Mark McGuire

A Deaf nomad exploring our world.

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Converting Ableism

The other day, I came across a sentence that jumped out to me as an ableist comment. “Those who are blessed to see, hear, read, should take care of those who can’t enjoy reading.” It took me a moment to capture it so I can revisit it later after I unpacked my reaction.

  • Not everyone enjoys reading
  • Not everyone can see, hear, read
  • Can it be something other than a blessing?
  • Is it an ableist comment or a “saving grace”?
  • If it is a saving grace, who is being saved from whom?
  • Some people prefer to listen or watch instead of reading

It’s a simple exercise to replace words to identify if there is a better set of words that fits your goal. In my case, it is to determine how to convert an ableist comment to an inclusive comment.

Step 1. Remove the trigger words

Those who (blank) to (blank) should take care (blank).

Step 2. Find neutral words and be purposefully inclusive

Those who (receive information and stories) should take care (to share information and stories with more people).

We are all story tellers. Whether we are sharing data or opinions, we have the power to present these information or stories in a way that can be passed along.

 

 

Create an Accessibility Defect Management Policy

In a perfect world, everything would be done right and perfect from start to finish. Here on Earth, we have to figure things out from scratch. However, we can perfect the process as we go through the cycle of improvement.

Defects are a fact we have to manage.

– Agile Accessibility Handbook

In an agile design and development environment, an accessibility defect management policy will allow you to identify, prioritize and report these issues. It should guide or outline the following information for your team to resolve any accessibility issues.

  • Identify and assess existing systems for capturing issues
  • Identify and assess existing channels for communicating issues
  • Identify key information with accessibility issues for communication purposes
  • Establish an internal and external communication medium for compliance and reporting purposes
  • Establish a method of assigning priority levels to each issue
  • Establish a method of assigning members to resolution

Nomadic Leadership

The most daunting challenge for leaders joining new organizations is adapting to unfamiliar cultures. – The First 90 Days

This quote jumped out to me as I was reading my Kindle edition. At that particular moment, I was reading it on my laptop on the dining table in the common area of the Airbnb in Oaxaca, Mexico.

The sun just rose over the mountains a few moments ago and is now gracing the valley with the beginning of its’ sunshine.

In an hour or two, the entire valley will be doused in full sunlight.

In three hours, I will be checking in with a distributed team to tackle accessibility issues affecting the organization as a whole. By no means am I in an official leadership role. However, I am positioned in a role where I can guide people towards a united goal of accessibility and disability inclusion.

It is an excellent opportunity to gain adaptive skills. Especially in a role that requires the ability to move from the design team to the print team to the UX team to the product team to management answering questions. Right now, the hard part is getting anything done. However, the mere act of moving from team to team (which fits the definition of being nomadic) advising on accessibility could be interpreted as being the “accessibility leadership ball” in motion.

The moral of the scene is that it is possible to lead from afar as long as you understand the culture of the organization.

Recognizing Ableism

Those who are blessed to see, hear, read, should take care of those who can’t enjoy reading.

Hanna Kuznietsova, Head of Content, Stripo

Mark McGuire