, but it is repetitive, and it is something that will take thought and effort for somebody who's never addressed it before on their website or app.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Right.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

So, you know, who doesn't want more search engine traffic and who doesn't want AI telling people, hey, you need to go buy from this company because they got what you want, and they're the kind of people you want to buy it from. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Let's move let's move from the tech side of the world and let's move to the physical side of the world. Um, first of all, have you always been blind? Were you born blind?

SPEAKER_02 13:10

No, I I was born with perfect vision. I have retinitis pigmentosis. So uh originally I lost my vision gradually, and then I had a big drop-off of vision in junior high school and stayed constant until I went away to college. By the time I graduated from college, it was down to light perception, which is what I have now. And so that uh, but physical access, fact accessibility is something that I've been educating myself on more lately. Um, you know, one of the things that we really have um when you're an event organizer, you're going to be using somebody else's location. So they may have an accessibility statement on their website or that they send you an imprinted brochure and you need to verify whether or not what they're claiming is true is actually true. And quite often a location will say that they're visit that they meet like they meet the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. However, they may find some creative ways to meet those requirements. Um last year I was traveling in Chicago and I had a bad fall, so for the rest of my trip there, I was really cognizant of ramps, curve cutouts, the width of walkways, which is important to wheelchair users. Uh, it's also important to people with walkers and who use uh scooters instead of wheelchairs. And uh some of the things I ran into, we were at one place where they had a ramp, but the ramp took you around to the back side of the building, and then you had to go through two mechanical doors. So technically the person in the wheelchair could get there, but if they got there without somebody else with them, they weren't getting in that building. You know? Um I've heard stories about people who have had to go past dumpsters and porter toilets and have had to take elevators that were basically just wide open platforms in order to get to and from a particular place. Uh something that just occurred to me, or uh is, you know, I've done I've done a fair bit of uh public speaking myself, and so I've been at places where they have assembled stages and ramps. And the last time I spoke in public was actually at a comp conference for people with developmental disabilities, and they had a ramp up to their stage, they uh set aside the time beforehand to coach me with my white cane and the lady with the wheelchair to get to and from the front row seats to the stage. But I tell you, when I heard her pushing her wheelchair up that ramp, I was thinking that ramp doesn't sound sturdy, and this is the kind of thing could get us all on YouTube and not in a good way.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Yeah. And sometimes that kind of stuff. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

Oh yeah, and and of course, sometimes that's part of it. It's not necessary. Yes, we want to address the axe the access issues for people with with physical disabilities, but we also want to do it in a way that provides safety and the appearance of safety, and it also maintains the dignity of the person in question.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Yeah, and I just was thinking, you know, I love when I look at like the retreat industry and a retreat leader has their web page up and it says this retreat is for you if, and this is not for you if. I think that not for you should definitely be considered uh for disabilities. Like if it's not for somebody who can't access the property or your activities don't include that, you need to make sure that you you provide that information and I think in your promotional materials. Um Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:47

And and that's also a good place to put um something to the to the effect that depending on your uh your personal challenges, if if you're unsure, make sure that there's an easy way for them to contact somebody who does know the actual conditions on the ground that can then communicate with that person on an individual by individual basis.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

So that's I'm gonna throw that back to the retreat leader because that's that should be their responsibility to for their customer or client. And and um, as the guest, they shouldn't have they should have all those answers. So yeah, I think that's very important. When we talk about the role of compliance, do you believe that there's a place for compliance and improving accessibility, or can compliance sometimes cause the business to focus on just checking off the boxes instead of really serving people to what they need?

SPEAKER_02 17:37

I definitely believe there is a role for compliance. However, the disability community has spent too much of effort focused solely on compliance, and quite often compliance does become a checklist, and it's do we meet the minimum requirements as opposed to do we take a customer-focused approach and exceed the minimum uh requirements for an accessible website or for an accessible in-person experience.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:05

Uh, I do think that we need to we need to make more effort at the carrot or you know, emphasizing the the positive reasons why it's in their best interest to make things more accessible. And uh the two the two approaches together. There are some businesses and organizations, they are only going to be moved by fear of pain, of loss of income, financial penalties, lawsuits, negative publicity. But there are also a lot of people and organizations that they really want to do the right thing either because they want to do it because it is the right thing, or because they realize the the business benefits of putting your customer and even your potential customers first. So a good balance of both, along with more examples and more support of people who are doing things the right way, um, which is another is an aspect of accessibility, which is more in the area of people with disabilities, and that has to do with the fact that regardless of what number you use to determine how many people there are with disabilities, it's a huge number. But whatever that number is, it doesn't take into account the fact that because we still have such a small number of organizations investing in accessibility, people with disabilities, we like we like to support those people that are making the effort. We are a very loyal group when it comes to consuming products, services, or content. And we also will advocate and engage on behalf of brands to help them uh reach more customers because we want to see them succeed. So when you take whatever number you use for the size of the disability community uh or the amount of money actually spent by people with disabilities, which it's estimated it was $23 million or $23 trillion globally last year, um you multiply that times loyalty times willingness to engage on the behalf of a business owner. The the potential is there that really nobody can afford to ignore people with disabilities.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

Yeah, I agree. And what a great conversation that that I think um the overlying thing I want the people listening to this show of that we're doing here is just to be aware, just more awareness and figure out a way how you can be more inclusive to people with disabilities. Um all right, I am gonna put all your information in our show notes so that people can reach out and get a hold of you and uh find out more about you. So all that information will be there. I usually like to end this with a little bit of rapid fire and just so our audience can get to know you a little better. Are you ready for some questions?

SPEAKER_02 20:48

Yeah, yeah, I'm ready.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

Okay, ask one word answer, one sentence answer, top of mind, no right or wrong. A carnival food you never can resist. Popcorn. Are you a morning person? It's the smell, it's the smell, girl. It's addicting before you eat it. It's addicting. Yes. Are you a morning person or night owl?

SPEAKER_02 21:08

Morning.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

What was your favorite carnival ride? All right. Um AI exciting to you or concerning to you?

SPEAKER_02 21:16

A little of both.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

What would you say one word that describes accessibility?

SPEAKER_02 21:22

Three.

unknown 21:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

It's my tagline, so I'm gonna use it even if it breaks your rule. Accessibility benefits everyone.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

Oh, I love that. So, what would you say would be one word to ins to describe inclusion? You know, I don't have one word.

SPEAKER_02 21:36

I I I have a I have a phrase I like to use this is everyone is blind about something. I just have a white cane.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

Ah, I like that. Okay, and and the last one is one accessibility uh accessibility feature everyone should use.

SPEAKER_02 21:56

One accessibility feature everyone should use as the site owner or the the visitor.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

I would say from your perspective.

SPEAKER_02 22:04

From my perspective, the one feature that everybody should use is keyboard navigation first.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

Good one. I like that. Well, this has been so great, uh, Max. I think our listeners are going to be able to have some great takeaways, and I think it's been very thought-provoking of how important this whole accessibility is and how we can be more inclusive and planning our retreats, looking for venues that are more accessible to those so that more people with disabilities can come to the retreats and enjoy themselves. I love the conversation, and I appreciate all that you brought to the table today.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

Well, thank you so much for having me, and um I'm hopeful that I will help people think about uh ways they can be more inclusive and also prepare the kinds of questions they need to be asking the venue operators when they're in the preparation processes.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

Yeah, yeah, that that would make a great freebie if you if you need a video generator.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

That would be a really good freebie to offer because I think I will take that under advisement. Um my mentor is constantly reminding me I can't do everything that sounds like a good idea, but I'll put that on my list.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

That's right. Add it to the collection. Well, okay, everyone. We will see you next time on the show. And until then, have a great day and bye for now.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

Thanks for joining us on this episode of All Things Retreat. We hope you're leaving with new ideas, fresh inspiration, and the motivation to take your retreats to the next level. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review. It helps us grow and reach more retreat leaders like you. And if you have any questions, topics you'd like us to cover, or just want to say hello, send us an email at infokeretreatrnr.com. Follow us on social media to stay connected and all the latest updates. Until next time. Remember, great retreat starts with great retreat. Let's make it extraordinary, one step at a time.