100 Days of A11y

Day 88: Presentation Prep - Humanizing People with Disabilities

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Today I spent a lot of time preparing for a library conference talk about accessible spaces and being mindful of people with disabilities. So, rather than go into further study with Deque courses or deep-diving into accessibility laws (as originally planned), I decided to blog about the presentation I prepared for.

Things I accomplished

What I reviewed today

My presentation is actually a co-presentation. Speaking alongside two other people, my part will specifically focus on the "who" of creating accessible workstations and spaces. Hopefully, the following outline will fit into a 15-minute time frame:

  1. What is a disability?
    1. Definition
    2. General categories
    3. Specific categories
    4. Specific disabilities
    5. Spectrums
    6. Related categories (elderly, environmental, temporary)
  2. Assistive Technologies & Adaptive Strategies
    1. Screen readers
    2. Magnification & zoom
    3. High contrast mode & custom styles
    4. Switch access and control
    5. Speech recognition
    6. Eye-tracking
    7. Augmentative and Alternative Communications (AAC)
  3. What is accessibility?
    1. Definition
  4. So, who are these people, anyway?
    1. Stephen
    2. Michael
    3. Chrissie
    4. How many Alaskans?
    5. Julie
    6. Tracy
    7. Me
    8. Who do you know?
  5. The point: They are people
  6. How can we be accommodating?
  7. Contact me

The overall intent of my talk is to humanize disabilities. What I really enjoyed about today's preparation was the opportunity to talk with other people about their disabilities, and hear about the barriers they've encountered that made them feel disabled. The most fascinating part was that, out of the three people I interviewed, no one considered themselves disabled or having a disability. Only when they encountered a challenge or a complete roadblock did they consider themselves as having a disability.