There are very few people in a world that can actually make the above statement and mean it. There are some days that I may not feel that way but overall I feel that way most of the time. Every day I get new challenges and get to learn about interesting technologies and ideas. the thing I like most is the people I work with. The UC Berkeley campus has a lot of people who believe in the same principles and ideas I believe in. Working with developers on this campus has taught me that people in general really do want to help make things easier to use. In some ways, I feel I am very spoiled by the people I work with. It makes me forget that in the real world things do not often go so well in general working with people on this campus and testing websites really can be a lot of fun...
Yesterday I had a pleasant surprise most of the time I avoid browsing the Internet outside of work because I get so disappointed and disgusted what happens when I visit a website. Yes, there are many accessible websites out there and it is getting somewhat better but more often than not, I throw my hands up in disgust and go to my husband or my reader to do what I need to on the web. This includes entertainment and everything else. It is somewhat humiliating to have to go to another person to buy that person his or her birthday present. What to my pleasant surprise when yesterday I visited the last.FM website and found that it had changed significantly since the last time I visited. Finding a song was difficult but possible and marking it in tagging appropriately could happen. However, sometimes the song would be over before I found the right place to click. Yesterday I found the website had been redone. Boy oh boy is it good now it's funny but I still kind of get really excited and become a little childish when I find something like this. I had to call everyone I knew and tell him or her what a great website I had just visited.
Well done last FM and I will be definitely recommending you to all my screen reader user friends.
The new website lets me track things extraordinarily well. I can see what song is playing I can market an even better I can see if the artist is going to be in town soon. I have just the same access as everyone else now I can wander through the website I can play music and do whatever I want just like anyone else. The webpage refreshes properly the screen reader tracks everything. Everything is labeled and the information is all there for me to access or not as I please. I can sit back and listen to the music or I can find out information about the artist or move on to recommendations or do anything that an able-bodied user would be able to do on this site. If I ever had a stamp of approval this would be, an access aces site
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Has the ADA made a difference?
20 years later, we can look back at the historical event of the signing of the ADA. Quite often, I can hear people asking the question, if only in their head, what difference has it made. It is strange for me to be considering this, as I am not "American," so it feels a little odd passing judgment. However, I think I have a perspective that helps understand the importance of this law.
In the daily life of a person with a disability, many of the changes of the ADA have been lasting and impactful. However, to the mainstream individual who isn’t affected by a disability may not see the difference that the ADA has made. Things are never what they seem.
When people who are teaching or training disability awareness talk about "curb cuts”, it can sometimes seem like a broken record. However, the reason we do so is because it is the one thing people without disabilities are guaranteed to come in contact with in their daily lives. It is very unusual today to go anywhere and not encounter a curb cut. Yes, some older communities (and older is a relative term) may have unbroken curves. In general, Main Street, USA has curb cuts. Teenage skateboarders, wheelchair users, and elderly individuals using walkers, we have all made good use of curb cuts over the years. In the assistive technology world, this is one of our favorite scenarios to talk about. It is the least technical thing that almost everyone in the group can relate to. Just like curb cuts, many of the other changes the ADA has brought about have been incorporated into our lives to the point of forgetfulness. Living in California, this happens more often than most places. I can walk into many public buildings with the confidence that the signage is accessible, elevator buttons will be in reach, and doorways will be wide enough for people to walk through. All I have to do to remember that all these things were brought about by laws traceable back to Canada. The Human Rights Act in Canada is extensive, but does not reach as far and is not as aggressive as the ADA or the California Fair Housing laws. In California, our laws tend to reach farther and serve us more effectively. I am always shocked and appalled to go back to Canada and find that a brand-new restaurant or office building does not even have an accessible bathroom. For me, it is only natural to assume that whenever there is new construction or renovation, it is a legal requirement to make access improvements. In California, that’s a safe assumption, but in many other places it is not.
While I watched all the ADA celebrations that I could last week I kept asking myself, “How does this affect me and what is changed?” Living day-to-day it's really hard for people to understand that there has been change. There are many days that we get angry and resent all the things we have to do because of who we are. As a blind person, I resent not being able to drive. Being forced to use public transportation, not being able to find things as quickly or efficiently on the Internet, or not being able curl up with a good book that doesn't require battery or power can be incredibly frustrating. Many of us change this resentment into a drive or thirst for new technology. So-called positive thinking. Just two weeks ago a friend showed me a solar USB charger for my digital talking book player. Of course, I wanted it immediately. Every new toy or device that means I can be freer to be "normal". Every advance in technology brings me one step closer to true freedom. However on the days I'm down and the buses are running late, it's really hard to feel so optimistic. Twenty years ago I would be less likely to find ways to improve my situation though innovation and technology. I think there would be a lot of innovation and change through technology, but it wouldn’t have led towards accessibility as the changes implemented by the ADA have. This means that technology could've advanced and left me behind. Instead, just one month ago the Department of Justice declared that educational institutions could not adopt technology that was not usable and accessible to everyone. Each time one of these rulings is made, interpreting the ADA, my life gets more and more "normal".
Working in a university, many of the students I deal with on a daily basis have never lived without the ADA. Each new year I see students coming to campus that were born after the ADA passed. Not having ever gone to school or tried to ride a bus before the ADA is a vastly different experience as a youth. I'm not implying that students should experience life without the benefits of the ADA, however, a little retrospect and understanding of the history of disability management goes a long way. As the students go through school demanding their rights and accommodations, it's worth them asking who and how these accommodations were defined. What if, when we considered access to education laws, we did not include educational materials? It's hard to believe that we wouldn't have thought that the books were also part of education. But in a time without ADA regulations and laws, it might have easily happened.
I guess what I'm really asking for is, as the students go on into the future and make their own changes to the laws and regulations and peoples "normal existence”- that they had as much foresight and inclusion as there was in the past. If at any time they think one person is more important or can make a difference they realize they're wrong. The reason the ADA has worked as well as it has is because of the image that has been brought up time and time again this past week; the image of thousands upon thousands of stories making the complete picture. It is interesting how I can close my eyes and imagine I was there the day boxes upon boxes of testimonial were brought in to Congress to make the point that access was not only needed, but demanded by the people.
In the daily life of a person with a disability, many of the changes of the ADA have been lasting and impactful. However, to the mainstream individual who isn’t affected by a disability may not see the difference that the ADA has made. Things are never what they seem.
When people who are teaching or training disability awareness talk about "curb cuts”, it can sometimes seem like a broken record. However, the reason we do so is because it is the one thing people without disabilities are guaranteed to come in contact with in their daily lives. It is very unusual today to go anywhere and not encounter a curb cut. Yes, some older communities (and older is a relative term) may have unbroken curves. In general, Main Street, USA has curb cuts. Teenage skateboarders, wheelchair users, and elderly individuals using walkers, we have all made good use of curb cuts over the years. In the assistive technology world, this is one of our favorite scenarios to talk about. It is the least technical thing that almost everyone in the group can relate to. Just like curb cuts, many of the other changes the ADA has brought about have been incorporated into our lives to the point of forgetfulness. Living in California, this happens more often than most places. I can walk into many public buildings with the confidence that the signage is accessible, elevator buttons will be in reach, and doorways will be wide enough for people to walk through. All I have to do to remember that all these things were brought about by laws traceable back to Canada. The Human Rights Act in Canada is extensive, but does not reach as far and is not as aggressive as the ADA or the California Fair Housing laws. In California, our laws tend to reach farther and serve us more effectively. I am always shocked and appalled to go back to Canada and find that a brand-new restaurant or office building does not even have an accessible bathroom. For me, it is only natural to assume that whenever there is new construction or renovation, it is a legal requirement to make access improvements. In California, that’s a safe assumption, but in many other places it is not.
While I watched all the ADA celebrations that I could last week I kept asking myself, “How does this affect me and what is changed?” Living day-to-day it's really hard for people to understand that there has been change. There are many days that we get angry and resent all the things we have to do because of who we are. As a blind person, I resent not being able to drive. Being forced to use public transportation, not being able to find things as quickly or efficiently on the Internet, or not being able curl up with a good book that doesn't require battery or power can be incredibly frustrating. Many of us change this resentment into a drive or thirst for new technology. So-called positive thinking. Just two weeks ago a friend showed me a solar USB charger for my digital talking book player. Of course, I wanted it immediately. Every new toy or device that means I can be freer to be "normal". Every advance in technology brings me one step closer to true freedom. However on the days I'm down and the buses are running late, it's really hard to feel so optimistic. Twenty years ago I would be less likely to find ways to improve my situation though innovation and technology. I think there would be a lot of innovation and change through technology, but it wouldn’t have led towards accessibility as the changes implemented by the ADA have. This means that technology could've advanced and left me behind. Instead, just one month ago the Department of Justice declared that educational institutions could not adopt technology that was not usable and accessible to everyone. Each time one of these rulings is made, interpreting the ADA, my life gets more and more "normal".
Working in a university, many of the students I deal with on a daily basis have never lived without the ADA. Each new year I see students coming to campus that were born after the ADA passed. Not having ever gone to school or tried to ride a bus before the ADA is a vastly different experience as a youth. I'm not implying that students should experience life without the benefits of the ADA, however, a little retrospect and understanding of the history of disability management goes a long way. As the students go through school demanding their rights and accommodations, it's worth them asking who and how these accommodations were defined. What if, when we considered access to education laws, we did not include educational materials? It's hard to believe that we wouldn't have thought that the books were also part of education. But in a time without ADA regulations and laws, it might have easily happened.
I guess what I'm really asking for is, as the students go on into the future and make their own changes to the laws and regulations and peoples "normal existence”- that they had as much foresight and inclusion as there was in the past. If at any time they think one person is more important or can make a difference they realize they're wrong. The reason the ADA has worked as well as it has is because of the image that has been brought up time and time again this past week; the image of thousands upon thousands of stories making the complete picture. It is interesting how I can close my eyes and imagine I was there the day boxes upon boxes of testimonial were brought in to Congress to make the point that access was not only needed, but demanded by the people.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)