Action Blog
Viewing entries tagged with 'accessibility'
Freedom of speech, accessibility and responsibility
As I'm sure I have stated more times than I've had hot dinners, I love everything about design and technology, but there is a worrying trend in the digital age that requires urgent attention.
Why good design matters to this blind geek
Ironic as it may be now, I went to art school. I was taught to appreciate beauty in everything and particularly in every art form; for art is the expression of self. It tells the story of humanity, of our culture and our lives. But I was also taught that design was not so noble and I snobbishly believed this until I met Mark, who introduced me to the world of design and importantly good design.
Is web accessibility inaccessible?
I gave the keynote presentation at the recent A11yLDN event, where I laid out the stall for what I believe is the future of web accessibility. I called my talk, "Does anyone know the way to Web Accessibility utopia?". I worried about being contentious, well, not really, when I asserted that accessibility utopia does not exist, that the WCAG is out of date and that accessibility is a subset of usability. I pontificated about inclusive design, about being reasonable and that no one creating a website has limitless resources.
The difference between Inclusive Design and Accessibility
I am thrilled to bits that my Ten Principles of Inclusive Web Design are being adopted. At the last eAccessibility Forum meeting, it was heartening to hear the message I have spent the past year expounding being articulated by folk from Cabinet Office and the Minister alike. I had no idea that they were actually listening. Go figure.
The Queen's royal garden party: where honour, respect & dignity roam
As a thank you for the work I have been doing with Government on eAccessibility, I had the honour of receiving an invitation to one of the Queen's Royal Garden Parties. When the invitation arrived in the post, with the Queen's emblem franked on the envelope and the words "The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by her Majesty to invite Mr. Mark and Mrs. Sandi Wassmer to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace", emblazoned on the invitation, the importance and magnitude of this wonderful opportunity hit me like a ton of bricks. My heart filled with gratitude and I began to feel a rather gleeful sense of anticipation.
Will Geeks and Peeps ever dance together?
A few weeks ago I attended the DevCSI Accessibility Hackdays. When I was first asked to participate, I thought they had accidentally asked the wrong person. My idea of a hackday was getting a whole bunch of developers together, feeding them a lot of meat, carbs and beer, and letting them get on with geeking out. They would work into the wee small hours and build a whole bunch of innovative cool stuff. Well, I will now hold my hand high and say that I could not have been more wrong.
Accessibility, politics and change
For the past year, I have gone against type and strolled down an avenue in my advocacy work that was not only unfamiliar to me, but that I was reluctant to embark upon. Last June I joined the UK Government's eAccessibility Forum, with an open mind, not really knowing what to expect. I certainly had no innate confidence in my ability to influence change within Government: that would have been absurd. But I always have plenty of hope and a very strong will, so I set off down a road I knew nowt about. In fact, I recall being so scared that I resorted to my usual self-effacing, flippant remarks, like, "What I know about politics I could write on the back of a postage stamp", but it couldn't have been more true.
HTML5 and web accessibility: is there hope for inclusion?
For those of us who have been asserting that web accessibility must be "built-in not bolt-on", the prospect of the much awaited changes to HTML, the technical specification that is the foundation for all websites, has filled us with great hope.
What’s in store?
An ode to shopping: “I hear the voices calling me... ’Come to me,’ they sing chanting mesmerising lullabies that court me into a bubbly trance. Wallet eager to open, money ready to flee... My eyes linger in exalted admiration among the racks.” Unknown.
Is Apple accessibility the best kept secret?
There is no question that Apple products are an integral part of my daily life and I shudder to think what I would do without them. But, and it's a big but, I am downright furious with Apple Inc. Why? Because, despite being lobbied a gazillion times by as many people, they fail to recognise or understand the importance of engaging with disabled people.
Tag cloud
accessibility, apple, assistive technology, beauty, benefits, big society, burnley, carers, christmas, coping, digital inclusion, disability, disclosing disability, discrimination, dla, dwp, employment, esa, family, fashion, grieving, happiness, holidays, human rights, ignorance, inclusive design, inclusivity, independence, iphone, life, living with sight loss, love, pension, people, registration, respect, rp, sailing, shopping, sight loss, social inclusion, stereotypes, style, technology, travel, vi people, web accessibility, welfare rights, white cane, work capability assessment,
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