Living With a Disability Becomes an Expertise
Living with a disability is something Lynn Wehrman recognizes as an expertise. WeCo is the vision that grew from her viewpoint. A former government Digital Accessibility Specialist, Lynn was born with, and raised alongside four sisters, who lived with cognitive disabilities. Her extended family also included many members who lived with similar disabilities.
“From the time I was very young, I was always aware that we were different than other families. So many people in our extended family had Epilepsy that Columbia University included us in an extensive study on the disorder. Managing medication and symptoms was a natural part of life.”
Being different, and competing in a world that didn’t recognize invisible disabilities, Lynn grew up to be keenly aware that:
- Being “different-abled” doesn’t make a person incapable
- People living with disabilities don’t have a level playing field in academics and employment.
When she grew up, Lynn landed a job as a federal transportation program coordinator. Working in disability transportation funding eventually led to document and website accessibility work. It was then that she noticed how organizations were struggling to “guess” at what customers and taxpayers who live with disabilities needed from them.
“On the one hand, you could see this huge potential for people who are blind, for instance, to access information without assistance through screen readers and websites. On the other hand, the people putting the information on websites were struggling to understand the specific needs of how people access information when they live with disabilities.”
While working on an Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan for the State of Minnesota, Lynn had an idea. If she could create a company that could unite organizations with people like her: digital professionals who also lived with disabilities, everyone could benefit.
- Organizations would have first-hand, real life expertise.
- Professionals living with disabilities could be the experts.
In a country where unemployment is over 80% for people living with disabilities, WeCo offers a win/win solution.
For Profit with a Purpose
Based upon the principal that the skills of people living with a disability are a viable for-profit business model, WeCo is a mission-based company. Our Accessibility Specialist’s and Test Consultants’ skills are in high demand, timely and valuable. Learn more about us through the links below:
