[nabs-l] Accessibility Article

[Sarah Jevnikar]

I was really excited about this article and then I found a line that I take
huge exception to:
 "If I went around to every single wheelchair ramp on campus and broke part
of it, there would be an absolute riot,"

Maybe I just notice it more, but it seems that the blind community has this
thing about comparing ourselves against other groups to indicate that we're
hard done by and everyone else has it easier. Portraying a blind character
by a sighted actor was implied to be equivalent to blackface in this
article:
https://rudermanfoundation.org/ruderman-family-foundation-condemns-blind-fil
m-for-casting-alec-baldwin-in-disability-role/
Can we agree as a community to stop doing this? We make ourselves look both
ignorant about other people's history and struggles, and insensitive to
their needs. We also know that their struggles are not finished either. Why
do we insist on appearing like mean-spirited ignoramuses?

I've started to see things like "it's not all about screen readers..." when
dealing with web accessibility, and that's not fair either. We all know how
far the web has to go to be screen reader accessible. If we understand how
irritating and damaging assertions like that are, can we please stop making
them about others?

Also, there are many people in the blind community who are part of these
other groups that the blind community seems to think have won all their
battles. I am certain they would disagree with those assertions and be
rather let down by a community with whom they identify.

I appreciate you reading my rant. In short, be mindful of what you say and
how you say it when advocating for blindness issues, and don't make
confrontations between groups where there can be none for mutual
advancement.

Thank you,

Sarah

-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David Andrews
via NABS-L
Sent: December 16, 2017 6:18 PM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Cc: David Andrews
Subject: [nabs-l] Accessibility Article

This is a pretty good article about accessibility efforts at Wichita State
-- the NFB was of course involved...

Dave



<https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-12-08-how-a-blind-student-who-felt-locked
-out-of-stem-classes-challenged-and-changed-her-university>https://www.edsur
ge.com/news/2017-12-08-how-a-blind-student-who-felt-locked-out-of-stem-class
es-challenged-and-changed-her-university 



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