Select Page

Accessibility training is often mandated by organizations facing looming compliance deadlines. Much like First Aid training, which many employees must complete for their jobs, accessibility training isn’t always something people look forward to. And so, here I am—standing in front of a captive audience—just another DEI lady trying to convince them that accessibility matters. Even if they are fortunate enough to live without disabilities and no one in their immediate circle faces barriers, accessibility is still worth considering. So, how do I win them over?

I usually start with a video or a cartoon—something to grab their attention, spark curiosity, and plant a seed of understanding. I hope to ignite that chain reaction leading to an “a-ha” moment—a sudden burst of fireworks in their mind, a small revelation about the complex, difficult world we all navigate.

This cartoon by Kevin Ruelle was inspired by a student with disabilities and is just one of many illustrations collected in three volumes, all subtitled Absurdities and Realities of Special Education now archived online as part of the UVM library’s Digital Collections. This was my first a-ha moment back in 2017 when I was just starting my accessibility journey in the Accessible Media Production program at Mohawk College.

One panel cartoon. A person is shovelling snow off steps as a group of children wait to enter a building. “Could you please shovel the ramp?” asks a child in a wheelchair. “All these other kids are waiting to use the stairs. When I get through shovelling them off, then I will clear the ramp for you,” says the person shovelling snow. “But if you shovel the ramp we can all get in!” replies the child in the wheelchair.

The videos I have posted here are not mine, I did not contribute in any way to producing them but they built me up, they sparked my curiosity and left me in wonder. I hope they will do the same for you. You can click on the individual embedded videos or watch them on YouTube, where I made a Playlist. I am grateful for them and happy to share them with you. So if you have a couple of minutes, grab some popcorn and let’s have a watch party. You’ll notice that a lot of these videos are quite old, and none of them are Canadian content, but accessibility is universal, so I hope you will enjoy these and share them with your people.

RNIB What’s in Store

RNIB & Alexa Make Talking Books easier to access

Vision Australia’ s talking microwave

Hearview glasses with captions

Scripor’s Accessible Rubik Cube

Tactile stickers for Shampoo and Conditioner Bottles

Google’s Liftware Utensils – for people with Parkinson’s disease

 

The Steadyscribe pen

Be My Eyes: human volunteers:

Be My Eyes – Virtual Volunteer

How iOS Switch works

Assume that I can

Adaptable Fashion