Accessibility 25 Words

Since I'm on a roll, another one that drives me crazy is (legal) access to new movies. Everybody I know seems to be talking about "Avatar" but by the time it's available on DVD nobody'll give a toss about it or want to discuss it with me. That sucks.

Where I got most stuck was it bugs me that most people are most aware of wheelchairs/blindness/deafness and not so much of obscure needs (like, say, mine) so I didn't want to mention specifics!

Other handicaps are oft ignored.

You're correct to point out that many places accommodate blind/deaf/wheelchair bound individuals, but what about other challenges?

Some companies though are making an effort. Some companies in our area offer medical privacy rooms. These can be used for non-medical needs such as breast pumping as well as for folks requiring regular injections.

Those with conditions requiring shots or blood testing would fall into the most ignored though. I can't say i'd feel comfortable going into the men's room to do a blood test. Talk about unsanitary.

My advice would be to reach out to your company's HR department. Chances are if they haven't done something yet, they're already thinking about it. It may just take a nudge to get it going, or a champion to represent it.

Thanks for commenting.

My advice would be to reach out to your company's HR department

You're assuming the person is sufficiently able to work, with that statement, as well as stuff about employment status.

My most common accessibility problems in RL revolve around me being bedbound and therefore unable to physically go to places that generally require attendance for things - like banks to verify new bank accounts, and anywhere to get photo ID, etc.

There's also an access-to-information problem where there's a significant amount of information that's only distributed at conferences, workshops, keynote speeches, etc., and you have attend to get that information. Obviously I don't expect a conference to be held in my room for that purpose, but there's a lot of things that can be done to mitigate the information problem. It will never be the same as full access, but it can be significantly less than the currently zero access I have.

Accessibility beyond work!

Great topic and one I totally missed. Thanks for calling me back on that one.

I'm spoiled, just wanted to get that out of the way. I've never been home bound. I'm learning about it though. My brother is now bed/wheelchair bound for the rest of his life, thanks to ALS.

You're right. There is no access at all for bed ridden folks or people that are minimally housebound. My brother, now home, will likely be unable to ever visit another business again, even in his wheelchair. I totally missed the fact that meant he'll never be the one banking, or buying anything again in person.

There should be a bigger push by companies to reach out to homebound folks in general. Why not offer DVDs on movie release day? Those are two separate viewing audiences mostly. Why not allow true remote banking? Also, why don't more businesses recognize powers of attorney. My wife has my full power of attorney and yet can't deal with my accounts for insurance, phone, and some credit bills.

Workshops, the mainstream ones anyway, still haven't caught onto live streaming in a big way. Sadly, I have to include CES, the largest electronics show in the Western world. Sure you can catch keynotes after the fact, but your experience is very moderated and filtered down.

Today a conference, very very net oriented at that, was held and there was no live stream. WTH? No excuse there.

As a minimum, all events held today should be attempting to offer a virtual attendance option. Webinars make this possible and I applaud that I no longer have to attend them live but can watch them later when I'm off my day job. Ha.

BTW, if you haven't checked out the blog I linked to above, I encourage you to do so. Glenda is a huge accessibility advocate, covering not just work but everyday life.

Thanks for bringing this discussion up and raising my awareness.

Great conversation, Todd and Ricky. I'll sit back and listen for a while. Be gentle with him, Ricky. ;)

BTW Todd, great 25 words!