“Write what you know,” Mark Twain said.

I know accessibility, so I write about it.

I’m a Bay Area native (born and raised in Fremont) and veteran freelance tech journalist who’s based in San Francisco’s perpetually-foggy Richmond district. For the last 12 years, I’ve run a newsroom of precisely one person—me, myself, and I—where I cover all things accessibility and assistive technologies. My byline has appeared in a number of leading publications, including TechCrunch, The Verge, MacStories, MIT Technology Review, iMore, and TidBITS, amongst numerous other places on the internet—some of them extinct.

My first-ever bylined piece, published back in 2013, is still available to read today.

Nowadays, the majority of my coverage appears at my owned-and-operated blog called Curb Cuts, launched in 2024. From 2020 to 2025, I was a member of the invite-only Forbes contributor network, writing a regular column about disability matters affecting the technology industry as part of the outlet’s consumer technology vertical. In addition to its dutiful presence online, my byline has occasionally appeared in print magazines over time.

I’ve also been on the other end of the table, as I’ve been interviewed numerous times about my career, disability, and more. Likewise, I’ve contributed my expertise to stories from mainstream media outlets such as the New York Times and MIT Technology Review. I’ve also been a years-long participant in grading the annual Six Colors Apple Report Card.

What exactly is my beat? In essence, it shines a spotlight on how technology, in all its forms, impacts (and empowers) disabled people. In a Journalism 101 sense, my coverage strives to hold truth to power by holding accountable those who create things that light up and make noise to keep making their product(s) accessible to everyone. In a social justice context, disability coverage in mainstream media has long been woefully inadequate compared to areas such as race and sexuality. Accessibility coverage may never enter the zeitgeist nor win me a Pulitzer nor get A1 placement in a broadsheet, but I don’t do this for adulation. My work truly is my humble attempt at moving the representational needle.

Accessibility is decidedly not a beat conducive to breaking news and big scoops, but I’ve still had a few. This one about AirPods from 2018 remains the biggest of my career by far.

I write all my stories in Markdown. My favorite text editor is MarkEdit on macOS.

What makes my reporting distinct from that of my compatriots in the tech press is my perspective. I’m a lifelong disabled person who copes with multiple conditions; this lived experience enables me to imbue my work with firsthand knowledge and expertise that transcends sheer enthusiasm for technology. The fact I’m a proverbial card-carrying member of the marginalized and underrepresented group that is the disability community gives my work instant credibility and allows me to write authoritatively. I’m also bilingual; I’m fluent in American Sign Language, as my parents were deaf. That makes me a CODA.

This one time—not at band camp—I conducted an interview entirely in ASL.

In my career, I've covered every big tech company in existence, including the five biggest in Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. I’ve written about everything from myriad software updates to the newest iPhones and MacBooks to autonomous vehicles and scooters to CPAP machines and hearing aids and many more things. If there’s a single lesson to take from my wide-ranging anthology of articles, it’s that accessibility is a dynamo. It manifests in multitudes that are utterly worthy of exploration and explanation.

I've interviewed many high-ranking executives over time, the most prominent ones being Apple CEO Tim Cook in 2018 and former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in 2023. I've also spoken with people working on accessibility at Activision Blizzard, Adobe, Airbnb, Amazon, Capital One, Chase, Comcast, CVS, DoorDash, Ford, GitHub, GE Appliances, Indeed, Intel, Lenovo, Lyft, Netflix, Nvidia, OpenAI, PBS Kids, Salesforce, Samsung, Slack, Sony, TD Bank, VITAC, Webex, Xbox, Yelp, and Zappos, as well as the leaders of umpteenth startups. In addition, I’ve covered the work of name-brand companies like Amtrak, CAI, Chime, Consumer Reports, eBay, Electronic Arts, Hilton, Honda, Instacart, LG, LinkedIn, Razer, Starbucks, United Airlines, Walmart, and Whirlpool. Then there are the litany of institutions—namely AbleGamers, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the American Association of People with Disabilities, the American Society for Deaf Children, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Department of Justice, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Fashion Institute of Technology, the FCC, Harvard University, NYU, Temple University, the University of North Dakota, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the United States Association of Blind Athletes, the United Spinal Association, the Challenged Athletes Foundation, NBCUniversal, Special Olympics, and numerous state governments.

I’ve interviewed several professionals such as audiologists, dietitians, registered nurses, speech-language pathologists, optometrists, ophthalmologists, and physical therapists—all of whom work in fields adjacent to, and intersecting with, disability and technology. Lastly, I’ve interviewed many indie software developers, all of whom write software for Apple platforms, about their app(s) and supporting the disability community vis-a-vis accessibility. They include Marco Arment, The Iconfactory, AssistiveWare, and Procreate.

To borrow a bar from my favorite rapper in Eminem, I’ve bodied features with some legendary names. A considerable number of the interviews I’ve done over my journalistic career have featured notable individuals who have their own Wikipedia page. They include:

• Tony Coelho (D-CA), pioneer of the Americans with Disabilities Act

• Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)

• Pennsylvania state treasurer Stacy Garrity

• New York City comptroller Brad Lander

• Gallaudet University president Roberta Cordano

• Authors and disability rights activists Haben Girma and Dr. Victor Pineda

• Astronaut Kellie Gerardi

• Tech YouTuber iJustine

• Television host Sophie Morgan

• Sports broadcaster Ernie Johnson

• Former NFL player Tim Wright

• Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis

• NWSL player Asisat Oshoala

• Paralympian athletes Brenna Huckaby, Lex Gillette, and Matt Scott

• Disney Legend Andreas Deja

• Musician Matthew Whitaker

• Actors Chris Evans, Lou Ferrigno, Dolly Lewis, and Daryl Mitchell

• OUAI founder Jen Atkin

• Bachelor alums Sarah Trott and Arie Luyendyk Jr, as well as social media influencers such as Becca Moore, Laura Whaley, Rachel Chaleff, Carrie Minter, and Avery Woods.

In addition, I have extensive experience doing reporting at the confluence of disability, technology, and Hollywood. This is fun to do and representative of some of my very best work. I’ve interviewed numerous creators and showrunners for such stories, including industry heavyweights like esteemed Arthur creator Marc Brown, amongst many others.

I've been on podcasts, radio, and television to talk my career in the news business accessibility, and more. For a time, I was co-host of Accessible, a now-defunct fortnightly podcast on accessibility in technology, alongside my good friend Timothy Buck. In 2015, I went on NPR’s Science Friday. Also, I was interviewed for Story & Pixel's 2017 documentary, App: The Human Story, appearing in B-roll. It examines the sociological effects of iPhone apps and their development since Apple first opened the App Store’s digital doors in 2008.

Besides my infrequent media hits, I’ve also done my fair share of public speaking in life; topics include special education and disability in the media and in newsrooms. I’ve also served as the moderator of panels at accessibility events such as the 2023 edition of the all-virtual Sight Tech Global Conference, as well as the 2024 edition of MOVE America.

My background is in special education and early childhood development. Prior to pivoting to tech journalism, I spent nearly a decade working with preschoolers (ages 3-5) with moderate-to-severe disabilities. Most of those years were spent working with children on the autism spectrum; I had extensive training in teaching methodologies specifically designed for autistic children. They include ABA, PECS, and TEACCH. Before getting into Pre-K, I spent a couple years working with middle schoolers. Educationally, I completed Early Childhood Studies coursework, spanning the growth and development of children birth through early elementary school (ages 0-8), at my then-local community college.

If you have a story idea to share or just wanna say hello, I’d love to hear from you! You can send me an email at contact@stevensblog.co. If you have a pitch, please read this first.

In full transparency, I should say the standard disclaimer applies: I can be a lousy correspondent at times. My inbox lives in a state of constant chaos and messages have been known to slip through the proverbial cracks. If I respond after an inordinate amount of time—or don’t reply at all—please know it isn’t personal. Rest assured I’ve read your email.