Julie “Jules” Emeid has a diploma, an honours degree, and a master's in progress, and she still gets read as a twenty-year-old who "doesn't know anything" the moment she walks into an interview. On this episode, she breaks down what ableism at work actually looks like: the hiring bias that sits in the gap between a strong résumé and the room, the assumptions people make about disabled workers, and why so much of it goes unnoticed by the people doing it.Jules is a social worker and public speaker whose master's research focuses on ableism in the workplace. She's also funny on purpose. Humor is how she gets people to relax and actually listen. We get into the school system that tracked her into the lowest classes, the difference between visible and invisible disability, why "anyone can be disabled" should change how we design things, and the one rule she'd give every employer: don't assume, just ask.What we cover* Why Jules uses humor to disarm the awkwardness around disability* Being placed in "essential" classes in high school, and the road to a master's* Ableism in hiring: qualified on paper, judged in the room* Visible vs. invisible disability, and the double standard each carries* Why accessible design helps everyone, not only disabled people* Her rule for getting it right: don't assume, just ask👋 Guest - Julie “Jules” Emeid* Podcast: youtube.com/@rollwithit_withjules* TikTok: tiktok.com/@rollwithit_withjules* LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/julie-emeid-679b8a190/🔗 Follow Accessible Future PodcastYouTube: youtube.com/@AccessibleFutureInstagram: instagram.com/accessible_futureFacebook: facebook.com/people/Accessible-Future/61586380868685LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/accessible-futureEmail: accessiblefuturepod@gmail.com About the Accessible Future Podcast

The Accessible Future Podcast brings real conversations about disability, inclusion, and accessible design, centering the voices of people with lived experience and the people working to remove barriers. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode.

What if the biggest barrier to healthcare isn't the clinic, but getting there?

For more than two decades, Paul Siller has run the Rocky View Regional Handibus Society, a rural charity that gets people to the appointments, groceries, and everyday places they can't reach on their own.

In this episode of the Accessible Future Podcast, Paul and host Simon Jones reframe what accessible transportation actually means: why Paul stopped using the word "handicap," how a single bus can serve three towns in one run, and why he calls transportation a foundation of health that almost no one budgets for.

It's a grounded look at the systems behind disability, inclusion, and barrier-free communities in rural Alberta, and the people left stranded when the ride isn't there.

In this episode:

• Why "transportation barriers" works better than "disability," and what shifted when the language changed
• How one bus covers 4,500 square kilometres and 600,000 km a year on about a third of a city's budget
• The rural access gap: ten communities around Calgary, zero hospitals
• What happens to someone's independence when the ride disappears
• Making councils care, using a story instead of a statistic

🔗 Learn more about the Rocky View Regional Handibus Society, including how to support or volunteer: https://www.rockyviewbus.ca

🔗 Follow Accessible Future Podcast

YouTube: youtube.com/@AccessibleFuture

Instagram: instagram.com/accessible_future

Facebook: facebook.com/people/Accessible-Future/61586380868685

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/accessible-future

Email: accessiblefuturepod@gmail.com

If you found value in this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating on your platform. It helps more people find the show.

⏰Chapters

0:00 Welcome to the Accessible Future Podcast

1:18 Inside the Rocky View Handibus Society

5:59 What an Accessible Future Looks Like

9:20 When the Rules Ignore Accessibility

13:02 Dropping the Word "Handicap"

16:59 Barriers, Not Disability

21:17 Transportation Is a Foundation of Health

23:06 Telling the Story to Make Councils Care

25:16 What Paul Wishes People Understood

27:37 Thank You to the Drivers

#AccessibleFuture #Accessibility #DisabilityInclusion #BarrierFree #AccessibleTransportation #DisabilityRights #InclusiveCommunities #RuralTransit #DisabilityCommunity

Kelly Thibodeau builds her work around one idea: accessibility is personal.
The founder of Squarely Accessible joins Simon to talk about what inclusive design actually means online, and why so much of it comes down to a single choice, including people on purpose, or excluding them by accident.

Kelly shares the story of watching her mom's world shrink as technology moved on without her, the business case most organizations overlook, and where to start when accessibility feels too big to tackle.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Why Kelly says accessibility is personal, and the story behind Squarely Accessible
• What an accessible future looks like when everyone can do the everyday things — applying for a job, filing taxes, catching up with friends
• The difference between being intentionally included and accidentally excluded
• Why 80% of disabilities are invisible, and what that means for the content we publish
• The numbers brands miss: 1.3 billion people worldwide, and the customers lost to barriers
• "Do you want it, or do you need it?" — moving past compliance to actually caring
• Small starts, why there's no such thing as "100% done," and how to begin anyway
• Masking at work, and building workplaces where people don't have to hide who they are
• "Nothing about us without us": working with disabled people, not just for them
  👋 Guest - Kelly Thibodeau, Squarely Accessible

Website: squarelyaccessible.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kthibodeau

Level It Up: levelitupmb.ca

🔗 Follow Accessible Future Podcast

YouTube: youtube.com/@AccessibleFuture

Instagram: instagram.com/accessible_future

Facebook: facebook.com/people/Accessible-Future/61586380868685

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/accessible-future

Email: accessiblefuturepod@gmail.com

If you found value in this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating on your platform. It helps more people find the show.
⏰Chapters0:00 Intro1:28 What an accessible future looks like4:07 Her mom, and why accessibility is personal8:10 Inside Squarely Accessible12:03 Want it vs. need it: beyond compliance17:48 Training, invisible disabilities & the business case24:25 Neuroinclusion, autism employment & a final word32:33 Wrap-up