a11y_spike.md

The purpose of this document is to serve as an illustrutive starting point for community collaboration and is not meant to be authoritative.

The author is not an expert and makes no claim to speak for experiences of persons with disabilities.

The author encourages every reader to continue to supplement their knowledge with additional research that includes first-person narratives and experiences of people with disabilites.

What is "disability?"

"Disabilities is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. An impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations. Disability is thus not just a health problem. It is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which [they live]."

"Around 15% of the global population – over a billion people – lives with some form of disability."

• Source: World Health Organization, modified to use non-gendered pronouns

The United Nations defines persons with disabilities as people who have impairments which, "in interaction with various attitudinal and environmental barriers, hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others."

The UN frames disability similarly to the WHO as a complex phenomenon:

"A person with disabilities may be regarded as a person with a disability in one society or setting, but not in another, depending on the role that the person is assumed to take in his or her community. The perception and reality of disability also depend on the technologies, assistance and services available, as well as on cultural considerations."

"Disability should be [perceived] as the result of the interaction between a person and [their] environment. Disability is not something that resides in the individual as the result of some impairment."

• Source: United Nations

What is "ableism?"

Ableism occurs when there are attitudinal and structural failures to recognize and address the barriers to participation and inclusion in society for persons with disabilities and impairments.

In the United States, federal laws exist to provide protection to persons with disabilities from institutional discrimination, segregation, and exclusion.

Internationally, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted in December 2006 to highlight: "the movement from viewing persons with disabilities as “objects” of charity, medical treatment and social protection towards viewing persons with disabilities as “subjects” with rights, who are capable of claiming those rights and making decisions for their lives based on their free and informed consent as well as being active members of society."

Research mission:

• Learn about the Disability Rights Movement
• What is the origin and sigificance of the slogan, "Nothing About Us Without Us!"
• Book: It's About Ability An explanation of the CRPD

What is "accessibility?"

Research mission: find out!

What is "web accessibility?"

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has a mission to promote strategies, standards and resources to make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.

Research Mission: Explore the Accessibility Fundamentals Overview.

• Stories of Web Users
• Diverse Abilities and Barriers
• Tools and Techniques

Additional Resources: Technical Standards: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, At a Glance

Video (7 mins): Web Accessibility Perspectives - 10 Topics

Microsoft Website on Inclusive Design

Inclusive Design Toolkit by Microsoft: PDF Download

Who benefits from accessibility?

• Users
• Developers
• Business stakeholders
• Everybody!

@Arique1104

Wow thanks for sharing that article. I was participating in a Zoom that got zoombombed and it was pretty bad. Literally they just entered the room and started saying racial slurs, just like in the article. Luckily they got kicked out right away and the room got locked.

Re: virtual backgrounds
I bet you are not the only one who has witnessed this!

I looked on twitter and found this tweet:

Zoom background algorithm does not work for students with dark skin tones. It attaches the background to their faces, not their homes. Learned this, unfortunately, when I suggested students add backgrounds for equity and privacy. It was the opposite of an equitable solution

Which was a response to this original post

Zoom backgrounds are more than light joke. They’re a shield for low-income students to keep their living situations confidential. Financial inequities in the classroom are on full display when we virtually invite people into our homes.

And.... beware -- there are many threads in response to the original post and some of those responses are quite disappointing.