Sandi Wassmer
Viewing entries posted in August 2009
Paying lip service to web accessibility just won’t do
You would think that, in my job and with my burning desire to make sure that all disabled folk are getting the best out of technology, I would be able to get more people to understand why it is so important for the Internet to be Inclusive and that Accessibility isn’t something that you think about as an add-on after you have built your website. It is an integral part of every website. You wouldn’t build a 50-story building without a lift now, would you?
How one visually impaired girl got fit and healthy
I went to my GP a while ago and asked for an MOT. I was stressed, tired and feeling sluggish all the time. I wasn’t particularly unhealthy. I don’t smoke and I wasn’t overweight, but I didn’t do any exercise and was certainly having a few too many shandies of an evening. Living with a visual impairment is exhausting, with everything you do requiring some sort of decision, so it is easy for stress levels to get high and your overall state of mind and body play a big part in how you handle it all.
Gratitude comes in all shapes and sizes
At this exact point in time, I am glad that there is no cure for retinitis pigmentosa. I know that sounds pretty peculiar, but this dreaded disease has changed my life for the better.
A visually impaired geek finds happiness with a small but perfectly formed Mac Mini
Although I purchased my beloved Mac Mini on the same day I got my iPhone back in June, I wanted to wait a while to have the experience of using it day in and day out, as I anticipated there was going to be an adjustment period since I did port over from a PC running the dreaded Vista after all. It is not like me to wholeheartedly diss something outright, but really, it is just not right when you have regular freezes and crashes because of conflicts between your operating system and software when they are made by the same company!
Individual or collective – Is disability a personal thing?
When I got an email last year from the RNIB asking people to join their Taken for a Ride campaign and lobby Parliament for visually impaired people to get the appropriate level of DLA, I felt compelled to do so. I have never been the protesting or heckling type, but as any sort of injustice just niggles away at me, I could not ignore this call to action.
Disclosing a disability at work
As so many visually impaired people are able to cope with minor modifications to their work environments without having to officially wear the disability badge, they live in fear of being caught out and are hanging on to whatever useful vision that they have and are waiting until the eleventh hour to tell their boss that getting that new pair of glasses they have been allegedly putting off just isn’t going to cut it.
Businesswoman Sandi Wassmer registered blind in 2008. In her blog, she shares with us the 'shenanigans of visual impairment'. Find Sandi on Google+
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accessibility, adhd, advocacy, altruism, apple, assistive technology, big society, carers, coping, coping with sight loss, digital inclusion, disability, disclosing disability, discrimination, education, employment, family, friends, grief, grieving, happiness, holidays, human rights, ignorance, impairment, inclusion, inclusive design, inclusivity, independence, iphone, legislation, life, living with sight loss, love, people, prejudice, psychology, registration, respect, rp, shopping, sight loss, social inclusion, stereotypes, technology, transport, vi people, visual impairment, web accessibility, white cane,
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