Action Blog
Viewing entries tagged with 'inclusion'
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.
Mediocrity, concession and acquiescence? No thanks.
Tenacity is certainly something I have in abundance. Sure, it sometimes manifests itself as pigheadedness or even downright stupidity, but it is always accompanied by honour and integrity. One of the characteristics of having ADHD is a tendency to uber-focus, but it can also serve me very well indeed, so I'm not fussed. Life is full of trade offs. So, with my usual positivity and ability to see the beauty in everyone, I just figured that even though I may behave this way or that way in my fervent pursuit of a better world, somehow folk would see the beauty in me.
Digital Inclusion in the Big Society: you can't legislate human nature
In my mission to further social inclusion, I have been observing the interplay between the third sector, disabled activists and government: whilst everyone involved seem to be going along with happenings in a matter of fact way, I have been sitting, watching and thinking "What the.....".
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.
The Internet, citizenship and community
The founders of the Internet had a vision of it being open and inclusive, breaking down the barriers that lead to social inequality and exclusion, and playing a pivotal role in creating a global community that is a level playing field for all. This is certainly what I signed up for, but it appears that these fundamental values are being eroded.
Maintaining the integrity of an open and inclusive Internet
The principles of openness and inclusivity, on which the Internet has been built, are so aligned with everything I want the world to be. They are at the heart of human values and the ideals that I spend my life working towards. The mere thought of the erosion of these principles is pure agony, but the Internet has not become what its founders envisaged and is now a fundamental part of a global community. As a result, the economics of capitalism are now firmly in the frame and the Internet eco-system is being challenged and so are its principles.
Does it grow corn?
I have never been a big fan of rules and think I will probably remain a bit of a rebel for the rest of my life, because even now, when faced with having a rule imposed on me, not only do I want to break it, I want to break it twice. And in the same vein, I am also not much of a conformist or big on social convention, and these things do get me into trouble now and again.
eAccessibility, eInclusion, digital inclusion: making inroads
I am delighted to have been asked to join the eAccessibility Forum, a government thinktank advising on eAccessibility, eInclusion and the ongoing commitment to bridge the digital divide. Wow. How excited am I? Words cannot describe.
Bullying and social inclusion: zero tolerance is the only way
When you are the parent of a school aged child, you have access to a wealth of insights, not only about how young minds are shaped and how so many influences and factors are at play, but also how important the things that those working in education do or don’t do are in the grand scheme of things.
Social inclusion is a two-way street
I have been doing a little one woman social experiment of late, as I am fascinated by the human condition and particularly what makes people behave the way they do. Having moved from the mainstream into the disabled stream, the one thing that I have found very difficult to comprehend is why so many people respond to me chipping up with my white cane with fear.
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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