Try a few simple things and take a little time to experience what a lack of accessibility means. Unplug your mouse, touchpad or trackpad and try navigating around your site. Using the keyboard only (tab/shift tab, arrow keys, enter and spacebar) navigate and interact with your own or your favourite websites and applications. You may discover a few problems you never thought about. Blind people and people with some physical impairments don’t use a mouse.
One accessibility problem I often encounter is poor contrast between text and background. It is a very common problem on many web sites. No matter how much those of us with low vision enlarge the critical text or navigation poor contrast means it cannot be read. Some sites also create difficulty for people with colour blindness. Test the contrast on your own site using one of the testing tools available from Juicy Studio or Vision Australia.
Accessibility is not only about the technology or the design, important though they are. It is also about the content. Analyse the language on your web site. How easily can it be understood by the average user?
Making web sites accessible to people who encounter particular barriers when using the Internet will mean a better user experience for everyone.
There is no doubt that there is a lot of it about. Disableism diminishes both the disabled person and the perpetrator. It is a clumsy made up word to describe something particularly unlovely so it is appropriate that it is an ugly word.
Disableism diminishes both the disabled person
- and the perpetrator.
Wikipedia describes “disableism,” or “ableism” as it also calls it as “a form of discrimination or social prejudice against people with disabilities.” I am not going to describe it any further, in case I descend into what a good friend of mine describes as the “aint it awful” stuff.
Instead I want to identify three (non-violent) weapons which can be used against it.
1. Humour
A light heart and a witty one liner go a long way. It takes a bit of practice but there is plenty of help out there, especially on the Internet. One of my favourite sources of humour is Crippen, disabled UK cartoonist. So much that happens to us is funny, sometimes only in hindsight, admittedly, but developing a robust and “out there” sense of humour can help enormously when the going gets tough. Mocking prejudice can be fun! Disability humour is part of disability culture.
2. Be loud proud and passionate
Being “out” and proud as a disabled person is powerful. And when a bit of action is required there’s nothing like some good old fashioned activism with other like-minded people. There’s safety in numbers and solidarity with other disabled people is personally powerful and takes away the feeling that everything bad is centred on me. Every little thing contributes to change, and taking action is very satisfying, and can be fun. Social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs are useful tools. Know your rights, use them and learn from each other’s experience, A man who inspires me was brought up in an institution and began by leading action for better pay in a sheltered workshop. Now he is an international leader and has spoken at the UN.
3. Form strong alliances
Finding others who may not be disabled but who may share similar world views can be rewarding. Supporting each other on issues of mutual interest, forging strong and respectful relationships to create change may be hard work, but the results can really make a difference. Disabled people and the gay community teamed up in the early 90’s to make sure sexual orientation and disability in its widest sense were both included in the New Zealand Human Rights Act. Our hard work paid off and the new Act was inclusive.
Call me Pollyanna, although I prefer a “cock-eyed optimist” as the song says – sorry about the pun, but if we don’t tackle disableism from a glass half full perspective it will just be too overwhelmingly hard.
Natural disasters are always inclusive.
Often the response is not.
It was clear from the Christchurch earthquakes that disability support providers, particularly small local rather than national providers, have the same difficulties as other organisations and businesses when there is a major disaster. Access to premises and records, the availability of staff and so on are among them. People may not have access to their regular assistance. So disaster preparedness for the general population must take account of the needs of disabled people, and not silo them off into a separate process, or simply forget about them.
The other day (April 15th) I was listening to Te Ahi Kaa on Radio New Zealand. The programme described setting up the Wainuiomata marae as a welfare centre. They sounded very well organised.
In thinking about their task I reflected on what they could do to set up a really inclusive welfare centre. Of course they might already have thought of these things, or they might already be on the prescribed comprehensive list.
Some of my top of mind considerations:
Access – Is the building which will house the welfare centre accessible to everyone? Does it meet or exceed NZ Standard for access 4121?
Reception – Do those who will be the first contact at the centre have disability training so they can recognize and welcome all kinds of disabled people?
Interpreters – Will each centre have access to New Zealand Sign Language interpreters, or at least people with some grasp of NZ Sign Language? Accessible information will be critical for a number of disabled and other people.
Accommodations – Will the centre accept and provide water and toileting areas for service dogs?
Know how – Will those staffing the centre know how to interact with a hard of hearing person? Will they be able to guide and orient a blind person, to assist in a way that preserves the dignity of people with physical impairments who need help with feeding and toileting?
Be prepared – Will there be emergency supplies for frail elder and those disabled people who may need incontinence products, drinking straws or particular foods?
Housing – Will those allocating housing and alternative accommodation have some understanding of accessibility?
Of course many disabled people can take some responsibility for preparing for disasters ourselves.
A free two-day symposium on disability-inclusive emergency preparedness and response: learning from the Canterbury earthquakes is being held in Christchurch on May 28 and 29. Lookout for details on our web site www.accease.com.
The other day my chiropractor recommended the Straighten Up New Zealand (SUNZ) programme. When I told him I could only find the kids’ version on the leaflet stand he explained that the kids’ version was the best as it was easier to understand. A pragmatic decision to use material designed for kids might just about be OK, if the adults’ version doesn’t work, but I feel patronised using something designed for children. Not the best way to engage my participation.
I wondered why the original material was developed without understanding the audience or testing the draft. Perhaps the kids’ version should be adapted for an adult audience, using the same simple style of drawings, plain English and large print in a easy to read font.
The SUNZ web site looked promising, with different audiences identified on the home page, although the slabs of bright colour are a bit hard on the eyes, but then the grown-ups page is all sad slabs of boring grey text, and the practitioners will need sunglasses for their page. This site cries out for some video, with captions and transcriptions of course.
Note – I didn’t check the web site for accessibility.
Straighten Up New Zealand - Grown ups introduction page
