May 17 was Global Accessibility Awareness Day. To celebrate the importance of accessibility I am humbled to share a blog post my employer wrote and published “Celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day” (Hewlett Packard Enterprise). This blog post contains a tip I provided to assist in increasing one component of accessibility. This also describes some of the work I do for my employer and the importance of accessibility.
What did you learn from the blog post?
If you recognize Global Accessibility Awareness Day, how do you plan to celebrate this in 2019?
How do you plan to increase accessibility in the work place to help employees who use assistive technology to be as productive as they can be and overcome barriers that in most cases can easily be resolved?
Any suggestions for on-line course developers to assist them in developing courses everyone can complete without assistance, even people with disabilities?
Do you have any tips for web developers to help them increase accessibility and usability to enable equal access for all?
Can you suggest some ideas to increase usability and accessibility in services and products to help increase customer satisfaction and loyalty?
We all look forward to hearing your valuable thoughts and comments.
My wife Kathy and I had an enjoyable time attending the American Foundation for the Blind Leadership Conference and Helen Keller Achievement Award ceremony and Gala in Oakland California this April.
I enjoyed attending the sessions and due to my accessibility experience having the opportunity to talk with others in person I otherwise know virtually and seldom get to meet in person. One example is having the opportunity to talk in person with Jennison Asuncion, Engineering Manager, Accessibility at LinkedIn. Attending this event also gave me the opportunity to meet people I have never met before who are as passionate as I am about accessibility for products and services. These people also share the same enthusiasm as I for increasing accessibility in the work place. These shared goals include sponsoring inclusion for people with disabilities also with hiring, retaining and promotional opportunities. It was refreshing to be around people who understand the technical and business reasons for insuring people with disabilities are included in the work place to enhance the diverse conversations that lead to better project outcomes.
I especially enjoyed the General Sessions” How Leading Tech Companies Are Raising the Bar for Blind and Visually Impaired Users” on Thursday and “Empowering a Future of No Limits: Employment panel” on Friday. In Fridays’ general session some speakers discussed why leading companies value the unique skillsets people with disabilities have to offer. I also definitely enjoyed listening to some of the speakers explain how their companies have established partnerships between product accessibility, HR, Diversity & Inclusion to promote internal accessibility goals to assist current employees with disabilities along with the goals of attracting new talented employees.
After the Helen Keller Achievement Award ceremony I was very excited and fortunate to meet a longtime, mostly virtual friend Jenny Lay-Flurrie , Chief Accessibility Officer from Microsoft. She was honored and awarded one of the three Helen Keller Achievement Awards for Microsoft’s significant strides in developing inclusive technologies to empower people with disabilities.
Read about this prestigious award and the other 2018 Helen Keller Achievement Award Winners that include Facebook and Haben Girma who I was also fortunate enough to meet and congratulate virtually after the event.
Has anyone else attended events where you learned the value of accessibility and the benefits of demonstrating inclusion of all people equally? If yes, what did you learn? Do you plan to incorporate anything you learned? If yes, what do you think might be your largest obstacle you may have to overcome in order to promote any change if needed?
We all look forward to hearing your valuable comments.
Most of you who have read my blog posts or know me are aware I am completely blind. From my electronic communications you have read from me you also may understand that I use computers and mobile devices. Some probably do not know how I use these tools therefor I will explain some.
I use a form of assistive technology called a screen reader which is software on my devices. The screen reader reads aloud in synthesized speech the application components including the user interface controlling elements for the application enabling me to use these. My screen reader also reads web pages, web applications and the user interface elements to perform the system administration tasks for my devices.
I think you will find the blog post A Tale of Two Rooms written by an employee I know from The Paciello Group beneficial to help you understand how a screen reader user navigates and orientates themselves on a web page or within an application.
Does anyone have any questions to clarify anything? Do you have any other examples of how accessibility design can assist in navigation and orientation? Does anyone have an example of similar navigational and orientation techniques for people with other disabilities?
We all look forward to hearing your valuable comments.
Have you ever wondered how a completely blind person is able to accomplish home maintenance projects; for example disassembling somewhat large wooden frames around raised vegetable garden beds by touch and sound only? I would not think most of you have thought about such things therefore I will explain for those interested in learning one person’s technique and strategy.
Why: Over 25 years ago before I went completely blind I built three redwood raised vegetable garden beds in the house we rented. Over each of the beds I built large redwood frames where I placed weather resistant sun filtering cloth that allows air through but blocked out direct sunlight. I could then manually roll out the sun filtering cloth over the frame as needed to protect the plants from the intense direct sun. Since I lost my eyesight in May of 1999 the two remaining garden beds and the frames covering them had developed a desperate need of repair. To start the needed transformation and the required repair of my vegetable garden area I planned to remove the two frames around each bed that were left to allow the vegetables to grow in natural unfiltered sun. My plan is to recycle and reuse the wood from the frames for plant stakes as well as other uses for the wood around our yard thus preventing the waste of valuable wood and trees.
Strategy: I figured out all the tools I would need ahead of time to complete this project. Since I walk with two canes, one support cane and one long white cane for navigation, I have no extra hands to carry anything when I walk which makes planning crucial. After I located one philips screwdriver, one flat blade screwdriver, needle nose plyers, regular plyers, hammer, a plastic bottle of water and my trusty Huntsman version of a Swiss Army knife (my go to knife when I used to backpack) I was prepared. My loving wife Kathy set up a chair where I could sit as I worked on my project. Kathy also brought me all the tools I listed including an empty coffee can. This can was used so I could place any hardware in it during the disassembly process. I carefully placed my tools and coffee can near the right side of my chair so I could find everything more easily. Once Kathy had dragged each frame with some difficulty over to me one at a time I was ready to begin my fun.
Fun: As I sat in the chair with the frame resting across my legs with it’s four legs pointing in unknown directions I explored all sides of the frame with my fingers and hands to determine the layout in my minds-eye and as to how I assembled it many years ago. After I had the image of how the frame looked I then determined the best approach to disassemble it. Then I felt around at each joint to determine if I used screws or nails as fasteners. From feeling small indentations at the center of each fastener with my finger tip I determined they must be screws that held down each metal bracket. These L-brackets attached each leg to the top square frame I had assembled with the same style brackets. I then selected my Swiss Army knife’s small screw driver and started to remove each screw. Some screws were extremely tight which required me to position myself in my chair in a way to maximize leverage. This tactic allowed me to keep the required pressure on the screw as I removed each one. After removing a leg of the frame I found a short piece of wood that was connected to it. By feeling no indentation in the top of the fastener on this short piece of wood I determined I had put in nails which held the short piece of wood to the leg. These short pieces of wood connected each leg on two sides to the top of the frame at 45 degree angles reinforcing each leg. After removing the short pieces of wood by pulling them off by hand or prying them off with the claw end of the hammer I used my plyers or hammer to pull out each nail. To keep my work space organized as I disassembled each section I stacked the shorter pieces of wood to the left of my chair, the longer leg pieces to my right in the corner resting up against the fence and placed all screws, nails and brackets in the coffee can.
When I was working on the second frame I noticed for some reason the screws did not turn, therefore did not loosen. This difficulty made me wonder if these were nails preventing my Swiss Army knife screwdriver from biting in the head of the screw as I attempted to twist it out. I then cheated and asked my wife Kathy if the screws were philips or straight blade types since I could not determent what they were by touching them with my fingertips. After Kathy looked she found some were phillips and others were corroded therefor I switched to my longer handled screw drivers to get more leverage. When I made this minor adjustment I was again well on my way to completion of this project. After removing many screws, nails, and all brackets I was pleasantly surprised when I reached down towards my feet and in front of me where I would keep the frame pieces that still needed work and found nothing but air as I grasped around with outreached hands. I also double checked by kicking out my feet keeping them low to the ground searching by touch and sound for them to connect with something solid just in case a piece of frame landed out of hands reach during the disassembly process. I was happy to discover that this test failed to locate any stray pieces, therefore I called Kathy over (she was working in some other area of the yard) to confirm I did not miss any. After verifying with Kathy that the first frame was completely disassembled she dragged the second one over for me to disassemble. When I had completed the second frame and had Kathy confirm that I had, she told me I did not miss disassembling a single piece of wood, removing a screw or any nail. This made me smile with joy. When I had completed this project I then organized my longer pieces of wood that I placed to my right against the fence to later saw off the damaged parts to prepare each piece for a new life.
What I learned from this simple project:
Overcoming the thought of completing a project like I describe and doing something that requires more exertion than one is accustomed to or have ever attempted before may be the most difficult part. Because of these challenges it is best to just plan and get started.
Despite any challenge or disability if one plans thoroughly it is possible to participate in or complete many projects on your own.
Although disassembling a large wooden frame like I described may be difficult or awkward with challenges such as being blind which is the equivalent of wearing a blindfold or walking around using canes, the satisfaction of completing a project is worth the challenges.
If assistance is not available and you are forced to improvise and utilize work-arounds, it is still possible to complete projects.
Being prepared with everything you may need before you start will help reduce the stress of having to stop in the middle of your project to locate something you may need or even worse find out you may be missing something required to complete the project.
Keep a positive attitude and if you are outside, take advantage of relaxing in the sun, listening to the birds, the wind rustling through tree leaves, breathing fresh air and the joyful sounds of neighbors experiencing life. Pace yourself and enjoy the option to be outdoors.
Does anyone have any stories to share that explain projects you have attempted or completed where you overcame any challenge you may have? Do you have any tips for me and others to help us overcome what some people perceive as challenges to fully participate in projects and life? Any ideas to increase the probability of completing projects when help is limited or not readily available? Any other experiences you want to share to help us take the required steps to experience all aspects of life, including the uncomfortable, unfamiliar or challenging aspects of enjoying life?
Some of you may understand the direct relationship accessibility has on the effectiveness of people using assistive technology with the tools you develop or deploy from practicing techniques or objectives in Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2), Revised 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines, ETSI - EN 301 549 or other guidelines and requirements. It is less likely some of you may understand the ripple effect of inaccessible tools, (software, hardware, web pages, services and processes) have on potential dollars lost or time wasted. Others who use assistive technology and experience accessibility barriers first hand can understand the negative impact inaccessible tools have on their productivity.
I am grateful several developers and some individuals who procure tools understand the benefits of incorporating accessibility into the developmental processes or tools they deploy. This minimal amount of attention to quality goes a long way to assist in reducing barriers resulting in increased customer base, customer satisfaction and effectiveness.
If you are unfamiliar with assistive technology or how a person who is completely blind uses a PC and experiences some of the accessibility barriers I will be describing later in web application number one and two the short scenario below may assist you in understanding the concepts. As a screen reader (one type of assistive technology) user I attempt to do some on-line shopping for groceries in a very simple web application. Once I start to process my order I quickly find the drop down list to select the method of delivery cannot be activated by keyboard commands (screen reader users generally do not use a mouse) or the results are not read to me as I scroll through my possible choices. Therefore I cannot choose how I want my order to be delivered. I also find when I tab to three different form fields I am not able to determine what I am to enter into these unlabeled form fields or even if these fields are required since they are not properly labeled with a description of what I am to enter. As I had to skip these unlabeled form fields since I was not sure what they are used for I wondered if one of them was for me to type in what I wanted to order, although I did not want to guess and pay for something I did not want therefore I continued. I did find a form field which was labeled for a telephone number, although the form field element did not specify the format I was to use (e.g. use dashes in between area code and.. or leave out dashes or include the country code). Due to these accessibility issues I was prevented from proceeding to place my order because I was not able to fill out all of the required fields or enter the telephone number using the correct format, therefore, I was not able to receive the groceries I needed.
Some developers, businesses and corporations might think it is too costly to develop tools that are accessible or usable. However, developing accessible tools can go beyond helping the employees or customers to be more productive, self-supportive and effective. Accessible tools can also potentially save money if one considers the ripple effect of inaccessible tools.
Below is just one of many possible examples:
Web Application Number 1:
A person using assistive technology attempts to enter time critical data into a simple web application with just a few user interface elements (e.g. form fields, drop down menus, user notifications and a submit button) and found the application had accessibility barriers preventing them from accomplishing the task themselves.
The affected person then locates anyone they can find who can help enter the data into the web application on their behalf.
Although they did find assistance, the person they found was unfamiliar with the application. Therefore they did not notice an issue with entering the data and thought all was submitted without issues since the web application submitted the data without errors or alert messages.
After the data was processed the result did not get processed as expected resulting in a missed deadline.
Subsequently the person who had assisted went back to verify that the data they entered was correct, entered on time and was not processed as expected.
The next step was that the affected person now was required to submit a help ticket to attempt to correct or explain the issue generated by web application number one.
Web Application Number 2:
The affected person who uses assistive technology then attempted to enter a help ticket into a very simple web application with a few user interface elements to request help and found this help system also had accessibility issues preventing them from entering the case effectively.
Then the affected person who uses assistive technology found another person who was unfamiliar with application number two to request help on their behalf to enter the help ticket regarding web application number one.
Since the process for receiving an answer to the submitted help ticket using the fictitious accessibility work-around was becoming very time consuming the affected person contacted the person waiting for the information generated by web application number one and others affected by the delay in a resolution.
After the help ticket generated by web application number two was received by an agent they found the request was unclear. This required a few back and forth conversations by email to attempt to resolve the issues since the help desk person could not be contacted by telephone to quickly explain the issue verbally to help overcome any language differences or barriers.
This lack of resolution resulted in yet another group getting involved to help resolve the issue generated by web application number one.
Although what I describe above should have been a quick task of entering very little data into a simple web application with just a few user interface elements that could have possibly been resolved by the developer utilizing resources like "Labeling Controls- Forms WAI Web Accessibility Tutorials” it had become a long process. By the time the issue was resolved at least six people over several days were involved. This could have been avoided if the people who procure tools insured they procure accessible tools or if one web application developer or their team incorporated accessibility into their web application.
If end users, businesses or corporations could capture the potential dollars and time lost for every one of these individual ripple accessibility obstacles affecting many people I describe above by incorporating accessibility into the applications, services and processes, individuals, businesses or corporations could save many dollars to reinvest into the businesses or people. Incorporating accessibility will also empower end users enabling them to be more effective allowing them to flourish and prosper without the false ceilings of inaccessible tools.
Even though my example of how many people might be involved to provide a work around to accessibility issues with tools is hypothetical, I am sure some of you might have real examples to share.
Does anyone have examples of how tool developers and procurement individuals can increase accessibility and get the required sponsorship to make positive changes?
Any thoughts to help advance the enabling of all to flourish and prosper without the false ceilings of inaccessible tools?
Does anyone have additional information or input to contribute to this conversation?
I look forward to hearing your valuable comments to help us continue this important accessibility discussion.
I hope my “HPE Careers” article gives you some ideas that will enable you to leverage your abilities and transferable skills.
Does anyone have any additional suggestions on how to leverage your abilities and transferable skills to help your employer, your family or your community? Do you have any other examples of the value of meaningful employment like I described in the beginning of my “HPE Careers” article? Lastly does anyone have anything else to contribute to this conversation?
I look forward to hearing your valuable comments to help us continue this important discussion.
As each year closes and a new one arises I take time out of my busy schedule to reflect on past activities, accomplishments, obstacles and develop new goals for the upcoming year. This year is no different although a reoccurring thought is how my life has changed dramatically since losing my eyesight without warning. Because of this I now require one long white cane and one support cane to walk which tests my creativity to find methods to carry objects with no free hands among other challenges that comes with living life with no eyesight. The busy holiday season and year end causes me to reflect on the way Kathy and I had planned to live our life achieving our dreams and goals prior to this life altering event. We anticipated and expected the need to overcome standard challenges most people experience, although we never thought our love and devotion would be tested so dramatically including gratefully surviving a three month coma and a seven month hospitalization stay when I lost my eyesight.
Although this obstacle of living life only seeing blackness does have its daily challenges it is not too difficult to do well in my profession. After getting out of the hospital I immediately prepared by completing training to obtain the standard blindness related skills including assistive technology as I relentlessly re-skilled myself to successfully perform my daily work for my employer. I also am continuously increasing my education by completing many professional and technical courses each year.
My greatest sense of loss is for my loving wife Kathy since we live alone and I can no longer assist her like I used to when I could see and walk with no limitations. My parents and other family members are also affected by my obstacles. Like others who are fortunate to be devoted to their career and providing for their family I am also working many hours a week. The main burden is all on Kathy to run the household including all home and car maintenance, driving, finances, all chores, taking care of our pets among many other tasks that keeps her extremely busy from sunrise to far beyond sunset. To assist in completing some non work related tasks I can’t complete without eyesight that Kathy usually helps me with I occasionally receive help from a caring volunteer from a local nonprofit agency which frees up some time in Kathy’s busy schedule. As I perform my job I can listen to Kathy (when I am not in conference calls) relentlessly keeping on top of all tasks, including squeezing in time to decorate for the holidays late into the evenings.
Some might wonder why Kathy goes to the trouble to decorate for the holidays and keeps the house we rent very clean and organized throughout the year since I can’t see anything but blackness. I sense she does all of her work beyond the tasks that are critical because it brings her pleasure and satisfaction. Kathy like myself also enjoys bringing joy into others lives’ and decorating assists with this mutual goal. Even though I cannot see the decorations with my physical eyes I see the beauty in my mind’s eye and can feel the joy of the holiday spirit. I can also sense the joy in others when we are blessed with the occasional company and our guests admire the home my wife and I have created with love and caring despite my inability to help Kathy with many tasks. The sound of joy and happiness is very gratifying and far better than any pharmaceutical medicine in my opinion to help overcome some ailments and attitudes. The atmosphere Kathy and I have created helps to ease the difficulties and obstacles we attempt to overcome daily. Although we seldom have time to relax since we are incredibly busy keeping up on all of the tasks we need to accomplish together I would not trade in my life with Kathy for anything. Holding gratitude in one’s heart and believing that one can overcome most any difficulty keeps my faith that Kathy and I will endure. Our mutual goal is to also leave time to help our family, friends, neighbors and others that are less fortunate.
If I was given the choice between if I want to see and walk with no assistive devices again or have Kathy as my wife, I will always choose Kathy to celebrate my life with!
Although I try not to allow my new obstacles to discourage me one song that always makes me consider what could have been and how much easier life would have been if I never experienced my challenges is the song “The Way We Were”.
For those of you who are hard of hearing or deaf and could not listen to the audio in the above hyperlink you can read “The Way We Were” lyrics.
Does anyone have stories to encourage others that may be experiencing challenges or have had life altering events that caused you to change your path in life? Do you have any messages of joy and gratitude you want to share? Lastly I want to wish everyone a happy, safe, healthy and blessed holiday season and a very enjoyable new year.
I look forward to hearing your valuable thoughts and comments to propel us into the new year with happiness and gratitude.
Have you ever attempted to watch a movie/video on a screen that was so small you could not see it and in addition to that the audio track did not provide enough description which prevented the ability to follow the plot? Have you attended a play, movie or other event in which your seats had an obstacle impeding your view which prohibited seeing the action performed which left you wondering what happened when only action was occurring and there was no verbal dialog? Have you ever attended a webinar where the video portion had technical difficulties and you could only listen to the audio and missed the essential non- verbal content preventing you from completely understanding the concept? Ever listened to a video on your mobile device and due to safety reasons could not look at the screen and therefor missed understanding the complete concept because not everything was described sufficiently?
If you experienced any of the above accessibility obstacles how do you think this would make you feel? Would you feel excluded and truly left in the dark? This is how some blind or visually impaired people feel if they cannot fully participate in such activities.
Fortunately with today’s technology the blind, visually impaired and others without disabilities who may have the temporary obstacles described at the start of this blog post can participate and understand the content if the developer/producer/publisher incorporates Audio Description.
What is Audio Description?
Audio Description is an additional audio track that describes and gives context for essential visual information. Audio Description makes videos, multimedia, plays and museum exhibitions, as well as a large variety of other events and activities more accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. It also helps others who are not disabled but may have temporary obstacles by capturing essential visual information into audible descriptions that are played during natural pauses in the primary audio track.
A few of several examples of where Audio Description can be added are shown below to assist the targeted audience understand the media being presented are:
• A scene in a movie, video or play where there is only action and no verbal dialog describing the action when the action is critical to understanding the movie or video - Describe the action
• An amusement park ride where the visual experience is critical to fully participate in the ride experience - Describe the visual setting
• When the speaker’s facial expressions, body language, clothing and colors add context to the meaning of what is being presented - Describe the facial expressions, body language, clothing and colors
• If the environment adds additional information to aide in setting the mood for the audience - Describe the environment
• A webinar where the instructor is taking an action which they do not describe what is crucial to understand the concept - Describe the action
• If presenting a training video of a software application and reaction within the application caused by a mouse click or keystroke is critical in performing the task being verbally described - Describe the reaction
• When multiple people are talking and the audience can benefit from associating the voice of the person speaking with what they are talking about - Sparingly introduce the speakers
• A conference call where anyone in the call is sharing information and they do not describe that which is crucial to understand the concept - Describe the information being shared
Producing audio descriptions can be expensive and time-consuming. When producing a video for the web, the need for audio descriptions can often be avoided. If the video were displaying a list of five important items, the narrator might say, "As you can see, there are five important points." In this case, audio descriptions would be necessary to provide the visual content to those with visual disabilities who cannot 'see' what the important points are. However, if the narrator says, "There are five important points. They are..." and then reads or describes each of the points, then the visual content is being conveyed through audio and there is no additional need for audio descriptions.
Has anyone experienced Audio Description and can provide comments to help others learn? If you have never heard of Audio Description did you learn anything from this blog post? Can you think of other activities that can utilize Audio Description to increase accessibility and therefore inclusion? Does anyone have suggestions to leverage Audio Description for people without visual disabilities to help justify it being incorporated into products for universal design? Does anyone have any other comments on the subject of audio description?
I look forward to hearing your valuable thoughts and comments.
Do you enjoy the sensations of experiencing activities you have never done before? I love the excitement, sensations and challenges of experiencing new opportunities life offers us. Since I lost my eyesight a few years ago I am blessed to experience many activities as if experiencing them for my first time. Participating in and experiencing activities with eyesight was much different then compared to the way I participate today. After awakening from a three month coma and losing my eyesight I temporarily lost the ability to walk for one year among losing the capabilities of performing many simple tasks for most people including speaking and feeding myself. Although this life changing medical situation provided plenty of opportunities to experience new activities and re-learn others, I continue to make an effort to look for new opportunities to experience life.
Opportunity for a New Activity:
Last month I was grateful to get the opportunity to experience two activities with a friend I had never done before, even when I had eyesight.
The first activity was taking a ferryboat ride from the Ferry Building in San Francisco (SF) CA to Sausalito CA crossing part of the bay to get there and back.
It was a bright clear warm sunny day without any wind when we arrived in San Francisco the day of our trip. We found a parking spot in a parking garage and walked to the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero at the foot of Market Street, which was a few blocks away from where we parked our car. As we quickly made our way through the Ferry Building my friend described some of the stores and the farmer’s market items in the building. Walking down the city streets and through the building allowed my senses to be filled with enjoyable sounds, smells and the sensation of a large city along with the scents of what smelled like delicious food lofting through the air in the farmers market. Before I knew it we were at the terminal where our ferryboat was to depart.
Boarding the Ferryboat:
To get to the ferryboat we walked across a ramp or two that lead to the boat. One of the ramps I was walking on swayed slightly from the movement of the waves at the point where one ramp connected to the other. This required more concentration on my part as I was walking to help prevent me from slipping off the ramp. After boarding the ferryboat my friend guided me through what seemed like a simple maze of corridors and ramps. Very soon we had reached our destination on the top level of the ferryboat near the front (bow) so we could sit outside in the sun and fresh air and be away from the noise of the engines.
Ferryboat Ride to Sausalito:
After we reached our destination on the top level I took a seat in the sun and the fresh bay air and began to happily anticipate the ride. I had never been on a ferryboat ride so I had no idea of what to expect. To my astonishment the ferryboat took off so smoothly and quietly I could hardly feel it moving. Once we picked up some speed I could tell we were moving by listening to the sounds of the mild waves lapping against the boat as we moved effortlessly through the water. As I sat in the sun hypnotized with intense relaxation I enjoyed the feel of the cool wind against my face.
My friend described the amazing scenery to me as we passed the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz, Angel Island, Coit Tower, San Francisco, Sausalito and the Golden Gate Bridge among many more incredible sights on this clear day with dazzling blue skies above.
As I sat on the ferryboat listening to the sounds of the few commuters, many tourists and feeling the gentle movement of the ferryboat I was so intensely relaxed I could not believe it. Although I wished the ferryboat ride would never end we soon arrived at Sausalito and it was time for a new adventure.
Walk and Lunch in Sausalito:
The second activity started after departing the ferryboat. We walked on paths near the water and by a park filled with people enjoying the town and excellent weather. Since it was lunchtime when our ferryboat docked, we soon found a great place to eat lunch with an outstanding view of the bay just outside the window from our table. After our relaxing and delicious lunch we felt refreshed so we walked through the town experiencing the many interesting sights. I had never been to Sausalito and as my friend described the water/bay, boats on the bay, buildings, old Victorian houses and the natural sites I took it all in my mind’s eye and could imagine it all clearly.
Ferryboat Ride Back to SF to Conclude my Trip:
After our lunch, leisurely walk and relaxing on a park bench in the sun listening to and talking with some of the friendly tourist from all over the world we took the ferryboat back to the Ferry Building in San Francisco. On the ride back the wind had picked up compared to our first bay crossing although still an extremely pleasant ride I wished was longer. To conclude our trip we had a relaxing walk back through the Ferry Building, Farmers Market and down the city streets ending up where we had parked our car.
My friend described my surroundings so well on our day trip along with the physical sensations all around me making me feel so entirely immersed in the visual sensations that I never once even thought about not having my eyesight.
Does anyone enjoy experiencing new activities? What did you learn from taking calculated risks to overcome any discomfort and what seemed like obstacles to experience joy, gratitude and inclusion? Does anyone have examples of when you had the chance to experience new activities life has to offer and chose to participate instead of sitting on the sideline?
I look forward to hearing your valuable thoughts and comments.
I listened to an excellent interview with Yves Veulliet by Jonathan Hassell I believe you will enjoy and find valuable in your personal and professional life. You can listen to that interview at “Do you have to be 'superhuman' to be an inspiration” - Hassell Inclusion.
I am sure you have your own opinions on what specific points of the interview uncovered some feelings or ideas to assist you in your life. Below is just a short list of the many interesting topics discussed in the interview I found could assist me in my personal and professional life:
• When working with people who are disabled or elderly focus on their capabilities and not their disabilities.
• Becoming disabled suddenly, requiring training to learn to use a wheel chair and adapting to accessibility barriers like Yves demonstrates, should not deter you from pursuing your dreams.
• How Yves copes, interacts and lives in a world with accessibility barriers in his new world can be an example for all who experience obstacles.
• Enabling inclusion by designing accessibility/usability into products and services which increases revenue by including the approximately twenty percent of the population who are elderly or disabled and reduces unintentional exclusion.
• When developing products including accessibility features it should be as natural for the designer and developer as including a keyboard with a computer.
When I listened to the interview I could not help to think about some similarities between myself and Yves. We both became disabled instantly, spent many months in the hospital, and required many months of rehabilitation. We also share the passion to overcome obstacles to do the best we can despite the accessibility/usability barriers we face, all while keeping a positive attitude and an overall goal to be happy.
What did you learn from Yves Veulliet’s interview? Will Yves Veulliet’s attitude cause you to act or think differently? Does the conversation regarding inclusion and the relationship between accessibility/ usability in products and services cause you to think and act differently? If you are a developer or designer did the conversation assist you in providing new ideas to capture the customers you are unintentionally excluding by not incorporating accessibility/usability into your products and services?
I look forward to hearing your valuable thoughts and comments.
