Journalist – Historian – Speaker
Horrible people in Chicago attempt to use zoning rules to stop parents trying to build a ramp for their disabled child. Their reason – ramps are too ugly. Steve Weiss, president of the Old Town Triangle Association, wrote a letter to Ald. Michele Smith (43rd), detailing his objections to the project. “I understand that the …
In San Francisco, Disability Rights Advocates is suing Uber. Report from SF Examiner: Although Uber has a wheelchair-accessible service, called Uber WAV, in the Bay Area, Disability Rights Advocates wrote in the complaint that the service is “a sham.” The group conducted a test of the service and found that in Alameda County, not a single …
St. Paul finally has implemented the ability to text 911. The disability accessibility implications here are enormous, of course, but like most systems that improve accessibility, everyone will benefit. One example, people in a dangerous domestic situation who can’t make a phone call, but who need to call for help.
I wrote about my son’s bright green hearing protectors for Pacific Standard. I hesitated to get them at first, badly swayed by the idea that they would more firmly mark him as different and cause isolation. They do the opposite. They open up the world. Including Hamilton. Here’s the takeaway: I’m not alone. I know far …
From the blog Possibilities and Finger Snaps, stories of inclusion fail, mostly around interpreting. a) Ask the deaf academic if she is willing to write a grant to cover the cost of her interpreters or CART captioning. b) Return the deaf academic’s conference registration fees, telling her that she cannot come to your conference because …
Katie Rose Guest Pryal, one of my favorite writers on hidden disabilities, has produced some awesome work lately on accessibility. She was one of many people to write about the lack of disability content at the big Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference, producing fabulous pieces about the nature of accessibility. Now she’s …
Nice post here on Accessible Conferences. Highlights: Incorporating accessibility into conference organizing must begin at the earliest stages of conference planning, not least of all to ensure that accessibility is a central item in funding applications. Thus, you will notice that even our CFP for the conference provided a sketch of the accessibility provisions for …
Many of my friends on Facebook and elsewhere kindly sent me a cool picture of a ramp that zig-zags through a set of stairs. As the picture permeated Facebook, though, I noted an important phenomenon – every single one of my wheelchair-using friends reacted negatively. Description: A set of stairs with a ramp moving diagonally …
Roxane Gilmore, former first lady of Virginia, believes that disabled people should enter the governor’s mansion through the basement, for “aesthetic” reasons. A plan to build a wheelchair ramp at the Virginia Executive Mansion is turning into a tussle between old and new Richmond, with Gov. Terry McAuliffe saying the alteration will create a more …