Action Blog
Viewing entries tagged with 'human rights'
Will the good guys ever win in the war for human rights?
The thing that used to trouble me greatly was the eternal hypothetical question "Will the good guys ever win?". I would spend countless hours trying to make sense of what I thought was a great injustice. It perplexed me as to why there were some folk in the world who just seemed to breeze through life, all body parts in full working order, achieving their goals with relative ease and having a pretty smooth ride on the big life train overall. And these folk, who appear to not have a care in the world, concern themselves with incredible amounts of minutiae that makes them very whiney and they manage to cause themselves all sorts of unnecessary stress over rubbish that truly matters not. This is more commonly known as a storm in a teacup.
Web accessibility and human rights: is the Internet the great equaliser?
December 10, 1948 is the most important day in the calendar of civil society. It is the day that the United Nations set out the rights and freedoms, which all humans should be afforded, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Sadly, we are far from achieving these as a race overall. It is understandable where non-democratic governments still prevail, but where democracy rules, why are we still failing?
The Human Rights Model of Ability
I am frequently aggrieved by social injustice and inequality, more so in this digital age as there is enough information, both scientific and anecdotal, to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we are all different and we all deserve to be treated equally in all aspects of our lives. But this is not how things are in our so-called civilised democracy, so something's gotta give.
Eradicating the stigma of disability: look back only to inform the future
In my infinite hippiedom, when I find life doesn’t make sense to me or when I feel the need for some spiritual realignment, I can be found on the floor either with my legs akimbo in a yoga pose or bopping away with my headphones on, listening to music made by other hippy types like me.
Impaired? Yes. Able? Definitely. Disabled? Occasionally.
I know that I have made it unreservedly clear that I am not a fan of labels or political correctness for the sake of it. I guess that's because my interest, or at least where I think the crux of the issue lies, is not with what you call people but more about how you view them and, consequently, treat them. I am a big fan of human rights and seem to be quite happy with the label 'human being', although many people that know me might question this and try to redirect me to my home planet.
Legislation, schmegislation - don’t tell them, teach them
Don’t get me wrong, I am more than delighted that so many countries around the world have laws in place protecting human rights and promoting the equal treatment of such a wide variety of minority groups, but despite all of this legislation and the requirements for people and organisations to comply with them, we still seem to be falling considerably short in reality.
Grab life by both hands, hold tight and enjoy the journey!
My friend, Shezan, is a pretty awesome guy. He read Economics at Cambridge, but instead of following the herd and getting a job in the City, he decided to go into teaching, and not at some leafy suburban school, but at a tough inner city school in London, and he absolutely loves it. But Shezan also has Glaucoma and he ended up spending a year off work, having a series of unsuccessful operations, which threw his world into complete disarray.
Move over disability discrimination. I am coming and I am not going away.
A few weeks ago, two comments left on one of my posts really hit home. They both felt that in my writing this blog, I have an opportunity to raise awareness about disability. Boy do I ever feel that, and I will take it one step further - it is my responsibility and my moral obligation. I was not given such a big gob, dogged determination and so many opinions for nothing.
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accessibility, apple, assistive technology, beauty, benefits, braille, burnley, christmas, confidence, coping, disability, disclosing disability, discrimination, dla, dwp, education, employment, esa, family, fashion, grieving, guide dogs, happiness, holidays, human rights, inclusive design, inclusivity, independence, independent living, iphone, life, lifestyle, living with sight loss, pension, people, personal independence payment, pip, registration, respect, rp, sailing, shopping, sight loss, social inclusion, stereotypes, technology, travel, web accessibility, welfare rights, work,
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